Need quick advice regarding alternator removal on a 951.

wild man · 04-22-2010, 06:14 AM

I'm pretty sure the VR brushes on my alternator are worn down too low and I'm not getting sufficient charge on the battery. I was going to wait until after saturday (hershey swap meet day), but I'm afraid of getting stuck along the way somewhere, so I decided to rip into it now. I have a replacement regulator, but I thought it would be easy to install after intake stuff is removed, only to be reminded that there is a cooling duct plastic cone on the back end of the alternator that needs to be rmoved and out of the way for the voltage regulator to be replaced. I can see 2 nuts that can be removed from the top, and assume there is one that can be removed from underside. But the question is, can the plastic cone be moved far enough out of the way in order ro replace the regulator? Or, do I need to loosen and remove the belt, and then unbolt the alternator from it's mounting, so it will slide forward enough to be able to put a new regulator on the back end of it?

wild man · 04-22-2010, 06:52 AM

Never mind. I think I answered my own question. I should have looked at it a little better before I posted. The cooling cone cannot move out of the way while the alternator is installed due to the motor mount being in the way. So I WILL have to remove the alternator from it's mountings.

Techno Duck · Techno Duck's Garage

Getting it out is a major pain in the ass, but it can be done without disconnecting any of the coolant lines. I hate that plastic duct with a passion but it extends the life of the alternator ten fold. I just completed my a/c delete yesterday.. plenty of room under the turbo now.

Brando · Brando's Garage

Nothing is quickly removed from the engine bay on a 951...

Porsche gods forbid you having to do a clutch job... >_>

wild man · 04-23-2010, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brando

Porsche gods forbid you having to do a clutch job... >_>

What's that supposed to mean??? It's not funny if you are facing such a job, as I happen to be. I can't afford to pay someone (who knows what they are doing) to do if for me. It's bad enough that I'm going to have to come up with $1200 for the new clutch, itself. At least I don't have to do it right away, as it only lets go under full boost.

wild man · 04-23-2010, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Techno Duck

Getting it out is a major pain in the ass, but it can be done without disconnecting any of the coolant lines. I hate that plastic duct with a passion but it extends the life of the alternator ten fold. I just completed my a/c delete yesterday.. plenty of room under the turbo now.

No way I can delete my A/C. I have problems dealing with excessive heat situations. Boy, it's like 5:30 in the morning right now, and I can hear birds starting to chirp. I woke up from a nightmare in which 3 people I knew fell to their deaths ( I was one step away, but managed to stop in time), and I could not get back to sleep.

Anyways, the job still isn't done. I did get the alternator out, but I don't think it would have been possible without a air ratchet, as there are many places where you simply don't have the room to swing a manual ratchet back and forth. But the job still sucks, regardless. And I thought I was just going to put a VR for another alternator into it. But then I decided to replace the whole thing, in case the problem was a shorted coil, or a blown diode.

I got held up by some unrelated things I had to do yesterday, and by the fact that the cooling cone gasket was in pieces, and I had to make a new one. After making one out of some gasket material that I had, and started putting the replacement alternator in, I realized that the cone needed a very thick gasket in order for it not to leak. So I had to make a run (on the bike) to the auto parts store for some thicker cork material.

That is where the job stands right now. All I need to do is make a new gasket out of the thicker material, and put the alternator back in, and I'm done. Sounds pretty simple, doesn't it? I wouldn't count on it though. But I do need to get it done today, if I want to make hershey tomorrow.

Brando · Brando's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by wild man

What's that supposed to mean??? It's not funny if you are facing such a job, as I happen to be. I can't afford to pay someone (who knows what they are doing) to do if for me. It's bad enough that I'm going to have to come up with $1200 for the new clutch, itself. At least I don't have to do it right away, as it only lets go under full boost.

With an NA car you can leave most all the exhaust in place for a clutch job.

In a turbo you have to remove the exhaust, intake plumbing (from the turbo) etc. Also when doing the part that requires removing the transmission you have to be extra careful of the trans oil cooler coils.

Shop time on a NA clutch job is 16-20hrs.
Shop time on a Turbo clutch job is 20-30hrs.

That's with a lift and all of the correct tools!