Charley B

Socal Girl. If you care to PM the e-mail address and the mechanic's or managers name at the repair shop to me, I would be happy to try a little intervention.

I don't think you have any thing to lose at this point.

Charley B

Water will dissapate almost immediately, but I suspect oil or ATF between the windings and the brushes could interrupt the efficacy of a charging system.
I think the point here though, is that there doesn't seem to be any evidence that the charging system wasn't doing it's job.
The car has always started under it's own power. Not entirely conclusive, but pretty certainly instructive.

Jim bailey - 928 International

My wife's 79 the volt guage always read 10-12 volts BUT The battery never went down which means the alternator was charging enough 13 plus to fill the battery back up and it ran like that for YEARS.

morganabowen

I would encourage any 928 owner to keep their AAA dues current. However, again, ask Oscar to recommend a local 928 wrench for convenience sake

Charley B

Alternators are funny animals. I recently replaced one on the Town Car. The idiot light had been coming on for the past five years with no particular pattern. On for a month, off for two months, on for a week etc. but no other symtoms or battery problems. However, for five years, while driving at nite, the headlights would dim for an instant, again with no particular pattern of occurrence but with some regularity.
One nite on the way home the lights began to flick on and off, the car began to miss and finally died. I coasted off a ramp, checked under the hood, found nothing out of the ordinary, and got back in the car. It started right up and off I went.
Two miles later I was hitching a ride on a flatbed home.
The next morning it started right up and I drove it down to autozone for an alternator check.
It checked out fine. I bought one anyway, installed it and it has been trouble free ever since.
Now the idiot light never comes on and the headlights never dim for an instant.
Go figure.

Landseer

I'm glad to hear that you are still excited about the 928.

A number of us were genuinely worried for you, as more than one of us were surprised on our first "buy" with large, expensive mechanical and electrical problems. Now, my impression is you made a pretty good buy and have been getting good use of the car, right?

Keep the faith. Call Jim, connect with others too, use the list, we help each other.

dr bob

There are easy actions to take if you feel you are being defrauded. First thing is to pay by check, but make the check out to the State Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Automotive Repair. That will get your car and your parts back. The check can't be cashed by the repair guy until there's a hearing at BAR. If the repair guy balks at this, look for the big sign that's hanging in pain view at the shop, the one with the BAR 800 number on it. Call that number in front of the repair guy, explain your situation briefly, and they will give you instructions. They will also give the repair guy instructions to release your car.

The cases get reviewed by a panel of folks who are a mix of car repair 'experts' from the industry, along with consumer affairs folks and consumer advocates. It tends to be a balanced panel. They hear both sides of the discussion and render a verdict. You may want to take a car-capable attorney with you, but you'll get good instructions from BAR when you talk to them. Be sure to keep detailed notes, copies of all estimates, bills, and a log of all conversations you had with the repair guy.

The Great and Socialist Republic of California has some good and bad things going on, but there's some good done by BAR to prevent fraud like this, if there is in fact fraud. BAR licenses these shops, and the shops get dinged when there is a cpmplaint filed. In many cases, just the threat of opening a case with BAR is enough to get the repair guy to snap to his senses. Even without the possibility of losing a case at BAR, he's watching 'his' money go to BAR escrow instead of his dinner table, wher it might languish for months before the hearing and final resolution.

Without insulting your femaleness, I would also suggest that you take a capable, lucid, and perhaps physically-imposing male along with you to pick up the car and your pieces. If nothing else, you'll have a witness to anything the repair place might try. If nothing else it will cut down any possible intimidation.


-----

The last time I was involved directly in a situation like this, my sister-in-law was having a problem at her local Toyota store. They were trying to jam her for repairs to damage done to the car that were a result of their work. In 15 mins she was in a rental car at their expense while they ordered the parts they needed. I sealed the car to make sure they didn't tamper with it while parts were on the way. I also monitored the repair to make sure it was done right. The service manager was blowing a lot of smoke until I suggested that we call BAR and open a case right then. From that point it was all business, yes-sir no-sir, of course we'll take care of that for you. And they did. I've been on both sides of the BAR discussion, and it's an ordeal that the repair guys hate. It will likely cost you a few hours of preparation if you go through the whole process, but your cost won't exceed the invoice amount so your only risk is your time. The repair shop risks the contested money, plus a fine. They have an incentive to settle.

Charley B

When I offered to do an intervention I was thinking, " this should really be a job for Dr. Bob".

Now everyone knows why.

rjm65

If I was a mechanic, or owned a garage, and there was a female customer threatening to call the BAR and she is catching the attention of the other customers that happen to be at the facility at the time.... that's scareeeeeyyyy!

Who needs a big tough guy for that?

Sometimes in a situation like this, if she brings a guy along, the salesperson/mechanic may then try to bypass the her and deal exclusively with the male friend because he can talk "sense" with him.

I'm not saying that's right, just saying how things usually are. All of you that are married know this, can you ever really win an arguement with your wife?

Stylemobile

When i WAS married, it was easy to win a disagreement with my wife. All i had to do was say "OK Honey, you're right' and she would cave in to my apology and cease arguing.......

Randy V

Well, I had the unit bench tested then did the R&R myself, Jim.

So yes, cause and effect were proven. By me.

socalgirl

Gentlemen..this threw me off!!!
I will call autozone to see if they can test it for me... But will it be a "clear" pass or fail???

KraigG

The battery on my '80 kept dying every couple of days. When I had it in to the German mechanic, I mentioned that to him. I also had a power steering pump leak. Told him I wasn't ready for a rebuild on that pump just yet, but he insisted that it be done. Even offered to split the cost with me, as he didn't like the oil all over the floor, and was afraid that the leak would reflct poorly on his reputation as a quality 928 mechanic. I agreed.

After he rebuilt the pump, and it stopped leaking, he removed the alternator, noted the brushes were soaked with oil. He cleaned the brushes with a special electronic parts cleaner. Now my alternator puts out 13.5 volts at high rpm, my battery no longer dies, and I have no more oil spots under the car. The mechanic was happier than I was, and I was pretty overjoyed!

Fabio421

They should be able to test it and tell you if it is bad or not. I'm not sure if they can get to it to test it while in the car. They could test the voltage at the battery while running and then again while the car is off. This is testing the entire circuit. If it tests good you know the entire circuit is good. If it tests bad, you don't know if its a wiring issue or if its the alternator.

Just stop by an Autozone and let us know how it goes. Good luck.

worf928

Sorry, I should have been more verbose. I had a case where a faulty alternator tested OK. However, not to date the reverse - where a good one tested as bad. You will (should) get a clear pass/fail. And it will likely be correct.