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Jeff A.
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: CA southbay
Posts: 98
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stranded with a dead battery
I'm driving my 88 944 NA this week across the country to start a new job back east next week. today going across Wyoming i noticed the voltage meeter dropping down below 12V. i thought my alternator was dead and sure enough 5 miles later the car stopped running. i got towed to Kar Kraft in Rawlins just as they were closing. they are charging the battery overnight and partsheaven is sending out an alternator overnight so i can get back on the road tomorrow. looking around the past posts here i see that if the dash bulb is out the alternator will not work also. i saw a work around using a dome light bulb connected to the battery to get the alternator working. my main concern is getting to NJ by Sunday so i can start my new job! I checked the car over quite carefully before i left to ensure i make it on time. the alternator will get checked out first thing in the morning but i do not remember seeing the charge light come on at all yesterday so i think this really can be the problem. My question is where is the bulb located once i pull the instrument cluster out? what bulb do i need to use and are they readily available?
thanks for the help!
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Jeff A. '88 944 '99 Vanagon '03 Pilot |
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04-22-2009, 10:24 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Savannah, GA
Posts: 831
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If an 87 is the same as an 88 the bulb should be in the middle of the dash, when mine was going out (alt) I kept seeing it come on and was thinking why was my emergency brake light coming on - it was alt light.
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04-23-2009, 03:49 AM
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good luck jeff
Jeff
good luck on your drive. you must be driving rt 80. i remember driving a 1965 series landrover from WY to PA. I only broke once.....generator in Chicago. I still drive the rover daily and it's 27 years later. enjoy the drive and good luck. landrover88
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1978 911sc cpe 1986 944 N/A sold to pelican 1965 series 2a 88 landrover sold 1964 series 2a 88 landrover sold 1988 944 white. sold |
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04-23-2009, 04:00 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Falls Church, VA
Posts: 1,177
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heh... this sounds awful familiar, I was in the exact same situation back in 2001, driving from Detroit to Annapolis to start a new job in my '84 Scirocco. Convoying with my GF driving my '89 16V GTI. I was worried about the 16V making it but it was the roccet that broke down just outside Cleveland with a dead alternator. 16V ran fine the whole way...
anyway, I suspect that you don't need a whole new alternator at all. typically it is the brushes that wear out and a new brush/regulator unit will get you going again. The alternator needs to see current on the blue wire to charge, so if you need to fool it into charging, wire a bulb between a "switched hot" source and the blue wire terminal on the back of the alt. BTW I have a rebuilt alternator on deck in my garage for an '88 NA if you really get up fecal stream. I'm in NoVA just outside DC. We could work a trade for one of your cores if we had to, I think I paid about $200 to have it rebuilt. (expensive, but there's only one shop around here I trust. Of course my old alternator will last forever now.) good luck nate
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1988 944... and a bunch of other cars 
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04-23-2009, 10:46 AM
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Jeff A.
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: CA southbay
Posts: 98
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Hi all, I made it to Omaha last night, the rebuilt alternator did the trick. the alternator was delivered by UPS by 10:30 and I was on the road by noon!
the good thing about the alternator breaking is as the car was loaded on the flatbed I notice the right rear wheel had a completely cracked spoke leaving four good spokes. quite scary! I had parts heaven send me a replacement wheel along with the alternator (I have 17" boxster style wheels). perhaps stopping due to the alternator prevent a catastrophic failure of the wheel? anyhow, all is well now, I'll post a picture of the wheel, I've never seen this happen before.
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Jeff A. '88 944 '99 Vanagon '03 Pilot |
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04-24-2009, 06:30 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 2,695
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lucky yer alternator broke down! otherwise u would have been in a ditch or worse!
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04-24-2009, 09:52 AM
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Jeff A.
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: CA southbay
Posts: 98
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yup, i truly believe having to stop and finding the broken wheel was great luck. here is a picture of the cracked wheel. anyone ever see something like this? i would not have expected the spoke to crack. I put them on my car 4 months ago, i bought them used from a guy on craigslist that was down in LA. this wheel had a little curb rash, but overall they were in great shape. just show you "buyer beware".
  
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Jeff A. '88 944 '99 Vanagon '03 Pilot |
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05-09-2009, 01:40 PM
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Jeff A.
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: CA southbay
Posts: 98
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Does anyone know the name of this wheel style?
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Jeff A. '88 944 '99 Vanagon '03 Pilot |
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05-09-2009, 01:42 PM
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Proprietoristicly Refined
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: ~Carefree Highway~
Posts: 5,833
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2001 Boxster
http://www.wheelenhancement.com/index.php?t=WheelDetail&id=45 Glad you spotted it> John_AZ |
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05-09-2009, 04:12 PM
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944
