TorqueChap

This is my first post on Rennlist. First, wonderful to meet all of you! I have a 993TT as well as a 993C4SAero.

Was driving the 993TT last night and electrical problems seemed to manifest themselves. First the radio died, then my radar went out.... (I was thinking "not good, at that moment")... then the left front headlight.... and then all the lights. It was as if the car just slowly started to shut down. The car couldn't be restarted and was flat bed towed home.

Does this sound like a simple fuse problem? Or does it sound like something more complex? I'd hate to replace the fuse and then have to flatbed the car a second time in 12 hours!

Thanks for your thoughts Rennlisters!

Paul M

Battery. Alternator going bad? Bad relay, maybe?

CalvinC4S

Your alt belt still in place?

01coccobet

seems like a solar bust radiation or a ufo addiction...................

kidding

not able to help you

tigerrat

Would it crank/no start of wouldn't do anything? No ALT warning light or such? Low voltage can cause strange things. Battery voltage at rest? When you try to start?

TorqueChap

Thanks for the questions:

After the first time the car "shut down" I let it sit for a few minutes. Then was able to restart it with full functionality and drove a few more miles before the same symptoms reappeared. Radio died. Radar died. Left front headlight died. Car died.

When I tried to restart the car the battery sounded very weak. It cranked a little bit before dying. No Alt light was present. Alt belt appears fine. Flashers and interior light still worked fine. (No UFOs were sighted.)

As a precursor to all of this, earlier last night I was driving and heard a sound like a stuck wiper. Sounded like something quietly died. Then 3 ABS lights and the battery idiot light came on. They stayed on until the above symptoms presented themselves later into the evening.

Car is at mechanic's right now. Hoping to get a sense of what I'm dealing with so the mechanic doesn't waste time with unnecessary diagnostics...

Thanks again, all, for your thoughts!

CalvinC4S

I don't know how well you know your car so the question.

Did you have two belts to the alt/fan ?

This sounds exactly like an alternator belt.

tigerrat

Still sounds like a weak battery so would check out the alternator and charging circuit first. Hopefully just the alt. or voltage regulator. Ken

Garth S

First thing I would do is pull the battery terminals and clean them - and make sure that they were tight.

If a digital voltmeter is available, the first step is to measure voltage at the battery terminals - and then at the cable connectors: they must read the same, or you will be doing the R&R noted above.

If the battery is <12.3v, and cables clean & tight, recharge the battery and restart the engine: if the battery voltage in not near 14V, the alternator is dead. If the battery will not take a full charge, it has died ......

TorqueChap

Update:
As the car broke down on a dark highway at 3am, I was unable to visually inspect the engine bay.StrekThe mechanic just told me that the alternator belt failed so ALL belts are now being replaced.

Thank you all for such a robust response to my first Rennlist post! Deeply obliged and excited about being a member of this forum.