968Forums.com

From Porsche they are a small fortune


Called a Governor in PET

928.603.142.01 $212

Not surprising ..I remember when the DME relay (at Porsche dealers)  was $ 12  Last I checked they were $ 92 

 

Lucky I bought two spares when it was cheap .  

Quote:Not surprising ..I remember when the DME relay (at Porsche dealers)  was $ 12  Last I checked they were $ 92 

 

Lucky I bought two spares when it was cheap .

I'm going to get those solid state relays that guy on RL is selling. (Fan and DME). I'll keep my analog ones as spares.

https://www.ftech9.com/new-products/soli...-amp-968-1

Quote:Sadly, our last old school auto electric place closed last year. Luckily, I had them rebuild my Beck starter and alternator before they did. So its reman or new for me.


BTW, is anyone currently driving their car? Whats your ammeter read. Ive had zero issues with the new battery, and Ive put enough miles on it that if the alternator wasnt charging, it would have manifested.

When you get to the dash lights and the light tunnels (on the list of items to check for new owners) clean the contacts on the screw posts on the instrument cluster. I found that my gauges all improved, the fuel gauge went closer to full and oil pressure improved along with voltage.

 

Look for the new owner link, there is a laundry list of things that are known issues for these cars.

so if anyone is still tuned in here, I am having an issue with charging as well. start the car up i am making 13.5-14.1 volts go down the road no problem if i turn on the headlights its dropping to 12.5-13.3 and the longer i go with the headlights on the more it goes down, no dimming, no flickers just the drop in voltage which seems really odd.

 

is my alt in the process of failure and just hasnt completely quit yet or is it something else? 

 

i pulled the BAT and had it tested it came back fine taking a charge no problem 

just replace the voltage regulator, then spend a happy few hours cleaning all the grounds, the football shaped connectors on the back of the cluster, I promise it will keep you out of trouble for most of a day

Quote:just replace the voltage regulator, then spend a happy few hours cleaning all the grounds, the football shaped connectors on the back of the cluster, I promise it will keep you out of trouble for most of a day

Yes, it’s a  cheap fix , and even if it’s not the problem , you have little to lose .   It’s a bit if a PITA to reach  and replace the regulator (  my mechanic uttered a bunch of expletives during that job , but it’s doable without having to remove the alternator itself ) 

Just remember to disconnect the battery before starting



You need a 1/4 drive socket set, and some nimble fingers and your good to go

I swapped out my original (118kmi) regulator yesterday for a Hella unit I picked up on eBay.

 

The job was a bit of a pain, but a trick I tried was to tie the brushes in with a thin piece of string, get the regulator in and the screws tightened a few turns, then cut the string to release the brushes and pull it out with needle nose pliers. It took 3 tries to get the string set to the proper tension, but as my friends say on the other side of the pond, it worked a treat.

 

The brushes were worn down to nubs, so the timing was right. But the strange thing is, the voltage at the gauge has actually dropped. It runs between 12 and 13 after it charges back the loss from starting. I expected more, but it seems to start and run fine, so I am going to go with it and clean the grounds this week.

 

Anyone want to remind me where the body grounds are located?

They are



Chassis rails by headlights inside

Rear of engine to firewall

In both footwells look straight up

Trunk battery cable, and one on the left hand side under the carpet

Roughly!!!



And it should only trickle charge at anywhere between 12.8 and 14.4 when the battery is full

Quote:They are



Chassis rails by headlights inside

Rear of engine to firewall

In both footwells look straight up

Trunk battery cable, and one on the left hand side under the carpet

Roughly!!!



And it should only trickle charge at anywhere between 12.8 and 14.4 when the battery is full

so your saying 12.8 is in the normal range ? i haven't seen below 12.8 but i am seeing mid to high 13s pretty much the whole time i am driving 

12.6 is a fully charged battery at rest, anything above that is a charging voltage



The other thing of course is just how accurate is a 30 year old volt meter,



I would expect to see at least 13-14.4 as the charge rate, my regulator expired and I have fitted 3 since, all have been higher voltage than the old one, as long as its not over 14.8 as a max your ok



Any more and you will boil the battery, not a good idea

Have you guys found the voltage gauge to be accurate ?   Mine seems to be very sporadic : I manually tested the battery ( at rest , and , with the engine running )  several times, and the numbers were quite different than what the gauge showed .  Of course on the gauge you have to estimate the in-between decimals , so that makes it a bit of a guessing game..  

I used to think mine was dead accurate. When I did my belts (the first time) in 2021, I had the guys install new brushes/regulator and upgraded starter/alternator cables. Since then I’ve paid close attention and sometimes it does the ~14V charge just after a start, settling down to a steady 12.5-13V underway like it used to do. Sometimes it doesn’t. (Reads just over 12.5V continually)

 

One thing it does consistently is drop a bit whenever I turn something on, like the lights, AC, radio, etc. I figure it’s nothing to worry about. 

i actually have a little plug in for the cigarette lighter that will show the voltage in real time, so i know what i am seeing is accurate. the concerning thing for me was seeing 12.9 when i flipped on the headlights not used to seeing that kinda drop and then just have it stay there. but this is my first P car adventure so i am learning 

Alright now i think i am stumbling into bigger issues

I have done nothing to the alt or the voltage regulator



Drove the car into the office (about 15 mins 10 of which is highway) nothing to report car sat in our lot for 4 hrs or so i got in started by the time ingot to the end of the street she started to

Shudder and lose power pulled into gas station and she died waiting a min started back up let it idle for 4 or

5 mins took off same thing happened felt

Like i ran outa gas. So i started it up again pulled back inyo same station put gas in the tank only took 6 gal. Started car again pulled out no problem. I put my voltage meter into the cig lighter 14.1-14.2 i drove directly home but saw readings as high as 14.6



I have no clue what could be going on now

Time to replace the DME relay, for a known good one or new

The relay ? Any brand in particular better then others?

Porsche Solid-State DME Relay (Pump-Prime) — Focus 9 Technology, LLC (ftech9.com)

 

i went for one of these 

My voltage gauge is pegged out?.

 

New yellow top AGM battery. 12.6V at rest, 13.8V at idle, 13.8V with load (headlights & fan)

All grounds are good and tight.

Replaced starter / alternator / battery cable assembly.

 

What else should I check ?