I DID IT!!! But. . .
08-29-2004, 10:31 AM
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I DID IT!!! But. . .
Sorry for the cross-post from the 944 forum; I'm not trying to be a post ***** (well, not this time anyway) but figure this is more appropriate for the turbo forum, since I actually get to come and play here now. . .
Well, I got a 951!
That's the good news (pictures are forthcoming).
The bad news is it died literally 15 minutes after picking it up. I had the little "!" lamp illuminated while driving it and figured it was just because there was virtually no fuel in it (the thing was well into the red - on fumes). I pulled into a gas station about 5 blocks from my place, put go-go juice in, checked the oil (again, even though I did before I left the guy's place where I bought it just 'cause I'm obsessive like that) and went to start it up. . . click. Nothing. Again. Click. Nothing. DAMMIT!!!
Tried pop-starting. Engine turned, fired a couple of times, then died. Nothing. I had a guy help push to get a little more speed for the pop-start - same problem. I asked a kindly guy in a van for a jump-start, vroom! Started right up, but as soon as the jumper cable was removed, RPMs dropped and the engine died again. Soooooo, I went home, grabbed the (known good) battery out of the 944 that's up on stands right now and went down, transplanted it into the 951 - vrooom. It started right up, but the damn "!" light is still on and voltage is showing very high on the scale (up over 14 it looks like). This seems to be an alternator / charging system problem of some sort (bugs the crap out of me too, 'cause the car was PERFECT when I test drove it before). I'm guessing this might be an overvoltage relay problem that's tripping the alternator off-line (?) Where is this located? What are the first things to check? Voltage regulator? How do I check?
Thanks all you 951-ers! Yes, pictures will come. . . But it must live again first. .
Well, I got a 951!
That's the good news (pictures are forthcoming).
The bad news is it died literally 15 minutes after picking it up. I had the little "!" lamp illuminated while driving it and figured it was just because there was virtually no fuel in it (the thing was well into the red - on fumes). I pulled into a gas station about 5 blocks from my place, put go-go juice in, checked the oil (again, even though I did before I left the guy's place where I bought it just 'cause I'm obsessive like that) and went to start it up. . . click. Nothing. Again. Click. Nothing. DAMMIT!!!
Tried pop-starting. Engine turned, fired a couple of times, then died. Nothing. I had a guy help push to get a little more speed for the pop-start - same problem. I asked a kindly guy in a van for a jump-start, vroom! Started right up, but as soon as the jumper cable was removed, RPMs dropped and the engine died again. Soooooo, I went home, grabbed the (known good) battery out of the 944 that's up on stands right now and went down, transplanted it into the 951 - vrooom. It started right up, but the damn "!" light is still on and voltage is showing very high on the scale (up over 14 it looks like). This seems to be an alternator / charging system problem of some sort (bugs the crap out of me too, 'cause the car was PERFECT when I test drove it before). I'm guessing this might be an overvoltage relay problem that's tripping the alternator off-line (?) Where is this located? What are the first things to check? Voltage regulator? How do I check?
Thanks all you 951-ers! Yes, pictures will come. . . But it must live again first. .
08-29-2004, 11:02 AM
#2
Sounds like a bad alternator/battery issue to me to but I don't know enough to give you troubleshooting advice. I don't think it would be an overvoltage problem because the car ran with the cables connected. I'm thinking under current......
08-29-2004, 01:05 PM
#5
Sounds like when the alternator was going out of my 951. The "!" light would flicker very lightly and then it eventually just went all the way dead. The voltage regulator is located on the back of the alternato, I changed that a few times on the car before the alt. went dead, but when it was bad I don't think the "!" was ever coming on so probably your alt.
08-29-2004, 01:59 PM
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The battery terminals look pretty clean, but I'll check more closely. Where are the main ground points I should also look at? The one in the battery area itself appears clean also; haven't looked at the starter though.
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08-29-2004, 03:53 PM
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A+. I just figured out the problem - alternator belt (the polyrib belt that goes to the a/c compressor & alternator) is snapped. I just couldn't see it before what with all the "951 junk" (hoses, pipes and stuff) in the way. Whew! An easy fix. I'm downstairs to repair it and (hopefully) have it up and going later this afternoon. Pics will be coming then. . .
Thanks all - hopefully there's an easy explaination as to why the belt snapped - The P.O. mentioned that the a/c compressor clutch was going (we reached that conclusion based on a clutch / burning smell and poor a/c performance when the system was engaged, there's definitely freon in the system so the compressor itself is fine) so maybe the clutch pulley siezed up and popped the belt. If so, no big deal - I have a spare compressor off the 944 that I can grab the pulley off of, I think it's only one bolt and can be done without moving anything other than loosening the tensioner to get the replacement belt on it. The a/c system itself is fine (there's freon in the system and it works, albeit it was working poorly before, probably due to the ailing compressor clutch). At least I think I finally understand what's going on.
Thanks for the help / input.
