Alternator Replacement needed Indianapolis?

[82 sportsc]

Guys
Any recommendations for independent Porsche Shops in Indy ?
My 02 4S went dead and stranded me.
Fairly sure it’s the alternator

Thanks for assistance
Frank

[Fleming]

Frank, let me describe a problem I am having with the 1999:

Gauges are wonky: car idles down - like at a stop light and there is a hesitation, the car just dies for a split second. One time the gauges blink and the needles do a hesitated drop (stop-move-stop-move-stop-move) from up to down. The trip gauge resets to zero, clock rests to a different am/pm setting. Shut off the ignition and right back on - on restart the radio comes on by itself and louder than normal?

Has happened a number of times. I hadn't read a skip or drop in voltage from norm - but have not been studying that gauge.

Dealer replaced the alternator as it was giving random voltages. (Yup a pricey item).

Two days after - the problem happens again. Seems to be tied to a low idle. This time all the idiot lights join in in doing a low light level dance. Turn the key off and back on - the car restarts. Dash maladies repeat themselves on start-up.

Also on this same trip hit a sharp bump and the slight hesitation - engine skips a beat - happens but car continues on like nothing is wrong?

Mechanic has the car and has a few drives to try to get it to replicate the drop/hesitation in running. Yesterday he experienced the hesitation and the gauges doing the death dance. Seems the ignition has foggy contacts and lets the power skip a beat.

Ignition is the next to be replaced in a 22 year old car. Will know more Monday or Tuesday. Stay tooned.

Is this anything like your problem?

___________________________________
Has the car had a problem with electronics - you ask - why yes at a complete gas fill up the gas gauge will read full. but within a few miles it takes a nose dive to zero and light comes on, give it a couple of minutes and it reads full again. At about 10 to 20 miles it stops doing the faulty read and carries on. Months later the droping after full fill is back. A couple of fill ups later normal accurate readings. Totally random. If the Fill is less than a full tank it does not do the drop. What is happening?

[inaminit]

Frank-take the car to a shop that has one of the pwis systems. That will interrogate your cars's memory and should give a clue on what is wrong. Good luck!

[Van B.]

Fleming, check your battery cable on the engine. These years can get corrosion where the cable connects to the starter and it can cause all kinds of issues: excessive battery drain, shorting, poor charging, etc.

But, your issues are so varied, it could be more.

[Van B.]

Frank, if you have a basic tool set, the alternator is a pretty simple DIY.

[Fleming]

Yup. Some times looking at the "first to check" may be the correct action:

Here is what I found when disconnecting the battery cables at the battery end of the car:


Battery Bolts


Battery cable positive end - what is this happening here -why all the pitting in the metal?


Other end of the same cable


Cable to ground at the battery needed attention too.

The ground cable at the Engine (corner - cyl 6) was not as bad but still showed signs of corrosion.

All of these connections were cleaned back to good metal and added DiElectric.

Will give the trial a week or two to see if this was the fix... feels much better to have clean contacts.

Will need to check the connections at the starter when next under the car.

[JFP in PA]

I would not have reused cables in that condition; Porsche cables are well known to develop internal corrosion which creates resistance in cables whose ends actually look perfect. As those look like Hell to begin with, I would replace them. Porsche actually released a TSB on this issue and updated their cables to try and reduce it reoccurring.

[Van B.]

The cable from the alternator to starter with the little jumper box is worse due to the heat. And the revised cable is really pretty inexpensive. I was able to fish mine through the right side of the engine (where the jumper end mounts) and I only had to remove the alternator. It took all my extensions and a swivel to get to the starter bolts, but all things considered, pretty painless. I was having battery drain issues and that was the culprit.

Connection to the stater is only visible from the top of the car. It’s top forward on the engine. Shine a light through there and you can see. I promise that cable is smoked based on what you posted. Pull the alternator and you can touch it. Be careful around the vacuum lines, they are easy to unplug and tough to get back in.

Heat, moisture, and age, rot the rubber insulation and then corrosion sets in on the exposed wire. Electric current doesn’t have to touch in order to generate a field… replace any and all cables with signs of internal corrosion. They are dead.