Porsche People (long and a bit OT)
05-26-2006, 11:03 PM
#1
Super Duper Moderator
Lifetime Rennlist
Member
Lifetime Rennlist
Member
Thread Starter
Porsche People (long and a bit OT)
I just thought I'd tell you all a little story about the last few days I've been through and how some very special Porsche people made it all work out.
As you may know, earlier this week I headed to Tremblant for the first DE of the season. From where I live, this is about an 11 hour drive (each way).
I had 2 great days on the track (Monday & Tuesday) but had some trouble when I went to start my car to leave the track Tuesday evening.......the warning "gong" sounded and I had the "!" light on with the PDAS and ABS lights on. Odd, I thought so I restarted the car - same thing again.
I happened to have my Hammer with me (someone else had wanted to clear some codes on their car that day) so I put in on - all clear. A third restart gave me the same errors. I crept forwards in the track parking lot and the brakes worked so I figured I'd head to the hotel and research it all on Renlist - lo and behold, when I revved the engine to pull out, the lights all then went out. However, halfway to the hotel, the alternator light came on weakly.
The next morning, the alternator light was still on weakly (but no other lights can on) as I drove to the track for the third and final day....the sun was shining so I was pumped for a great day. Before the tech. line, I tightened the alternator belt and the light went out! Great - problem fixed!
However, about 10 minutes into the first session, I got a Christmas tree of error lights on the dash so pitted early. As I had put a new battery in over the winter, I thought I might have a dud Optima. I planned to drive into town and get the battery load tested at the local garage -- the car would not start -- the battery was totally dead....and remember, I am 11 hours away from home.
This is where the Porsche people come in:
My instructor (Dave K.) who also happends to hang out here loaned my his beautiful Toureg to take the battery into town and get it load tested and charged. More bad news - the battery was flat (6.5v) but fine (the load test was normal) which means the problem was the alternator. Any idea how hard it is to find an alternator for a 15 year old German sports car?
Dave then gave me free use of his Toureg to get things sorted out as I had to go back to the garage again once the battery was charged. Remember, I just met him for the first time but he gives me his keys and sends me on my way - loaning me his cell 'phone at the same time!
As this was my first time at Tremblant, I only knew Dave and Bob Rouleau. Bob then put me in touch with Kapriyel Ferah of Auto Ferah (Lasalle, QC - no affiliation, obviously). Kapriyel called around the suppliers he knew but could not locate an alternator either.
Kapriyel then offers me the alternator out of his own car! He is at the track with a Ferrari but has a 964 too. If I can get my car to his garage the next day, he'll remove it from this car and put it into mine so I can manage to get home.
Dave then cut his day short (missing his last two sessions of the day - my day was already shot!) and loads my dead car onto his trailer. We then head to Kapriyel's garage with me driving his track-prepped (ie. loud and stiff) 964 C2. The next day, Kapriyel installed the alternator into my car (fixing the seized belt sensor roller at the same time) and charged me a very fair price.
I completed the 11 hour drive home today with no further mechanical or electrical problems.
Sorry for being so long-winded but I wanted to lay out for you the various people who helped me out so much.
I want to thank Bob for hooking me up with Kapriyel. I also want to really thank Kapriyel for taking time out of his busy day to fix my car as well as removing the parts off his own car so that it could be fixed. Most of all I want to thank Dave for loaning me his truck and cell 'phone as well as for cutting his day short and trailering my car down to the garage for repair.
That is my story - Porsche people do what they can to help out. I'll be back to Tremblant in August and hopefully I won't have any more car problems!
Marc
As you may know, earlier this week I headed to Tremblant for the first DE of the season. From where I live, this is about an 11 hour drive (each way).
I had 2 great days on the track (Monday & Tuesday) but had some trouble when I went to start my car to leave the track Tuesday evening.......the warning "gong" sounded and I had the "!" light on with the PDAS and ABS lights on. Odd, I thought so I restarted the car - same thing again.
I happened to have my Hammer with me (someone else had wanted to clear some codes on their car that day) so I put in on - all clear. A third restart gave me the same errors. I crept forwards in the track parking lot and the brakes worked so I figured I'd head to the hotel and research it all on Renlist - lo and behold, when I revved the engine to pull out, the lights all then went out. However, halfway to the hotel, the alternator light came on weakly.
The next morning, the alternator light was still on weakly (but no other lights can on) as I drove to the track for the third and final day....the sun was shining so I was pumped for a great day. Before the tech. line, I tightened the alternator belt and the light went out! Great - problem fixed!
However, about 10 minutes into the first session, I got a Christmas tree of error lights on the dash so pitted early. As I had put a new battery in over the winter, I thought I might have a dud Optima. I planned to drive into town and get the battery load tested at the local garage -- the car would not start -- the battery was totally dead....and remember, I am 11 hours away from home.
This is where the Porsche people come in:
My instructor (Dave K.) who also happends to hang out here loaned my his beautiful Toureg to take the battery into town and get it load tested and charged. More bad news - the battery was flat (6.5v) but fine (the load test was normal) which means the problem was the alternator. Any idea how hard it is to find an alternator for a 15 year old German sports car?
Dave then gave me free use of his Toureg to get things sorted out as I had to go back to the garage again once the battery was charged. Remember, I just met him for the first time but he gives me his keys and sends me on my way - loaning me his cell 'phone at the same time!
As this was my first time at Tremblant, I only knew Dave and Bob Rouleau. Bob then put me in touch with Kapriyel Ferah of Auto Ferah (Lasalle, QC - no affiliation, obviously). Kapriyel called around the suppliers he knew but could not locate an alternator either.
Kapriyel then offers me the alternator out of his own car! He is at the track with a Ferrari but has a 964 too. If I can get my car to his garage the next day, he'll remove it from this car and put it into mine so I can manage to get home.
Dave then cut his day short (missing his last two sessions of the day - my day was already shot!) and loads my dead car onto his trailer. We then head to Kapriyel's garage with me driving his track-prepped (ie. loud and stiff) 964 C2. The next day, Kapriyel installed the alternator into my car (fixing the seized belt sensor roller at the same time) and charged me a very fair price.
I completed the 11 hour drive home today with no further mechanical or electrical problems.
Sorry for being so long-winded but I wanted to lay out for you the various people who helped me out so much.
I want to thank Bob for hooking me up with Kapriyel. I also want to really thank Kapriyel for taking time out of his busy day to fix my car as well as removing the parts off his own car so that it could be fixed. Most of all I want to thank Dave for loaning me his truck and cell 'phone as well as for cutting his day short and trailering my car down to the garage for repair.
That is my story - Porsche people do what they can to help out. I'll be back to Tremblant in August and hopefully I won't have any more car problems!
Marc
05-27-2006, 12:46 PM
#5
Pro
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 607
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A heartening story, but a perfectly normal chain of events in southern europe. ( beyond the offering of self's alternator, which is going above and beyond, in any case ) here we would be intrigued if left alone and not outright helped by dozens of other guys.
it is always fantastic to find people which are people.
Miguel
it is always fantastic to find people which are people.
Miguel
