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Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCH2001 996 ABS/Battery light came on?
Leading reported evidence
Replace alternator out and its all good
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
No successful repair reported for this finding.
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Leading evidence: 'Replace alternator out and its all good' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Check battery connections' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed
take your "new" alternator off and have it tested.....you went from "no" charge to "overcharge" by just be installing the alternator,..
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Suggestion
Start by checking your battery connections for tightness and the health of your battery (you'll need a voltmeter for this last part).
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Start by checking your battery connections for tightness and the health of your battery (you'll need a voltmeter for this last part). You should have 12V between the + and - battery terminals with the engine off. You should have over 13.5V (ideally 14 or a bit higher) with the engine running. You can also check for voltage in the engine bay between the positive lug and a good ground (like a bolt on the air cleaner housing or other non painted surface that connects to the body of the car.
While looking for the positive lug in the engine bay make sure your drive belt is still there and tight.
Doing any maintenance or cleaning that might of drained the battery beforehand or car sitting a while with the alarm active? In my case alternator good, battery only a year old, just needed a good charge.
Dreaded ABS + Battery lights came on recently on my early '99 996 C2 (3/98 build so super early). After about a 4 mile drive assuming battery would charge back up since it had been sitting for a while, wouldn't start and battery was completely dead.
-Charged/tested battery; battery is good
-Voltage at battery 12.8V when off, begins dropping when car is running. Figured alternator/voltage reg - easey peasey.
-Replaced both alternator and voltage reg w/Bosch OEM (figured "while I'm in there...")
-Buttoned it up and started it with freshly charged battery. ABS + Battery lights still on
-Drove it about a mile to see if would sort itself out. Both lights went out and HVAC/radio kicked on. Success!
-Not so fast - on my loop back home both came on again and HVAC/radio shut off.
-Now it's really intermittent. Both lights/HVAC/radio go out when warning lights come on. Sometimes it will even flicker.
-With car off battery voltage is around 12.6-12.8V; with car running voltage at battery is 16.2V(!) - even with the ABS/Battery warning lights on!
-Do I have short somewhere between battery and ECU if generator is pushing that much voltage to battery? Worried I'm going to permanently fry something.
Any and all help greatly appreciated!
Possibly a badly coroded "y" cable causing high resistance and bad charging? Just a guess. Did u swap the alt of just the vr? Maybe the alt is the issue?
Replaced both. Was 100% certain either alt/voltage reg was the problem.
If it's the "Y Cable" how could I get getting so much voltage at the battery, when previously there was zero charge. Neglected to mention that over time starting was getting pretty weak, so my first assumption was the battery.
Is it possible BOTH have been faulty and the alternator/vr death isn't the only problem?
A bad Y cable will cause a low charge voltage not a high charge voltage...
take your "new" alternator off and have it tested.....you went from "no" charge to "overcharge" by just be installing the alternator,.. so either you monkeyed up something or the alternator has an issue....
Would say to go to specific "voltage drop tests", but I think it is too technical and too early for that at this time since there is an unexpected outcome...
Any idea what I could have done wrong on the install? Plastic plug with single blue wire and cable from starter. Connected cable to terminal with two nuts. I don't even think
I
could screw that up. Not super stoked to pull the alternator again...
The alternator install is very simple, just two bolts a cable and a wire connector. The only thing that comes to mind that could have gotten monkeyed ( other than a monkeyed "new" alternator) is if the grounding through the alternator bolts is bad/dirty/corroded. The alternator has to be properly grounded or it will "overcharge".......
I suppose you haven't messed with the "engine strap" ground?? It is a grounding cable that goes from bank 2 head to the right rear body.....~ 2gauge black cable...
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