alternator..flicker?

check your belt tension and the condition of your belts. if i'm not mistaken, you should be able to push in the belt 1/2" at the middle part of the belt.

I'd say a good alternator should read close to about 14 volts.

Yeah, this was the problem on my '86 GTI...good news is the brushes are very easy to replace. My symptom was flickering dash lights, plus a "strobing" effect noticeable in my headlights and dash lights at night.

After disconnecting battery cables, you can remove the brushes/voltage regulator assembly from the back of the alternator (no need to remove the alternator from the car). Mine had one brush worn much more than the other. The assembly was around $25. I think mine had the Motorola alternator (my car was built at Westmoreland, I think later A2s built at Guadalajara, Mexico, maybe have same type alternator?)

Even with the bad brushes, I think it was putting out 13.5VDC...I tried to put a shunt in to measure current from the alternator, I think that was low (but it has been a few years, not sure of that) with the old assembly. BTW, I bought one bad assembly that didn't work right first time, the next one worked fine for me. --

--------- Tom Flynn '78 Scirocco '86 GTI '00 Golf I speak only for myself

car was built at Westmoreland, I think later A2s built at Guadalajara, Mexico, maybe have same type alternator?)

Mine's from Puebla and has a Bosch alternator.

Bentley says 14 V +/- 0.5 V. I have measured two good alternators in A2 cars over the past few years, and they were both within 0.1 V of the 14 V spec.