So I found a 89 Turbo 2 in the classified ads for 5k, with 77k miles on the car, 11k of them on a new engine, the guy who owns it said he thinks the car just has a dead battery, since the cars radio turns off if you press on the brake pedal, he didn't specify if this was while the car was running or not, but assuming the car was turned off, would this be the case?

 

if the car is off the radio wont work period unless there is some sort of hack job with the wiring.



If the key is turned on and the radio shuts off when you press on the brake pedal it could indeed be a sign of a bad battery.



Why wouldnt the guy put a $60 battery in the car and sell it that way?

 

it could either be how they wired the radio or the voltage is dropping alot becuase of powering the brake lights. Depending on wether it occurs when its on or off.

 

If the radio works when the ignition is off, it has been hardwired to a constant battery source. This is otherwise known as a mickey mouse install. The battery is probably dead, and I would imaging that may be the tip of the iceberg in maintenance problems.

 

It has a short, it isn't the battery.