Jeff986

Hi all. I just joined the air cooled club (have a Boxster and a pristine 30k mile 968 cab) and am now the proud new owner of a 911SC. The car just had a complete brake and suspension overhaul (elephant racing) along with a complete tune up. The car is fantastic, except...

I drove the car for about 200 miles and then I smelled burning rubber and heard a horrible squealing sound. Almost sounded like something was being forced. The car stalled when at idle with the battery light on. I coasted to a stop and attempted to restart. Engine fired without a problem but had the same sound and smell and the battery light came on. Quickly shut it off.

Has anyone ever had an experience like that? My best guess is the alternator seized. I was going to take the belt off and run the engine to see if the sound and smell are no longer ( short time, I would never run the engine with out the fan for more than a few seconds). Is this a reasonable way to test? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!

Jonathon Rolstin

Just take the belt off and try turning the fan.

theiceman

does it have air ?

take that one off first if it does and see.

JCP911S

Similar problem... alternator pulley was not installed properly... its really a silly design, and needs proper installation and adjustment.

Jeff986

Got the belt off and turned the alternator. No resistance and sounded like the bearings were a bit rough, but not seized. With the load of the belt would that have made it seemed locked up? I started the car without the belt and everything sounded perfect (aside from no fan noise lol).

Nope the car doesn't have air :-)

Ewok

Do any of the other belts look cooked?

GothingNC

Alternator probably needs to be rebuilt with new bearings.

Jeff986

Belt looked fine. I'm amazed how easy these cars are to work on. I ordered a new alternator and am going to swap it out this weekend and have the old one rebuilt as a spare.

The assembly seems pretty simple. Either the belt wasn't tensioned correctly (put on incorrectly) or the alternator is shot seems to be my only 2 options.

On the bright side the car is an absolute blast to drive.

betiller

the exact same issue happened to my 82 last nite. almost word for word. sounded like a Folgers can full of rocks. scared the doodoo out of me. slight smell of rubber. had it flat-bedded home. woble in the fan. alternator bearings seem to be toast. you have a good idea in getting it rebuilt and keeping as a spare. i might do the same.

theiceman

Okay this is gonna be pretty funny ...

Jeff you have a great attitude and will do well with these cars, but lets see how cheerful you are after you drop those tiny nuts holding the shroud 15 times when you are trying to hold the alternator with 6 inches of wiring to work with, and you are trying to figure out how to get the alternator to release from the shroud

Jonathon Rolstin

Lol Clive

Jeff986

Yup.... I see what you meant about nuts and the shroud. What a pain! I just took my time (and had some great help) and managed not to drop them though. Took about 3 hours to do the job.

The bearing in the alternator was completely shot. Pieces of the seal were everywhere. Again, thanks everyone for the great help.

Now on to my h4 headlight upgrade, replacing hood shocks, new sun visors, etc....eh it's at nice day for a drive that all can wait. 😀