sslandry

I searched this forum and could not find any help so I am posting a thread. If there is already threads on this then please direct me and my apologies.

I have recently developed an electrical problem that is frying my battery. I noticed my headlights dimming sporadically with no obvious relationship to RPM, defroster, fan, AC etc... Next I began notice a consistent fart/sulfur smell from the vents, so I checked the battery as that was the only source of sulphur I know of in a car and it was hot as hell. My temp gun read almost 200 F !! All the other electrical stuff works fine and the car drives great. Any thoughts? I'm scared to drive it and have a fire.

Thanks,
Scott

Amber Gramps

I'd put a VOA multi-meter on your voltage regulator. You could be generating too much votlage. If you are up in the 18v range you could really cause trouble.

abe

Voltage regulator...don't know what car you have. Have fun replacing...not too hard.
abe

sslandry

Checked the voltage going to the battery and it surged as high as 19volts at about 2400 rpm so I will order a new regulator and see if that fixes it. Thanks a bunch guys. You may have saved me some major bucks!

wwest

There is a small module, RFI/EMI filter, between the regulator and alternator that often fails and can be removed easily connector to connector.

User 4221

The most your battery should see if 14.5V and something as low as 12.8V. Anything above 14.5 is a regulator and below 12.8 is the alternator.

Looks like wwest may have the answer. Great tip!

sslandry

I have an 89 3.2 Carrera. Do I need to take off the fan to get to the regulator or is it one of those things mounted to the left side of the engine compartment?

theiceman

nope your regulator is built into your alternator and the whole thing has to come out. it is really not to difficult at all. you should be able to tak the stuff off the housing, unbolt the big clamp and tip it forwars, then you can undo the alternator plastis shroud and then take offf the wires..

then the whole thing just lifts out , then just take it to bits . A bit of a pain but in no way difficult. unfortunately you hav an integrated regulator.. good time for a refurb of your alternator ..

rusnak

The regulator should come right off, after the alternator is out, as already mentioned. Do not overtighten the small six (6) nuts on the back of the alternator. Half of them are used to hold the air guide on (see Engine, page 105)http://www.porsche.com/all/media/pdf...89_KATALOG.pdf

I don't think the fan technically speaking needs to come off, just the alternator that sits inside the fan shroud. Before tightening the alternator clamp strap, try spinning the fan by hand. It ought to turn smoothly without scraping the fan shroud. If your fan scrapes on the fan shroud, the nut opposite of the spot where the scraping is occuring should be tightened. This will center the fan back in the shroud. Do this test fit before putting the fan belt back on and firing up the motor.

butzip

And make sure your battery is disconnected when you are removing and reinstalling the alt wires!! Otherwise, sparky sparky...... As mentioned this is a good time to r&r the alternator and spruce up the fan.

scotch brite it down, grey self-etch it and then use Rustoleum stainless steel the end result is great! see below.

theiceman

actually come to think of it , he doesn't havr t take anything off onc he removes the shroud with the six nuts. the regulator sits right there and can be replaced.

rusnak

Yes, that is what I was trying to say. Remove the fan and alternator as a unit. The fan can get stuck on the alternator shaft, and since the regulator is so easy to replace, you would be making the job more difficult to try to tap the fan off just to put it back. I did restore my fan with rust inhibitor back to the pale yellow color, but that was when I was doing a complete fan shroud replacement.