"Winter Weirdness"

[Jim & Bev <jazman@accunet.net>]

I'm sure a large number of you have been contending with the elements over the last few 
days.  Here in downstate Illinois we had 8 inches of snow on Thursday, driven by 40mph 
winds, highs in the single digits, lows in below 0 degrees F.

The '93 100CS has remained garaged and the trusty ole '87 5KCS TQ has been our primary 
means of transportation since Thursday. 

Unfortunately on Friday I committed the single most embarassing mistake one can make in 
the Q.  I got stuck in a snowdrift..... in my driveway.  I had plowed the drive (about 
300 ft long, down a hill and up another) the night before, but the strong winds had 
drifted the drive over.  I was sure that I could get through, but no, the snow was much 
deeper that I thought--2 feet + deep in places.

I did okay going down the hill,  but as I started up the next hill I lost momentum and 
basically floated the car on the drifts.  =8^O   Even locking the center and rear 
differentials did not provide enough traction to get me going.  : P  I had to call a 
snow plow to clear the drive and pull me off the snow bank.  The front tow hook sure 
came in handy though.  The driver said that normally he had to dig under the car in the 
snow to hook up his tow strap!

Then something really weird happened!  No sooner than I'd gotten out of drift, my 
alternator light came on!  "{Expletive deleted}", I cryed to myself.  I pulled back into 
my garage, called my service advisor at Parktown Porsche Audi in Kirkwood, MO, and asked 
them for suggestions.  

They said driving the car without the alternator working would quickly drain the battery 
and the car would die.   X^|   Either the snow drift had broken or dislodged my 
alternator belt, the electrical connector came loose or snow was packed so tightly 
about the alternator that it could not function.

I crawled under the car and sure enough, the lower half of the engine compartment was 
packed with snow (schnee).  I cleared it out and the alternator had formed ice around 
itself.  Evidently the snow had melted and refrozen on the alternator.  I guess one 
should expect that in -3 F weather.  The belts were okay, as were the electrical 
connections.  I carefully chipped away the ice with a screwdriver and tried to start the 
car.

The alternator still was not working, and the car was obviously running off the battery.
I shut off the car and gently tapped the alternator housing with a hammer in case the 
brushes were sticking (this used to work in my ole '78 Rabbit).  The alternator still 
was not functioning.  : ( 

As a last resort, I revved the engine up to 6000 RPM, and Voile!  The alternator started 
working again.  : )  

Thought I would share this with fellow Quattrarians out their in case you commit the 
most embarrassing Quattro mistake!  


PS Why is the alternator so low?


jazman