DIY rebuild my alternator, buy one or send out for rebuild?

[Rick Lee]

My alt. gave up the ghost last night and left me stranded on the way to dinner. I was starving and got to eat leftovers at home around 11pm. My 993 has 89k miles and I'm assuming there's not much left of those brushes. I don't want to dig farther into this than replacing the VR and brushes. Are the rebuilt units you can buy everywhere with a core charge ok? What about sending out to a local shop?

[toddu]

I'd check local shops. For my wife's car a reman was $190, I paid $75 to have it completely rebuilt locally and got it back 2 hours later.

Todd

[Rick Lee]

Looks like it was the belt, not the alternator. I'm guessing its condition indicates over-tensioning. Obviously, I can correct that. But I installed it two years ago and never noticed any wear on it since then. Is my shaft likely warped or shall I just replace the belt and with a little less tension?

[gumba]

I sent mine to Chandler alternator repair in Chandler, AZ. They bench tested it, replaced a few parts, and made it look like new for $90.00 including shipping.

[Rick Lee]

I don't think I'm gonna take it in for a rebuild now, since it's just a belt. But I do need to make sure it's tensioned right and the shaft isn't bent.

[bazar01]

So it may not be the alternator with just 89k miles but the belt broke for some reason.
My alternator and fan belts have 30k miles on them and they still look good. How many miles on the single belt?

I am not sure how long a single belt drive will last compared to the stock 2 belts due to the increased loading but two years seemed a little short. You may want to spin the fan and check for runout and that will indicate a bent alternator shaft. If you have the single belt and pulley driving the fan and alternator, then the fan is fixed to the alternator shaft and the single belt carries both fan and alt. loads.

[Rick Lee]

I don't have the pulley update on my car, so it's three belts. I don't have my logbook handy, but I know it was two summers ago when I replaced the belts and probably a good 4-5 yrs. before that. This belt appears to have gotten very hot, very fast, whereas it had been fine before. Every time I added oil or opened up the decklid I checked the belts.

[KNS]

The previous owner of my '95 had a belt failure several years ago but did not do the pulley update (which Porsche recommends if you've experienced a belt failure with the old style pulleys). I elected to do the pulley update and I keep the belts on the loose side of their tension according to the Krikit gauge.
Porsche has a service bulletin for the pulley update so you may want to look into that if you have the old style pulleys.

I've thought about doing the RS single belt conversion but Steve Weiner recommends the twin belt set-up for mostly street driven cars.

[bazar01]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I don't have the pulley update on my car, so it's three belts. I don't have my logbook handy, but I know it was two summers ago when I replaced the belts and probably a good 4-5 yrs. before that. This belt appears to have gotten very hot, very fast, whereas it had been fine before. Every time I added oil or opened up the decklid I checked the belts.

I thought you have the RS pulley conversion from the picture but I was wrong.
You still have another good belt remaining on the pulley.
So you still have the 2-belt stock pulleys.

I cannot see the second pulley from the picture.
So it was the alternator belt that broke.
You may want to check your alternator bearings if they are seized up.
If bearings are good, then install new belts and loosen up the belt tension by adding shims inside the pulley halves.

[Rick Lee]

I took the fan belt of and spun the fan by hand. It makes a slight grinding noise, but is not rubbing the housing. So I think the bearing is on the way out and will do the full job while I'm in there.

[fanaudical]

Rick - I know my answer is no longer relevant, but I have always had better luck having alternators rebuilt by a reputable local shop than just trading in for a rebuild.

[Rick Lee]

Yeah, it's definitely going to the shop in Chandler on Sat. morning if I can get the damned fan off tomorrow night. Probably need to borrow a puller from AutoZone. Now I need to look into getting the fan and housing powder coated.

[Rick Lee]

I cannot get the fan off. I borrowed a three-prong puller from AutoZone today and no joy. I even used a nickel on top of the shaft to keep the puller bolt from chewing up the groove. It cut through that nickel like a hot knife through soft butter and the fan did not budge. I'm taking the whole thing to an alt. shop tomorrow and hope they can get the fan off.