Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2013 13:53:22 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: charging light flickers
In-Reply-To: <5D06A7DF-C946-4961-965A-8ECE24FC0D3C@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
YES ...Ron.
yes you should be concerned about your alterernator !
I suspect the warning light is doing just what it should be doing ..
telling you charnging is not happening like it should.
Dim headlights point that direction too.
The alternator btw, is what supplies power for everything when the
engine is running ..
sure, it maintains a charge on the the battery at the same time.
but the real source for all power drains ..
for the fuel injeciton, head lights, heater fan etc etc. etc. ...is the
alternator's output.
battery wise ..at least visually inspect it for low water in the cells,
corroded/weak connections etc.
I suggest remove that alternator posthaste and take it to a good...a
GOOD ........electrical rebuilder shop ..
or , just invenst in a Bosch Rebuilt Alternator.
btw.....there are2 Classic Alternator failure modes on waterboxer
enginesthat people, and shops too ..
commonly arenot catching.
One is rumbly/loose alternator bearings..
the other is themounting bracket area failing.
I just had one 84 Westy ...very bad alternator bearings..
then an 86 Weekender...the alternator belt was upside down in the pulleys...
and the Alt was flopping up and down about an inch , due to broken mount.
The Jiffy Lube type place that had just changed the oil sure didn't
catch it.
The people driving it sure didn't catch until an oil pressure buzzer
went off ..forcing them to 'at least look' at the engine.
You would like to see a resting voltage on your battery of around 12.5
volts or so ..
and with engine running, .....13 volts at least.
At the alternator post ...13.8 volts at least.
I have seen lately a few vanagons that show one half volt less at the
battery , engine running, compared to what is at the Alt main post.
Fairly normalI think. 13.8 at the altnernator is the minimum OK voltage.
there is such a thing as just replacing the Voltage Regulator/Brush
package on the alternator.
That will stretch out the life of an alternator with decent bearings in it.
at least ..
take off the belt and spin the Alt by hand and see how if feels. I
findmany of them with rumbly or loose bearings.
Just by a good Bosch Rebuilt one.
There is one rebuilt brand I would caution against...'Precision Parts'
....white tag, blue lettering ..
not recommended.
scott
www.turbovans.com
On 3/31/2013 1:34 PM, ron johnson wrote:
> I have a 91 Weekender. In the past few years, it has not been driven much and even less during Winter. Lately, the charging LED on the dash flickers. At > 40 mph it will go out, but comes back on. Last night near the end of a short drive, the headlights dimmed and the car lost power and died. Pushed it to the curb and came back this AM to evaluate. It started up okay and I was able to drive home- yay! LED still flickering so I do not want to drive anywhere I could get really stuck.
>
> I checked battery voltage - it is just hair under 12V (11.95). Is this low enough to implicate a battery change? Or, should I be concerned about the alternator? How does one test alternator function at home?
>
> Any suggestions welcome.
>
> thank you -
> Ron Johnson
> Portland, OR
>
> 91 Weekender - Betsy
>