Thanks all - hopefully there's an easy explaination as to why the belt snapped - The P.O. mentioned that the a/c compressor clutch was going (we reached that conclusion based on a clutch / burning smell and poor a/c performance when the system was engaged, there's definitely freon in the system so the compressor itself is fine) so maybe the clutch pulley siezed up and popped the belt. If so, no big deal - I have a spare compressor off the 944 that I can grab the pulley off of, I think it's only one bolt and can be done without moving anything other than loosening the tensioner to get the replacement belt on it. The a/c system itself is fine (there's freon in the system and it works, albeit it was working poorly before, probably due to the ailing compressor clutch). At least I think I finally understand what's going on.
Thanks for the help / input.
08-29-2004, 09:55 PM
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Hehe. I've actually seen him driving around town here once or twice; I've yet to bump into him at Auto Zone though. 
His shop is pretty cool; his craftsmanship is incredible. You can get right up close to the bikes and look at the weld joints and detail work - it's virtually flawless. All 100% hand-made too (well, except for the engines).
His shop is pretty cool; his craftsmanship is incredible. You can get right up close to the bikes and look at the weld joints and detail work - it's virtually flawless. All 100% hand-made too (well, except for the engines).
08-29-2004, 10:00 PM
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A broken belt is kind of wierd. Did you have a pre-purchase inspection? That should have revealed a broken belt. When were the timing belts last replaced? Do you have documents to prove it?
08-30-2004, 12:24 AM
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T-belts were last done about 6 months ago. When I checked them (I pulled the front cover off to look today as a matter of prudence) they looked fine, tension seems about correct based on what I've seen before on other 951s at t-belt parties, etc. The culprit is (I suspect) the a/c compressor clutch starting to go. Here are the pieces of the puzzle:
The a/c compressor clutch has definitely started to go bad (it doesn't "freewheel" as nicely as it should). I have a spare Nippondenso compressor and on that one, you can flick the pulley wheel with one finger and it'll spin one or two full revolutions before it stops. On the one in the car, there is some resistance. I don't know if those pulleys ride on bearings or not, but if so, it behaves very much like something with a bad bearing or several.
A couple of weeks ago when I took the car out for a drive, I noticed that there was a foul smell coming from the vents whenever the a/c system was engaged. There also was a hint of smoke from down in the depths of the engine when I shut it off. I suspected that it was the a/c clutch going bad (I had one die on me on an old Firebird I used to own, and this smelled / acted similarly). I had a mechanic give it a look-see without taking anything apart and he immediately concluded that it was the a/c compressor clutch as well. Since the a/c system actually did work (freon bubbles were visible in the receiver / drier) I strongly suspected that the compressor was fine and the clutch was the "bad" part. Everything thus far seems to support this.
I imagine my running the system and attempting to pin down the foul smell / smokiness probably either (1) heated up the a/c pulley quite a bit to the point where it was badly weakened and "let go" on the next start-up, (2) the belt was a little bit loose and the a/c pulley resistance just "popped" it, or (3) the belt was old (it does look a tad dated) and just "let go", possibly exascerbated by one of the two above factors.
In any event, it should run for a while until I can afford to get a new a/c compressor clutch and figure out how to get it on the existing compressor. The good news is there's absolutely nothing wrong with the electrical system except the voltage gauge continuously indicates "off the scale" - up over 16. I suspect this to be a gauge malfunction of some sort; I have no issues with fuses blowing, headlights being overly bright, etc. I'll look into this as a separate issue.
I tried to remove the compressor clutch from my spare Nippondenso compressor, but was unable to do so. It appears to be yet another case where a special tool is required. Has anyone done this? It'd be really nice to just transplant and be done with it.
The a/c compressor clutch has definitely started to go bad (it doesn't "freewheel" as nicely as it should). I have a spare Nippondenso compressor and on that one, you can flick the pulley wheel with one finger and it'll spin one or two full revolutions before it stops. On the one in the car, there is some resistance. I don't know if those pulleys ride on bearings or not, but if so, it behaves very much like something with a bad bearing or several.
A couple of weeks ago when I took the car out for a drive, I noticed that there was a foul smell coming from the vents whenever the a/c system was engaged. There also was a hint of smoke from down in the depths of the engine when I shut it off. I suspected that it was the a/c clutch going bad (I had one die on me on an old Firebird I used to own, and this smelled / acted similarly). I had a mechanic give it a look-see without taking anything apart and he immediately concluded that it was the a/c compressor clutch as well. Since the a/c system actually did work (freon bubbles were visible in the receiver / drier) I strongly suspected that the compressor was fine and the clutch was the "bad" part. Everything thus far seems to support this.
I imagine my running the system and attempting to pin down the foul smell / smokiness probably either (1) heated up the a/c pulley quite a bit to the point where it was badly weakened and "let go" on the next start-up, (2) the belt was a little bit loose and the a/c pulley resistance just "popped" it, or (3) the belt was old (it does look a tad dated) and just "let go", possibly exascerbated by one of the two above factors.
In any event, it should run for a while until I can afford to get a new a/c compressor clutch and figure out how to get it on the existing compressor. The good news is there's absolutely nothing wrong with the electrical system except the voltage gauge continuously indicates "off the scale" - up over 16. I suspect this to be a gauge malfunction of some sort; I have no issues with fuses blowing, headlights being overly bright, etc. I'll look into this as a separate issue.
I tried to remove the compressor clutch from my spare Nippondenso compressor, but was unable to do so. It appears to be yet another case where a special tool is required. Has anyone done this? It'd be really nice to just transplant and be done with it.