this is gettin' old... - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

stateofidleness · 01-03-2009, 08:05 PM

something new is breaking on this car daily... losing faith in my dear Porsche...

in today's episode, remnants of a jump start...

to precede, i had swapped a failed alternator about 3 weeks ago without incident. car has run fine since.

today at work, i jump start a buddy's car (i'll never jump start another vehicle as long as i live!) and about 10 minutes later i leave to get lunch and hear this awful whining/squealing noise coming from the alternator area... the head droops.. the ass cheeks pucker... i start thinking about how many shifts ill have to pick up to cover the cost of this repair...

i get the car home, and i have just looked at the damage and WOW!...

what the hell would have caused this??

it appears the lower alternator bolt bracket has cracked off, letting the whole alternator swing down from the tension on the belt and wreaking all kinds of hell... looks expensive.. and is making the 'vette purchase look more and more enticing... ill also note that i had NO trouble until the jump start today, and when installing the new alternator, everything was to manual-specs...

any thoughts? is this a cheap bracket to replace? what would have caused it??

the damage:

Nineteen89 · 01-03-2009, 09:23 PM

Don't give up on Porsche just like that, especially your Porsche, they are expensive cars and surely the parts are gonna be equally expensive, I understand how frustating it is to feel as if, if it's not one thing, it's another, but you gotta remember the good the car brings you, I encourage you to I try out a corvette though, just to see what it is you really have, then go from there...

stateofidleness · 01-03-2009, 09:30 PM

after spending the last 2hrs researching the problem, it seems like i might get by just replacing that bracket (which is fairly cheap) but i'd still like to know what may have caused it.. i dont drive offroad or anything or drive it rough...

one other member (with same bracket failure) said his mechanic told him the idler pulley side was loose allowing the alternator to swivel and snap the lower eye off... i torqued mine to spec though so i dont see how that could have been the case with mine...

i have 2 other 914s that like to give me grief too... but the thing with this car is that i just bought it (from a porsche dealership!!!) only about a month and a half ago and already it has needed a coolant reservoir replaced, an alternator replaced, and now this... it's a bit ridiculous for a car that was supposedly 200 (or some other ridiculous number) point inspected by the dealership before they put it up for sale...

/end vent...

thanks for the encouragement... any thoughts on what might have caused it?

also, where can i buy that replacement bracket? i dont have a parts manual

Brucelee · 01-04-2009, 06:16 AM

Did you personally replace the alternator or did a mechanic do it for you?

I can't see any connection between the jump start and the bracket failure?

Best of luck on the car. While an inspection is mandatory, it can't/won't find everything.

Keep us posted.

PS- As I understand it, the 914 was one piece of build quality crap, so it might not be the same road for your Box.

stephen wilson · 01-04-2009, 07:47 AM

Well, not to be a jerk, but this one may not be the car's fault. Logic suggests that since this part was just worked on, it's related to that work. Loctite the bolts maybe?
At least you didn't do what I just did. I replaced the transmission on my wife's Integra, and somehow didn't get the Radiator hose spring clamp on square, (it's hard to see tucked under the intake). After driving it for 2-3 weeks, the hose pops off, car overheats, and blows a head gasket! Eh, that's the way it goes some times.
Steve

stateofidleness · 01-04-2009, 09:54 AM

i'll chalk this one up to error on my part (but ill insist it was installed correctly

)

couple questions:
1. where can i buy that bracket piece? (what's it actually called and is there a part number?) (dealer is closed on sunday)
2. are there other things that ill need to get with it? (gasket? bolts?)
3. what can i do to ensure it doesnt happen again?

i torqued the long bolt down to manual spec, and i didnt want to overtighten, but it seems like the reason for the failure was that side came loose allowing it to swivel out of that little guide...

thanks guys

Jaxonalden · 01-04-2009, 01:36 PM

You'll need numbers #12 & #13.

https://techinfo.porsche.com/techinfo/pdf/en/catalogues/E_986_KATALOG.pdf

I'm still checking but that is a coolant line so you'll have to drain the coolant system also. If you're that far, with the system drained, you might think about replacing the water pump, the plastic impellers are known to disintegrate. You can pick up a HD OEM with a metal impeller from EBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-911-996-986-BOXSTER-S-CARRERA-2-4-Water-Pump_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1205Q7c66Q3a 2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1318Q7c301Q3a1Q7c293Q 3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZite m350144720284QQitemZ350144720284QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ 5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

stateofidleness · 01-04-2009, 01:51 PM

aww man are you serious?!

damnnn i just had my coolant system fixed along with a flush and all new coolant...

there's no way around not having to flush the coolant?

thanks for the info. do you think if i went to the dealership tomorrow, that they would have those 2 parts on hand?

Jaxonalden · 01-04-2009, 02:00 PM

They're special order items from Pelican so it's had to say. Call first and save yourself a trip. If it was an expensive part I was going to go to Oklahoma Foreign (Porsche salvage yard) and get a price for a used one. But it looks pretty reasonable and you would have to order the gasket anyway.

Jaxonalden · 01-04-2009, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stateofidleness

aww man are you serious?!

damnnn i just had my coolant system fixed along with a flush and all new coolant...

there's no way around not having to flush the coolant?

thanks for the info. do you think if i went to the dealership tomorrow, that they would have those 2 parts on hand?

Well, The only things above that coolant level of that plate (because it's located on top of the engine) is the burp tank and oil/coolant heat exchanger. So I suppose you can put a drip pan on the floor in front of the engine and take the mount (cover) off and let the system drain down to it, then just refill what came out.

Jaxonalden · 01-04-2009, 02:19 PM

Also, replace that idler pulley if it's as bad as you say.

stateofidleness · 01-04-2009, 02:44 PM

will do!
i think instead of going to the stealership, im gonna try out this place called Foreign Specialists here in San Antonio. I've heard good things about them and have been receiving mail from them ever since i got my first 914.

seems like they are pretty knowledgeable with Porsche vehicles.. so we'll see how tomorrow goes...

wish me luck and thanks for all the help Jaxon!

stateofidleness · 01-07-2009, 09:07 AM

well my tow truck guy is on his way as we speak!

gonna give this place (Foreign Specialists) a shot and see how well it turns out.

will keep ya'll updated (in case anyone in the Texas area needs a good mechanic)

Adam · 01-07-2009, 09:44 AM

Before you buy the part new, you may want to price out a used one at say www.porschepartsheaven.com or some other dismantler.

litteng · 01-15-2009, 05:56 AM

because of the high torque loads isn't there a support mount for the back end of the alternator? typical german design (ie vw but maybe not porsche) has two tangs, one at the front and one at the back and the bolt goes both to hold the alteternaotr in place....

just askin

renzop · 01-16-2009, 09:36 AM

Just thinking about your original question "Why did it work for a while and then fail immediately after the jump start?" Jumping another car can put significant load on the charging system. The alternator and belt will produce the most torque against its mounts when it is under the heaviest load. So maybe the mount bracket was gonna fail but the high torque load hastened its demise.