I swapped 27 with another one, no go. Crank the car and see 12 volts, dips below 12 when I turn on the lights. I went to local Porche dealer to buy a known good relay, there computers were down and they couldnt sell me one until monday. I spoke with one of their mechanics, he said the battery bulb is actually part of the circuit, kind of like a fuse. So I headed home to check it, bulb is fine.

All of this because I didnt disconnect the battery. Grrrrr.

 

I was thinking about your problem this afternoon. Did you check the voltage output like Adam was mentioning. When the engine is running put the positive probe of your voltmeter to the post under the black cap and the negative anywhere on the body where there is a good ground . If you have less than 14 volts, the alternator regulator is dead.... It is difficult to troubleshoot because something somewhere did not like the surge, but where....

 

14.26 volts - car running

then walked to front of car and tested battery, 12.4 volts at battery while car is running.

 

The alternator is obviously working properly. Good job Talisman. Where is a weak point...???? What is a battery bulb???

 

He was referring to the bulb on the dash cluster, but its fine.

 

It is a difficult one to trouble shoot ! Isn't it!

 

So frustrating!! I need to be putting miles on the clutch, not doing this.

I do appreciate your assistance.

 

14.26 is from the + jumper point above alternator and ground lug near airbox.

 

Do you have access to Durametric and if you do any faults???? Is there a system that is not working properly, lights, dash lights etc. Did you check your battery ground... See sheet 16 E2 of your wiring diagram for battery ground 17 c3...

 

Everything seems to be working fine. I did not check battery ground, because I didnt think the car would even start with a bad battery ground.

I drove at least 50 miles before noticing the problem.

I dont have access to a durametric, I do have a Kiwi ODB2 wireless thingy and a couple of apps on my iphone that will show me codes, but wouldnt my dash show me something if there were a code that durametric would pick up?

 

I will do this, but my previous battery was fully charged, and died after 50 miles. I replaced with a brand new battery because I didnt want to tow the car home to charge it.

Putting on the Ctek(very cool charger) now.

 

Yea you can rule out the battery if it dies while driving.

 

Yes, I wanted to be sure so I put about 150 miles on it today.

So here is the sequence of events:

1. Didnt disconnect battery and sparked wire going to front of car.
2. Finished clutch job expecting car not to start, it started and drove fine for 50+ miles, then voltage dropped and car wouldnt crank.
3. Replaced battery to get the car home and troubleshoot.
4. Through 6speed research, I decided that the voltage regulator probably popped when I shorted the cable. I put a new alternator on(with new reg). Same problem
5. Checked every fuse and relay on the car.
6. Decided to trace the wire that shorted, so I put the car back on the lift, removed panels, look up at the starter.... hmmm, there was a nut there before...

I must have only hand tightened the nut holding the 2 cables on the started, which is why I got the initial 50 miles. It vibrated lose and stopped charging the battery. I put a new nut on and tightened it.

All is good.

Thanks to everyone for all of the help.

 

Awesome! It's a weird kind of relief to have a simple solution to an otherwise frustrating problem! haha

 

Good news Talisman, congratulation!