Quote:
Originally Posted by robdelorenzo
Ok. From what I have just seen, one of the hoses comes from the top of the oil cooler. The engine still has oil, though. It does not appear to be mixed. There is no coolant in the tank, but all of what I saw on the floor was pinkish in color too. What does it mean when this line is broken?
This hose is in the center of the second photo and kind of out of focus.
The other hose comes from the newly installed coolant tank and looks like it broke off at the firewall, but I am not sure.
This is the one that has the connector on the end of it where it blew up.
The pulley from the alternator is gone. Sheared off.
I have attached photos.
Can anyone attempt to assess how badly damaged the engine may be? Or, does the fact that it started and ran briefly on a low battery yesterday mean good things and there's a chance I'll be ok?
I spoke to the indie he said an alternator is about $800 installed and the hoses may just need to be clamped back on. He said there's no way to know how much damage has been done until those things are repaired and it's run and brought back up to temp. I only paid $5500 for the car and have put about 3k into it in parts. It does have 144k needs some suspension work (front control arms and a chain tensioner- prior to all this) My problem is do I put in another 1k to find out, try to do it myself? (I know I cant get those clamps on the firewall for the coolant tank.) What do I do? He also said that it's possible that it will run fine and then warp in 5000 miles, there's no way to know. Or it might be ok. Or I can sell it as is and walk away. Any advice is welcome. Especially the more experienced guys. He told me he's never seen an alternator pulley shear off or the hose from the top of the oil cooler break. And he's a 3rd generation indie Porsche mechanic.
Please let me know, this board has some VERY knowledgeable people! 
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You'll need one of these or similar (or at least you'll wish you had one) for those
hoses.
http://https://www.amazon.com/Astro-9409A-Hose-Clamp-Pliers/dp/B003D3N7YW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1504040951&sr=8-3&keywords=hose+clamp+tool
Looks like those metal pipes were fatigued -- maybe damaged in prior work. Car overheats, temperature (unlikely) or excessive pressure causes the damaged pipe to fail.
You can find a remanufactured Alternator online for Less than $200 bucks with pulley -- (I've even seen them closer to $100 -- but not sure if they had a pulley)
I'd also pick up a new serpentine belt.
Pick up a replacement hose (check with ITSNOTANOVA/Woody), heck he might even have a used alternator for cheaper.
I'd say a few $hundred bucks, some scraped knuckles and some knowledge -- and a weekend of curse words -- and you might be back on the road -- and if you aren't, you gave it a shot. If it grenades itself -- then you can consider your options.
Sounds like you're in it for about $8k -- less than $400 or 5% for probably better than a 50/50 chance your fine. Sure it might have started down a road of a premature lifespan -- but if it runs for 1000 miles -- then it'll likely run for a lot longer.
Mike