Alternator problems and YouTube Video explanation of the problem and work so far

[WildBill1911A1]

I could write it all out.. but basically, the red dashboard light was on for way too long.

history: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1m1LWvwVzw note the 'battery light' at the 1:05 point.

part 0 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbXzOjBc9zc
part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fUmrw3uSNw
part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSa0DgkaHNU
part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InFBpOM7EQA

watch these and give me your opinion? I mean, your opinion about what I should do next. And no, I don't mean CNN.

[Wayne 962]

The world has truly changed. Video diagnosis!

Sorry dude, I don't have 40 minutes to watch, can you summarize?

-Wayne

[WildBill1911A1]

Wayne,

I really do like the book. Did you see it in the video link?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fUmrw3uSNw

I'm going to try something easier next ... putting a new radio in the car.

I think the wiring diagram for the back of the alternator is where my mistake was.. should have taken more photos and labeled the wires better.

Bill

[Wayne 962]

I heard you refer to it saying that you should label your wires. A shortcut to this is to take digital photos of the parts as you remove them too...

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

Oh, you need to recheck your connections - if they are hooked up incorrectly, you can cause problems. You can even cause a fire, just when the car is sitting there doing nothing overnight!

-Wayne

[anthony 911]

well my first guess would be too read the porsche technical bulletin 1 on how to put a newer style alt in your car aka internal reg alt.someone please post it if you have it.

[WildBill1911A1]

I don't have the technical bulletin. I specifically intended to replace the alternator with the same style (external voltage regulator) so I could do this work myself.

Do you have a link to the tech bulletin you cited?

- Bill

[schamp]

You might want to charge the battery when it is not hooked up to the car. The alternator is not meant to charge a dead or very low battery. From watching you films I would guess you had the wires right. Red light should come on without the engine running and key on. Red light should be out with engine running. BTW, a fully charged battery should be right at 12.66With the engine running the battery should be somewhere around 14 volts.
You very well may need to attach the voltage regulator back to where it goes if you haven't already. It may need to be grounded and that ground is most likely thru the mounting. You may want to just purchase a new battery and go from there. The old one has been thru a lot. I don't know how you made the 5 hour trip with the lights and radio on. Alternator must have been putting out something. Maybe the low speed diode was out the the high speed was working. In my opinon you got real lucky to have made the trip. On the bright side, you now know how to change an alternator on an older porsche. Something you have done and hope to not do again. Good luck.

[WildBill1911A1]

Originally Posted by schamp

On the bright side, you now know how to change an alternator on an older porsche. Something you have done and hope to not do again. Good luck.

Yes, I'm very lucky. It got me Chicago to Detroit, Detroit to Pittsburgh, then Pittsburgh to Wash DC, 1008 miles. Eventually, something failed, and the car would start, but not run for very long. I believe it was running on battery, and the alternator was not putting out power.

I did fully replace the Voltage regulator and mount it where the old one was. With a jumpstarted battery, the car ran for 20 minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbXzOjBc9zc check out this video at the 4 minute to 4:30 mark for observations.

Your thoughts?

[bkreigsr]

here's a link to a thread currently going around.
you might find more in a search.
the post you want is # 32

Bill K

Fan Housing Seating

[RoninLB]

Internal alternator up-grade

[WildBill1911A1]

I'm still happy that I went back to the external voltage regulator, as I would not have known about the air deflector housing modifications and that would have been quite frustrating.

On the older alternator, there are two terminals marked D-, two marked B+ and one marked 61 and one with a tab connector.

Seems the red wires go to B+,
brown wires go to D-
and the blue wire goes to 61.
I'm assuming the wire with the tab slot goes to the only tab.

My question: does it matter which of the two B+ terminals get the red wires?

- Bill

note that I received a replacement for the one on the left (marked "old one" that was exactly like the old one, so I didn't keep the one marked "new one"

[Paul K]

Bill:

Great to see you over here! Do you have a copy of the Bentley manual for your car? Makes a great companion to Waynes book. Also, you might want to search your local forums and see if there is anybody close who can help with the alternator swap?

Good luck with it!

Paul.

[RickM]

Originally Posted by bkreigsr

here's a link to a thread currently going around.
you might find more in a search.
the post you want is # 32

Bill K

Bill / All:

If you want to direct one to a single post on a thread all you have to do is click on that post's number (#32 in this case) and then copy/paste that address.

Like so: Fan Housing Seating