My CTT has had a little trouble starting recently on the first turn of the key. The battery was replaced about 6 months ago. Found the alternator was not taking a charge. Has anyone had this problem? It is 19 hours of service to replace this bad boy without the cost of the new alternator. Ouch.

 

I gotta say that ECS Tuning has the best no bull, no shadyness prices in the COUNTRY on oem Porsche parts. Bar none, and the customer service is great. If you go to your cart and the shipping looks crazy just contact them with a link to your cart and ask them to fix it. Apparently shipping needs some reprogramming.

I would love to give all my buisness to ECS but if it is a part that is backordered from Germany they do not offer expedited international shipping or availability on parts located in Germany. For those parts, I find that Jim Elliss P-Parts also has amazing prices. If you ask nicely they will give you an additional 15% off advertised online pricing. If the part is coming from Germany Tack an additional 15% of the total order amount not including shipping on for international shipping. Takes about 1 week.

BTW, I cant imagine getting the alternator out while the engine is in.

 

I thought I had a failed alternator several weeks ago when a charging system failed popped up on the instrument cluster (battery replaced within 6 months). I looked into it more and it turns out that these alternator failures are rare below the 120-150K mark since they are water cooled from the factory. Also, new, they are around $1300 from the dealer.

I pulled the labor breakdown (not hours) and it is extensive, but is do-able with time and patience.

For me, it turns out I was getting belt slip on WOT lift off and throwing off the charging system. I have changed belts and tensioner and all is well.

Given the low failure rate, high parts costs and billable labor hours, are you 100% it is the alternator?

 

Unfortunately I am not very mechanical. Therefore I have to trust those who are. Fortunately we found a reconditioned alternator for about half the price but the labor to do the job is extensive. The problem I was having has gone away and no longer throwing any codes.

 

I was having a fwd error for a while and thought it could be related to my alternator not charging. After getting a new battery on warranty and seeing no change or undercharging issues, I had the auto parts store do a test in the vehicle and they told me I had a bad diode. Still no issues with available power. When I tore my car down I took the alternator and starter in for service and the local shop said they couldn't do anything with the alternator and they recommended it was more cost-effective and safer to get a new unit. They did throw it on their tester and said that it was producing a varying voltage? I think its a 190 amp unit. Water cooled and also computer controlled.