Still working our way through problems with the 911 - attempted starter motor replacement but....

 One thing I've learned is that an old 911 can test your patience!

What I've learned recently is that if I start the car dead cold, it will start no problem, and run with a slightly high idle of 1000rpm. During this time, everything is perfect - no smoke from exhaust, no misfiring or vibration, all is good. After 3 minutes, or 3:30, then problems will set in. Idle with drop, pops and misfires, vibrations. So WTF is going on here?

Anyway, now Victoria is in it's FOURTH COVID19 lockdown (due to massive incompetence from Scott Morrison, Greg Hunt, and basically all of Federal government by not managing hotel quarantine or the vaccination rollout) I have a few days to spare. Thought I might as well put in a new starter motor I bought years ago, and also check the Y cable and vacuum lines while I'm in there.

As usual - disconnect battery. Remove airbox. Dropped drive belt. Here's the throttle body.

Easy to remove, just four 10mm bolts. Disconnect the Idle Air Control Valve, and the Throttle position Sensor on the left, and unhook cable throttle on right.

Four hose clamps to loosen, plus disconnect hose from AOS to remove plenum.

Plenum removed. A little oily on the inside, but nothing major.

New alternator installed, still stalling!

 So here in Australia, labour costs are pretty high - was planning to get my alternator tested and rebuilt, and most were charging a big assessment fee jsut to look at the thing.

Bought an aftermarket unit on Ebay and it took the seller a week to tell me it was out of stock, so got a refund and bought a Bosch unit 0 124 515 042, which was a direct replacement for the alternator alrady in the car.

Changed it over this evening - I can do the job in well under an hour now with my eyes shut!

No improvement. Still low idle, stalling.

Since I've already narrowed it down to an electrical problem (car runs perfectly with alternator disconnected and everything else connected as usual) the next step is to trace back connections from the alternator. Will remove the Y cable which I installed a couple of years ago to make sure it looks good still, 

I might even replace the starter motor while I'm in there - I'm pretty sure I bought a replacement starter when there was a huge ebay sale a while ago!

Thankfully with winter setting in, I'm not missing driving the car anyway - it hasn't been convertible weather for ages. But I want it fixed before spring 2021!