I have a 1996 Cabriolet Tiptronic. I was driving back from the local PCA breakfast and as soon as i pulled off of the freeway the stereo died. About a minute later the ABS light, the TIP light and the airbag light came on and the shifter switched from manual to D. It felt like the car was in fourth gear and wouldn't switch to any other gear. The car was not over heating, pressure, temperature and oil tank levels were normal. I tried to limp it home since I was only a couple of miles from home, but little by little I had no power and ended up pulling to the side of the road. I then checked all the fuses and looked the car over. Everything looked normal. However now the car won't start. I ended up towing it home. After I got it home I turned the key and the stereo came back on. The car would not start with an indication the battery was dead. I am going to try to charge it back up and see if it starts. I will also plug into the ODB2 with my notebook and see if any of the codes makes sense.

Any ideas??

 

Sounds like the classic "your alternator is about to die" / "your alternator needs food badly" symptoms. I had this happen to me luckily only 15 miles from home on a 200 mile road trip. The brushes last up to 70k miles or so but they are a wear item.

-reiner

 

interesting... I charged the battery up and the car now starts up no problem, but the Tip light, ABS light and air bag light are still stuck on. I also can't put the car in manual drive and its a nasty clunk when I put it in reverse. Tomorrow I will put the OBD2 tool on and see what it says. I might also put it up on the lift and check the auto trans fluid level.

 

This also happened to me when I had my Turbo 3.6, and it was the alternator. Could also be a totally buggered battery. It won't be much what ever it is.
The electrical systems in these cars are not the most modern!
It was so embarassing pulling over to the side of the road when it **** itself too.

 

Thanks guys for the help!! I will check out the battery and alternator. Coincidence, i just did the pulley update with new belts last weekend.

 

Based on what you've said, it's either your alternator or may simply be the tension on the belt.

I've had a bit of experience with both issues ...............

The same thing happen to my 968 at Pocono North Course in '07. Left the track to grab lunch at the Wawa a few miles away. Parked the car, picked up a few things, jumped back in the car and it was dead. Found someone to give me a jump but only made it a mile or so down the road before the ABS light came on and then everything just died. After hitching a ride back to the track and then to the auto parts store, we came up with a band-aid solution that salvaged my track weekend, and even got me home - I bought a second battery!
With the run sessions lasting approx. 25 minutes, I could just barely get through a session on a fully charged battery while the 2nd battery was sitting on the charger. With a similar swap on the side of the road this scenario, along with no A/C, closed windows and as low rpm as possible, worked to get me safely back home - over a 75 mile ride. The key to knowing the battery is just about to give out is the ABS light coming on - it's the first thing to go as the juice dies down.

Even more bizarre (and a further testament to why you should check your belt tension first) is that when I had the new alternator installed, my mechanic forgot to reinstall the tension bar that pushes the alternator out to keep tension on that belt. My next track event was down at Summit Point - a 230 mile ride. The car was fine going down to WV and through the first couple of sessions, however as I was heading out to get gas in town, bingo .......... on comes the ABS light!!!! I managed to make it back to the track where we all realized the tension bar was missing (my mechanic was at the event too!). In true trackside fashion he managed to rig up a way to keep tension on the belt with trailer tie down strap and some wire. Another weekend saved!

So hopefully your problem is just an incorrect tension on the belt from the pulley update work. If that's not the case and it is the alternator, and you don't need the car as DD, you could save a few bucks by having yours rebuilt rather than running out to buy a new one.

Trevor

 

Probably not a coincidence. This might sound silly, but check to make sure your alt belt is still there.

 

Thanks Matt!! The belt is still there. It does seem a little tight. I do not have a gauge to check the belt tension. I wonder if I could of destroyed the bearings with the belt being tight. Otherwise the belts look fine. It is the alternator though. I charged the battery and the voltage is 12.9 volts on my meter. With the motor running the voltage drops down to around 11v volts, so I know the alternator is not charging the battery.

 

Steve, believe it or not, I slightly bent an alternator shaft by tightening the belt too much. Belts kept breaking until I realized out what was wrong (duh.) Broken belt of course acts like a bad alternator...

Sounds like your alternator is toast, though.

 

It turned out to be one to many spacers in the hub. I thought the belt was too tight, so I had three spacers in there. I noticed in the manual there was only two, so for the hell of it I took one out. All the goofy useless idiot lights went out except for the correct one which was the battery light. I reved the engine up a little and the battery light went out like its supposed to. I then checked the battery with a meter and now the voltage is over 14volts, so I now know that the alternator is working. I am so used to the early 911 engines with no electronics except maybe a DME, that the 993 threw me for a loop. Bizarre that a non working alternator would kill the tiptronic and ABS and make all the idiot lights light up. It would of been more obvious if only the battery light lit up like an early 911.

Thanks again for everyone's help!!! This site is amazing for 993 support.

 

Might not also hurt to clean the battery terminals, & make sure there tight.