theiceman

Well I was just at a get together today and was commenting that you never see a broken down Porsche .. yeah you just new it was going to happen. There I was 10:00pm broken down , no roof with me and the strom clouds moving in ... oh and I dropped my mag light and the light bulb blew..... and that was already the spare bulb in it.. as the light bulb went it I instantly remembered I need to get around to getting a new spare... oh well... but I am getting ahead of myself.
I was pulling into the gas station to get gas and I saw the alternator light come on , there was a line up for gas so I pulled over to the kiosk and popped the lid, took a look and saw no fan running so I instantly turned it off even though the temp was fine. Took a closer look and saw the shreaded alternator belt. The belt was only 3 months old so it didn't make sense. Anyway I keep a spare so no big deal. i decided to start the car and back it under one of the floods in the garage. I managed to do that but as sson as I started the car I heard a horrible grinding sound. I backed it under the light and took a closer look.
You know when you check the oil it is usually a good idea to actually put the cap back on. Mine was wedged down on the crank pulley against the bracket down there and was half sawed through the cap by the pulley. Doh ! gee no wonder the belt snapped. It was wedged good and I just could not move it. I called CAA as the clouds were moving in but they told me an hour. So I gets out my trusty tire iron and I start wacking away at the cap wedged in there. Do you have any idea how freakin hot it is in there ? eventually it starts to move and i hook it with my pulley holder, about 15 minutes of wiggling and banging and it comes out. That is after stopping to answer the surfer dude who wanders up and says " you having a problem ? . what year is this car ? how many K on it ? ..and remember I am holding a tire iron .. and by this time my temper too ..
So as soon as I get the Cap out I cancel the CAA. I work for the next ten minutes replacing the belt , no problem . I don't have pliers in my kit but the gas station guy gives me a set. I actually can bend the cap enough to get it back on and I blow out any residual crap with his air hose. I manage to persuade it back on and all is good. I pull over the pump for gas and the car dies, don't think much of it and I fill up with gas , as I pull away from the gas pump the car is really misfiring. I thought it may have something to do with the cap on the oil tank as it does have a spring on it, maybe I have it sealed off and it is suppose to breath , I don't think so but what else can I do ? so I take off the cap again, and start her up . I pull away and again it is misfiring badly . I try to give it gas and I hear a gunshot going off, uh .. oh ... this sounds bad. the car instantly dies. will not restart. By now my Porsche support vehicle is there and my wife shines her headlights on the engine ( the car lights guys .... ) . I see the main wire from the ignition coil hanging off. I must have knocked it off with all the fumbling in the dark to replace the belt. So I put it back on and she starts. it runs a little rough with lots of black smoke coming out, I was worried I blew the airbox but it was just the fuel clearing out. she settles down and runs a little rough due to the oil cap being off, I put it back on again with some coaxing and the idle settles right back down.

All the way home it ran great. In the end It was just a brain fart in checking the oil that led to this. Not bad at all really , just a broken belt, I need a new oil cap , and some hurt pride. Chalk another one up to experience , the tools I had and the spare parts kit I carry got me out of a jamb. I don't have the factory pliers in my kit so i will be adding that, along with my "headlight" that I have at home .

PS the headlight is like an old coal miners light, it straps around your head and has a light on the front. It allows you to light up what you are looking at and is ideal for this type of situation where you can't hold the tools and the light.

lesson learned.

Svaha

Glad to hear you got out of that mess without more significant damage... You'll never make that mistake again, I'm sure.

Christien

Hey, at least the Ferrari driver wasn't there to chuckle at you!!!

(a bunch of us at this meet yesterday had a bit of a smug chuckle when this guy with a beautiful Mondial couldn't get the car to start.)

Glad it all worked out ok - I should pick up one of those miner's lights and put it in the tool kit, for exactly that kind of situation. I've never been stuck in the dark, but it could happen...

theiceman

well to tell you the truth I ordered 2 oil caps , that is like the third time I have left th cap off.. doh...!!

PS at least we didn't let the ferrari guy drive away with his door open !!

imcarthur

Note to Self: Add a flashlight to my tool kit.

Glad you solved it ice. I have left the oil cap off in the past too . . . also the plastic cap for the coil sitting on the engine . . .

Ian

bourgeois911

Time to get a chain for that cap and attach it to the filler neck. Or, huge day-glo warning stickers.

911 Rod

Hey Ice,
Well at least it wasn't your hockey stick stuck in there!
Bin there got the t-****.
I noticed my cap on a shelf in the garage after 2 weeks since I checked the oil.
I left a pair of gloves on the engine and they fell into the belt and broke it.
DIY always an adventure.

Jastx

I love reading stories like this and commend you for sharing it. It shows we're all human and I know everyone can relate.

rscredon

Great story Ice. We have all been there and admire you for sharing it with us. I think my favorite part was making sure we understood which headlights your wife was shining on the engine.

Marc Shaw

Good story - so how long until the surfer dude is out of the hospital?

Marc

GothingNC

Iceman,

Glad you did not damage your fan or overheat the motor or dump oil all over the place.

At least oil caps are cheap

I left my locking gas cap for my VW Thing at a gas station a few years back.
$90 for a new one
Found a used non-locking one for $20

Peter Zimmermann

ice: When I was an apprentice one of my very early lessons was, "You Dummkopf, you vill never leave anysing in ze engine compartment! NO parts, no tools, no oil rags, nussing!!" About the third time I got screamed at by my psycho German boss, who, by the way, was factory trained, I figured out that when you take off an oil cap it goes on the tool box. If you forget to put it back on the next time you balance it on the toe of your shoe. The second part of the lesson was, "Achtung! You vill not put ze tools or ze parts in your pockets, you Dummkopf! Vaht vill happen to ze seat in ze car if you sit viss a screwdriver in your back pocket?" followed by indistinct muttering. At the time I didn't think of it as a valuable lesson, I actually would have preferred to take the screwdriver out of my back pocket and... But instead, I obediently put the screwdriver on my tool box and returned to the task at hand. Lessons...
Pete

theiceman

those are invaluabe lessons Pete.. and so true .. I actually hsvr s dnt in the engine lid under the tasil that broke right through the paint from my screwdriver I left in their. Buy that's a story for another day ...

theiceman

tomorrow if I have time I will post a pic of my aereated oil cap...

Porscheby40

Glad to hear everything worked out OK. That must have been very frustrating answering the surfer dude's questions while you were trying to free the oil cap. I've had similar people ask me silly questions when working on a diasbled car and it made me want to scream