battery light comes on intermittantly. This is supposed to be an idication of a fan/alternator broken belt but the light comes on only once in a while. Strange that the first time this happened was a year ago when I had the A C system checked for leaks and recharged. The shop soaked everything with soapy leak detector and then the battery light came on(ruined my trip to the Monterey Historics) After a few weeks I didn't see the light again till now. This is the strange part: I recharged the A C system myself this time (134a conversion) and now the red light is acting up again after not seeing it for about 10 months. I unplugged the A C system electrical when the light was on with no change and I don't see how they could be associated anyway. Probably just a strange coincidance. The alternator was rebuilt about a month befor the problem first started so it is about 13 months old. Belt tension seems good and belt is about a year old. Porsche is the featured mark this year at the Historics so need it fixed real soon. Any ideas?

 

Check how many volts you are getting at the battery? Should be about 13.5V IIRC. If not, check your battery connections, the pos wires at the starter (the power goes through there to the battery) and your grounds (battery and trans to body).

My thought with the AC is that when the compressor kicks on, it puts more load on the engine and the alternator doesn't put out as much?

Seems to me rebuilt alternators don't last. That's my experience any way.

 

The red light finally stayed on long enough for me to clean all the connections and go through most of the relevant wiring. After all the checks, the light was still on and didn't leave me with much choice other than to pull the nearly new alternator for a bench check. Sure enough, the alternator was bad and the added drag of the a c system was probably just enough to put it over the edge. At least I hope thats all there is. Off to Monterey Historics in about 3 weeks