924Board.org

Chickenwing · Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Posts: 45 Location: 07866

Hello my names Mike and I just spent my bus money on a Porsche.

Introductions aside its a 1977 Porsche 924. Copper Metallic, 60k original miles with AC. She has no rust and idels pretty good. The header has a "Stahl" badge ... did research, turns out thats a good thing

Ive done a lot of searching for answers before registering but i think i need to become a case in point.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Upon purchasing the car from the 2nd owner the car wouldnt charge the battery. I tightened the belt which seemed lose to no avail. I came back the next day and the alternator light was NOT on when ideling so i thought all was well, 2 minutes into ideling a loud metal/electric noise could be heard and i couldnt shut off the car, even with the key removed. A tiny bit of smoke appeared as well. Pulled the coil to kill it.

Read it could be the starter solenoid, or iginition cylinder.

Today i crawled under her and tugged some wires around the starter/alternator and realized the thick wire from the battery to the alternator(that was laying on top of the starter) seemed to be burnt through. Before i rip the alternator apart, does this cable come apart from the alternator if i wanted to replace it with one from autozone?

Any other thoughts? Would a 'hot' cable grounding itself to the starter body make it run continuosly?

More questions later ...

Mike
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1977 924 4-speed

924guy · Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 1:06 am Post subject:

the battery cable is not available, and must be custom made when they fry. not difficult to do, pull out the cable, should have a branch wire as well, and use it as a template to construct (or have an auto electrical specialist build it for you) a new one. be sure to use a heat insulator around the cable, thats why they fry usually, years of exposure and cooling to high temps from ythe engine/exhaust...
its a fairly common issue and will resolve a great many problems in most cases, when they go bad, all sort of freaky seemingly non related problems pop up...
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Eric
78 924
82 931 SE "smokey"
99' VehiCross
Y2K Honda Insight
http://www.cardomain.com/id/924Guy
Performance by Pasha

dpw928 · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 1860 Location: owasso, ok 74055

A hot cable grounding to the small post (15?) on the starter will cause the engine to keep running.

Dennis
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81 931 5 sp
78 928 5 sp Silver
78 928 AT Euro Black

Chickenwing · Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Posts: 45 Location: 07866

thanks guys. so i ripped out a lot of the wiring down there and came up with some interesting things ...

the alternator was evidentally home to some critters(that rear cooling shield thing), as they left behind about a years worth of nuts, i could almost make a chex-mix salad theres so much.

the wiring between the battery and the alternator was basically non existant underneath the insulation, it basically fell apart as i took off the insulation. means i gotta finish pulling the other one to the starter as its probably in the same condition ...

are these wires interconnected? (starter harness and alternator harness)
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1977 924 4-speed

Rasta Monsta · Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 11733 Location: PacNW

Yikes, time to find a wiring diagram, m8.
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Toofah King Bad

WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

Chickenwing · Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Posts: 45 Location: 07866

where can i find one?
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1977 924 4-speed

Rasta Monsta · Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 11733 Location: PacNW

Haynes repair manual, or FSM. Maybe some nice doggie will send you a scan.
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Toofah King Bad

WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

Chickenwing · Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Posts: 45 Location: 07866

i cant find a haynes locally. guess i gotta give in, ebay, and wait.
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1977 924 4-speed

Rasta Monsta · Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 11733 Location: PacNW

Try HERE.
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Toofah King Bad

WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

Ozzie · Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 8:33 am Post subject:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/944/electrical/944_electrical_diagrams.htm

should be similar to your car
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Porsche 924 1984 (UK import) NA
Its AUTO and its BLACK
Montego Black on black/red
Engineer of Electro/Mechanical Systems Maintenance

Chickenwing · Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Posts: 45 Location: 07866

got all this fixed. even got a new harness from a junk 924. then the little wire got grounded against the battery wire on the alternator. the right coil resistor started smoking. now the car will die(if it starts) when i brake.

i ran the ohms on the coil, they dont seem right.

this scenario would kill the coil correct?
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1977 924 4-speed

gohim · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 4459 Location: Rialto, CA

If either resistor burns out, you will have starting or running problems. They are supposed to be two different values.