[Dave S.]

I had my '03 (33k miles) up in Rocky Mountain National Park earlier this summer. As traffic was moving slowly or stopping to see wildlife, I noticed a fuel smell, like it was running very rich, a raw fuel smell. I stopped at an overlook and when I went to restart the car, the battery was dead. No check engine lights or indication of what the problem was.

Luckily I was on a hill and was able to roll start the car. I was able to drive it the 100 miles home without shutting it off or using any extra electrical accessories and when I got home, the voltage at the battery read 10 volts with the car running - so no or very little charge coming from the alternator. When I put the top up, it ran very slowly, but made it closed before I shut the car off.

I put it on a battery charger and the battery came right back to 12.5 volts and seemed to hold a good charge. The next day drove it to my mechanic. He checked out the electrical system with his Porsche diagnostic system and everything came back ok at that time. I had him replace the alternator and put in a new battery (the old one was about 10 years old anyway) even though they both checked out ok. He told me that the fuel smell was probably from the fuel injection system, which doesn't like low voltage situations and was surprised that it even ran good enough for me to make it home. I'm shocked it made it, as I was just trying to get closer so the tow would be less. It's back to being completely reliable now, and I have no idea what really happened to it. I never got a check engine light or any lights to indicate it had a problem. First issue this car has ever had.