Electrical Short

At night all of the lights go dim somewhat for about 5 seconds then go back to normal every 10 seconds or so. It doesn't appear to be directly viberation releated. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being full bright I would guess they dim to about a 6 if that helps any.

I think your sulphur smell and 'shorting' problem are directly related ... your alternator is/has cooked your battery, hence the boiled sulphuric acid smell. The resulting overheating is causing more than one set of plates to occassionally SHORT out!!!

I hate to think about what the boiling acid and fumes are, and have been, doing in your trunk!!!

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

Reff: Stinky 911. Warren very good! Thanks you were right it's the battery cooking. Sorry I didn't combine the elect. short and the stinky thing together,I had no idea that they were related. Besides having a real mess to clean up and a new battery to install, what should I do with the alternator. Is it just a bad alt. or is there something else I should check.

You can probably have the alternator tested out of the car, and possibly (very likely) rebuilt there at a local alternator shop. Probably $100 or so ... a LOT better than an exchange rebuilt unit, and probably just as good, too!

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

Say, is it *normal* for a 911's lights to dim a little at idle, and brighten as revs rise? It's not a lot; barely detectable.

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Mark Szabo
1986 911 Targa 3.2

That sounds 'normal' to me, Mark. A digital multimeter would tell you for sure ... 13.2-13.5 Volts is 'expected' at idle ... a bit more, say 13.5 to 14 is 'normal' off idle. The lamps output is very sensitive to small fluctuations, and the slight variation you note is present in most vehicles these days!

I get concerned when I see alternator output above 14.5 Volts ... 14.0 to 14.5 Volts is a 'gray' area!

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa