Hey guys... I just replaced the battery on my 02 turbo about a month ago and noticed the car struggling to start today... Well sure enough, it went dead and required a jump start. After jumping, I noticed the the volt gauge inside the car reading around 10 or even lower. I did get a PSM faliure message but I dont remember if it happened before or after the jump. I have the car on a trickle charger right now but will probably take the battery back and get it replaced. I'm hoping I bought a defective battery but I guess I'll find out here shortly... I'll probably go home later tonight and try to start the car and disconnect the battery to see if it stays on or not. Any help would be greatly appreciated guys! Thanks!
Tony

 

Prepare yourself for the fact that you need to replace your alternator. At this point, all signs point to that. I just had mine replaced.

 

Most likely your regulator on the way out. There is often no need to replace whole alternator.

 

I would not suggest doing the running batt neg cable disconnect.That was ok long ago,but todays cars are alot more elec. module controlled & its very easy to damage one by doing so & you'll prob get a false test result as well.Using a volt meter would be your best bet.A well charged batt will be about 12.7v as a starting point.With the engine running & low loads (ac on low,headlamps off) you should see around 13v & higher,if its below 12.7,say around 12.0 you prob. need an alternator repair-not uncommon for our cars

 

Is there a way to tell whether it is the alternator or the regulator?

 

The regulator is built in to the alt.,but can be replaced separately

 

Would it be a good idea to replace both at the same time? Since the battery change, I've driven the car about 3 times and noticed the gauge going down with every drive.. It didn't do that before I changed the battery though... it was always consistent and now it reads under 10. The battery I replaced was over 7 years old according to the date stamp.

 

Both as in reg & alt?If you buy an alt it will have a new reg inside or you could have the alt rebuilt & reg alone replaced.The rebuild will be cheaper to do.When the batt was replaced were the cables & terminals nice & clean ? If not that can also be an issue

 

battery terminals were clean as were the cables... I guess I'll have to start looking into getting it rebuilt.. I've found some for sale online for about 220 but assume those are rebuilt as well. I definitely dont want to take it to the dealer and have them charge me 1500+ for something that I can surely do myself. Thanks so much for all the help guys!
Tony

 

Austin725, I did exactly what sweeney186 said regarding R&R of the alternator/regulator.

It's really up to you what's more important (eg, cost or time). It might take a little longer to find someone you trust regarding rebuilding an alternator but you save a bundle (my total cost was $400 for rebuild and R&R by an indie) and even more if you do the R&R yourself. If time is of essence, then taking it to a Porsche dealer and paying $1500 or so is your best bet (from your previous posts this is probably not an option for you). There are varying degrees in between, like taking it to an indie for R&R or buying your own remanufactured alternator and saving dollars and having an indie put it in for you.

When I started my car it would show close to 13V and then eventually as the engine and consequently, the alternator heated up it would drop to below 12V which meant it was not recharging the battery. It was the regulator that needed replacing. Now, it reads 14V strong throughout and if I turn on the A/C it dips slightly below.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the input bng4god time is not so much an issue for me because I don't drive the car very often and don't mind parking it for a week or two... I did find a DIY thread and it looks pretty simple and straight forward. If I screw anything up than I'll have my mechanic friend fix it haha

 

I had the same problem as bhg4god and just went and replaced the whole thing. Got it from rockauto for $200 for a remanufacturered ACDelco. The job isn't that hard at all, the hardest part was getting one of the bolts in that holds the alternator as you can't see where it threads into and the slightest tweak of the alternator wouldn't allow it to thread in correctly. After getting that bolt in, it was cake. It took me just about 2 hours, and 30 minutes was spent screwing around with that one bolt.

 

when the car is running, what is the voltage? if it's 13-13.5volt, your alternator is fine. Less than 13, the alternator is not putting out enough voltage and need to be replaced

alternator is a pain to get to. i think it'll be close to a 700-800 to replace parts and labor. a few hrs of labor.

 

Link? To save the rest of us the effort

 

I just bought a regulator for $37.50 from pelican. I posted in the knowledge thread about it, but the Porsche part number is 000-043-206-037. The knewest revision is Bosch part number F 00M 144 136.