Greetings all,

I suspect the Marchal alternator on my '73 911 to be faulty, but I'm not familiar enough with the early 911's charging system to know for sure. On many vehicles, simply disconnecting the negative battery cable with the engine running can indicate a faulty alternator....if the engine dies, the alternator isn't charging.

I tried this on my 911 and the engine does indeed die. Can someone with experience in this area if this is conclusive evidence that the alternator is the problem?

To give a little background on the problem, I washed the car over the weekend and when I went to start it the next day, the electrical system was completely dead. So I jumped started the vehicle and it ran fine for about 5 minutes before it died...the electrical system completely drained again. This occured 3-4 times. Each time the car is jumpstarted, the alternator light comes on. Bright at first, then gradually dimmer...and dimmer...and dimmer, until it goes out and then the engine dies and everything goes dead.

Any thoughts?

Thanx,
Tony