Zookie

well after a full day of sitting in my Garage, my car is fine... very Wierd... What does this mean? is my Alternator is on its way out? Bad Battery? I dint touch anything except Boost my car twice today AM & PM...

mjh1

Zookie, How did it go today, any issues?
Keep me posted, I have noticed that my volt gauge is up at 14 or just a hair above, it use to be just a little below, did you notice any change?
Do you drive yours in the rain, (I generally do not), ever had any issue's?

Zookie

It went perfect today car ran like nothing was worng with it.

my Volt meter reads normal just around 13v

I drive my car eveyday regardless of weather in Sun, Rain or Snow never had this kinda of issue, only this time after i washed it, maybe i got Water on the Volt Regulator on the Alternator...

mjh1

Glad to hear it's OK, mine has not happened again either

Zookie

this is some crazy **** eh!. i say we have a riot outside the porsche dealer like they did in Vancouver

targa996

If you were getting 16V adn the guage is good (should measure it at the battery with multimeter) at that point to make sure - most likely is voltage regulator.

Battery cannot get that high itself - and if you are getting 16V charge - means the alternator is working - but regulator is bad (i'm not sure on my 996 if the regulator can be replaced separately from the alt. ?) If you were lucky, maybe something just got wet around that area and caused the regulator to malfunction - once dry it could go back to normal - but you don't want to run at overvoltage for too long - else you could damage some more expensive parts ....

mjh1

My volt meter reads just above the 14V line is that to high? I will check with a multimeter over the weekend to what it really is.

Zookie

yes it should be Less than Half Way between 12 and 14V

targa996

Battery should be between 11.8V and 12.4v or so with ingition on, but engine off - low voltage at this point would indicate bad battery or poor ground somewhere.

WIth engine running at idle (no lights on or AC) you should be around 13.8V if regulator is working - again this might vary a little - I wouldn't worry about slightly over 14, but 15-16 is way too high (again unless it is bad guage)

Zookie

Well it happend again today, washed my car, then started it and boom "Battery/Genarator Fail" no ABS, PMS light this time just the Battery Light and Whine from the back (which was there last time)... Car ran perfect since Thursaday untill this afternoon i washed it carefully not to get the back too wet with water, when i was drying it i opened the Trunk and saw not a Drop of water on the Alternator... Its really wierd... I did notice some Water in my Battery Tray and most on the stuff in and around there is Wet but not Soaked... Im really confused... Volt Read 16v while driving and just under 14v at Idle...

Zookie

well the car was completely dead this am, i had to Boost it again... battery drained in 9 hours. But she fired up fine no Battery Light...

Ahsai

If you need to boost your car, either your battery is not holding charge or it's not being charged. Have you get your battery checked? If it's good, have you checked any battery drainage when car is OFF? It none of the above, most likely your alternator/regulator is failing or there's connection problem in the charging circuit.

fpb111

Sounds like you are getting water on the alternator/regulator (regulator lives on the back of the alternator faces the front of the car) Is your rear sunroof drain misaligned somehow allowing/channeling water intot he engine bay? Or maybe the drains on the sides of the water shield under the engine grill are clogged letting water collect and run into the engine bay onto the alternator?

To answer another Q on this thread the regulator can be changed.

Finding a voltage regulator
Through various sources I found and confirmed that the Bosch number for the regulator in the Porsche alternator is F-00M-145-225. It would appear that this part isn’t actually listed anywhere as a separate item, although I did manage to track one down on e-bay. All is not lost though, as the same part is available under different part numbers. Various websites cross reference the above part number with the regulator for various Volkswagens from the similar years as well as Audi’s and Mercedes. For reference a commonly available part seems to be the F-00M-145-350 or F-00M-145-341 for VW, Audi, and Mercedes which fit perfectly.

These sites reference the different part numbers and various companies offer a replacement part for the Bosch part. These companies usually only have one part number and list ALL the Bosch numbers as equivalents. Here are a few of several possible sources of information. I would like to suggest that you google the part numbers yourself to double check. I have satisfied myself but I cannot guarantee 100%. I can tell you that my car is behaving perfectly with the F 00M 145 350 part.

(Ref; http://www.woodauto.com/Component.aspx?Ref=VRG46473
OR
http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforu.../t-187174.html
OR
http://www.jnelectric.com/bombridge....umber=F00M1453 50&manufacturer=Bosch&description=Regulator%2C+Ele ctronic )

I suspect that the different vehicle manufacturers insist that Bosch supply parts with a unique part number or that Bosch manufacture identical parts in different locations and assign part numbers to each. If anyone can give me an informed answer to this or if they can tell me if there really is any difference between them I would LOVE to know!

Zookie

^^^ Intresting thanks, taking my car in tomorrow to my indy, ill have him read this thread.

C4CRNA

What about leaving the car running while you wash it?