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74 Superbeetle charging problem... now what??

My wife's VW has been enduring some odd battery dying incidents, and the other day it died when it was at home, and jumping it would do no good, but later it jump started just fine, but a meter showed the battery was not charging. During troubleshooting, the alternator light would come on after blipping the throttle after startup, but was dim to bright in the meantime. Having swapped out the alternator with another a few months ago, I tried replacing the regulator this time. My shoulder is healing from surgery, so my daughter did the actual deed of swapping out the regulator under the back seat. After some troubleshooting and finding a burned out fuse for that circuit, I found the regulator not connected, despite me directing my little girl (ten) how to do it properly. Now the charging light won't go out at all and the system is not charging. Does someone know what happened and did the lack of having the regulator plugged in have something to do with the blown fuse? I had the dash apart chasing wires, so the cause of that is still in question. Would there be some damage to the alternator if the regulator wasn't connected?

Reply to
carl mciver
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1) There is NO fuse in the ckt. The fuse you found was probably for the rear window defogger. 2) Having the reg unplugged should not do any damage. 3) You said, "alternator light would come on after blipping the throttle..."

Did you really mean it comes *on* ??

I would suspect worn brushes.

Speedy Jim

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Reply to
Speedy Jim

| | 1) There is NO fuse in the ckt. | The fuse you found was probably for the | rear window defogger.

The field/gen lamp has a common source on the supply side with the oil light and turn signal indicator. The supply side of that is fuse # 12, which was blown and part of my problem. Actually, it just moved me on to something I understand less!

| | 2) Having the reg unplugged should not do any damage.

I didn't think so, but it was worth asking.

| | 3) You said, "alternator light would come on after | blipping the throttle..." | | Did you really mean it comes *on* ??

You're right, I meant off. | | I would suspect worn brushes.

The manual is out in the car and I don't feel like going out there to get it, so how does one check/replace the brushes without tearing anything apart all over again?

| | Speedy Jim |

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Speedy Jim, thanks for your help, it is much appreciated!

Reply to
carl mciver

I've been guilty of asking questions on RAMVA before checking all other resources available to me, but... You probably shouldn't quite spell it out like that next time. ;-)

Reply to
Shag

2 screws hold the plastic cover on top of the Alt. Jim
Reply to
Speedy Jim

Reply to
carl mciver

Even with my old OEM 6V generator setup, I never see the GEN lamp on except just before I turn the key to the start position... which is right for a fully working charging system... Any illumination of that warning lamp at all is a pointer to problems somewhere. A slightly dim bulb is still a sign of a system that isn't performing correctly.

Reply to
Red Bug

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