Thaddeus

I was under Sparky this morning changing the oil and so on (what a mess) and I noticed that air duct hose wasn't firmly attached to the alternator. It's sort of 3/4 on. I fiddled with it for about 5 minutes without success, and Since I was dealing with a deluge of dirty Mobil1, I didn't care to fiddle any longer.

Is this a critical thing? What happens if I go a couple of weeks with it not attached?

thanks

Thaddeus

Olli Snellman

air duct is there because of turbo heat. You can damage your altrenator if air ducting is not working.

Thaddeus

Oh, Poop.

Thanks for the reply Olli.

alpenweissisnice

Seems like over-engineering, but it has been my experience that Porsche didn't do that kind of thing without good reason...

pete944

How about on a non turbo. That hose fell off the S2 today and I ran it over. Should I replace it right away or can it wait a little while?

IceShark

Missing the hose isn't the end of the world but I wouldn't let it go for too long. Especially if you do hard runs. It is sort of like running a quart low on oil. Best to take care of it sooner rather than later especially since it is summer in the northern hemisphere.

Besides being hard on diode life you will see a drop in the voltage output without the hose because those diodes and voltage regulator are starting to cook and they do not like heat.

pete944

Ok, I'll get a new hose.

Iceshark, are you still selling voltage regulators? My car has 175K on it and I'm sure it's the original regulator. The gauge read just over 12V at cruise speed with no accessories on. It seems kinda low to me.

dave120

I just ordered a new hose for my alternator since my old one is dried and and cracking all over the place. It's probably not a bad idea to keep it on..but if you look at where it sits I can't see how too much air can get jammed in there, but if Porsche decided that it needs to be there I'm not gonna say I know any better!

IceShark

Sure am Pete. $21 with the shipping. just send me an e-mail at wraydan@msn.com and I tell you where to send the check. 12v is REALLY low with no fans, headlights, etc, on. Replace the regulator and hose and you should see a good improvement.

Dave, do you have the forward scoop the hose clamps onto? You will be drawing the forward cooler air up there so it will help a lot. And the alternator fan is *drawing* its cooling air from up front not necessarily relying on a ram effect.

adrial

Woops, I've been running without the house for the past 2 years I've had the car...

Who knows how long it was missing prior to that...

My alternator still works, so its not something that is neccesary immediately IMO. I see 14.x volts at the battery. (I dont remember exactly what I measured).

dave120

Yeah it's all there. I've just never seen another car that had alternator cooling besides these. And being an EE STUDENT, I don't know my way around electrical components too well YET..but I hope to before I graduate lol. Altho concepts like cooling things that get hot are pretty much no-brainers.

Plus I pretty much don't take chances with anything on this car..can't afford to have too many big issues on my limited budget so preventative maintenance is the key.