Battery Generator light flickering
Battery Generator light flickering
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Pip1968

Original Poster:

1,369 posts

222 months

Sunday 15th June 2014
quotequote all
Well a couple of laps at the Nordschleife and I come in to find the battery generator light flickering on the dashboard. As it is not permanently on will I make it back to the UK (340 miles)? I am fairly sure it is the alternator as the battery was replaced a few months ago and is always on trickle charge anyway.

I am obviously not far from Manthey et al but are they likely to have a 996 GT3 alternator in stock. They obviously will not be open on a Sunday but should I really wait until Monday and change my Eurotunnel booking to look at a return on Wednesday??

Any advice most welcome.

Pip

Edited by Pip1968 on Sunday 15th June 09:26

g7jhp

7,019 posts

256 months

Sunday 15th June 2014
quotequote all
Had this happen on a 3.2 Carrera. If flicked on the day before and I didn't think too much of it, big mistake.

Ground to a halt on the M25 the next morning and yes it was the alternator.

I'd get it fixed.

nxi20

782 posts

223 months

Sunday 15th June 2014
quotequote all
IME, Mathey won't have any parts in stock. The nearest OPC is about 70Km away at Koblenz:

Porsche Centre Koblenz
Löhr Sports Cars Vertriebs GmbH
Andernacher Road 210
56070 Koblenz Phone: +49 261 89909-0

They're closed today & open at 8am tomorrow.

The key question is what does the voltmeter tell you? If its comfortably over 13V, I'd be risking driving back home.

A friend lost his alternator just after getting off the train & we made it to the 'ring (just!).

Edited by nxi20 on Sunday 15th June 11:13

thegoose

8,075 posts

228 months

Sunday 15th June 2014
quotequote all
In 6th gear with no drains on e.g. Lights, wipers, climate, radio, I reckon you'd get 70-100 miles on a battery if the alternator stopped charging altogether. You could always buy a spare at the nearest car parts shop, an 096 is what you need, and carry it as a spare on your trip back, provided you have the car's toolkit to allow you to change it of course.

Pip1968

Original Poster:

1,369 posts

222 months

Monday 16th June 2014
quotequote all
Well thank you to all. I made it back with the voltage flickering throughout the whole trip and subsequent warnings to go with it. As per TheGoose no lights were put on, or fan, or radio or a/c. So a hot trip back and the voltage only finally sat on 12v (dipping just below) whilst we queued at the channel tunnel as we were almost static for 30-40 minutes.

Horrendous queues due to it being a Sunday and post Le Mans traffic.

I think part of the luck lies in it being a more analogue Porsche and wonder if a 997 or goodness forbid, a 991 GT3/RS would have made it back.

Pip
Ps NXI20, I will go with a replacement voltage regulator and hope it is just that.