Hello all!
I am hoping for some good news for my friend, but I suspect we both know the answer. However, wanting to be optimistic I wanted to ask those who would know more than myself...
My friend has been dealing the dreaded battery drain in his
Cayman
. Apparently he hooked it to his jump box and believes he had the cables reversed due it sparking and the car had some kind of alarm/notice that sounded.
He took it off right away, checked it and proceeded to hook it up after clearly identifying the right posts (I too think it is odd they don't mark the positive cable with red). The car started and all worked, except the radio. However, the "battery/generator warning" message appeared, which never had appeared before that.
A multimeter indicates the alternator isn't pushing any power back to the battery posts, so there clearly is a problem, but the extent is what I hope to give him good news about.
Does the
Cayman
come with any type of reverse polarity protection for the alternator for this situation, or is it toast? I don't know what is possible in these new cars, but I am hoping (but doubtful) I can tell him he can get away with a fuse or fusable wire that protects it.
In the event that there is no such protection, will the dealer cover this under warranty? If not, anyone know what
Porsche
is charging for an alternator swap these days?
Again, everything runs, no errors except the alternator warning. The radio, I've never needed to enter codes on mine, and that is what I told him the problem is, but now that I think about it I have no idea if it should display anything when it has been reset... hopefully that is all it is?
Anyways, trying to make his day not seem as bad.
Sounds like the radio fuse was blown. Have you all checked the fuses? No radio code required. Have you driven the car to reset the values?
He said he gave them a cursory inspection and said none were blown. I will have him look at the radio fuse specifically. I was pretty sure there codes had to be entered during a battery disconnection, but maybe I picked that up in a thread for a different model
Porsche
.
I imagine if there was some type protection for the alternator it would be a rather large fuse or relay, but I have no clue on that front.
He says he had a PSM error as well, which was resolved after just a couple minutes of driving. That is all he did before returning to investigate the battery/generator warning. Initially he suspected a cable on the battery had came loose, but he says everything was intact and the car had power, would restart, etc. That is why I thought he might have blew the diodes and when he checked the voltage running it was apparent the alternator wasn't generating any juice. Given the alternator is definetly a problem I am hoping there is some type of protection that affords a quick fix (fuse, relay?). Up until now I haven't uncovered anything that really that addresses it or any type of protection. I looked at the fuse diagram for the under-dash box online and didn't see anything related.
Thanks in advance!
If all fuses are good I'd recommend a visit to the dealer to get the alternator checked. It is possible to damage it but I bet it blew a protective fuse somewhere that is designed to protect against this.
I hate bringing up a old thread up but unfortunately I’m having the same issue as the OP and could really use some help from fellow friends. I have a
997.2
and have the same exact symptoms after a reverse polarity oops. I changed out the alternator and I’m still getting a battery/generator warning light. Any help would be appreciated. Also wondering if this OP was ever figured out?
I'd suggest starting a new thread in the 987 tech forum. The original poster here hasn't been seen in 13 years so it's unlikely he's been hanging out here to help out his friend (didn't sound like he had a
Porsche
..)
Welcome to Planet-9, the friendly
Porsche
forum.
BTW - where did you get the replacement alternator from? Some of the aftermarket remanufactured ones are known to be dead on arrival. You want to get a Bosch reman (if your car was using a Bosch..)
