Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 09:33:43 -0700
Reply-To: Tobin Copley <tobin.copley@UBC.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Tobin Copley <tobin.copley@UBC.CA>
Subject: Odd intermittent charging light problem (82 diesel)
In-Reply-To: <v0311070cb5471eca38a3@[130.91.38.28]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"
Hi, I have an strange intermittent problem with the charging system
(battery) idiot light on the dash. Symptoms:
1) The light stays on on startup until the throttle is run up to
maybe 2500 rpm or so. i understand this is a common vanagon thing.
2) sometimes the light will start to glow slightly when driving.
Sometimes brighter than other times.
3) I always drive with headlights on. Interestingly, turning the
headlights OFF makes the idiot light glow considerable BRIGHTER.
(WTF?)
4) The problem shows up every now and then, but is not always
present. maybe it's more common in warmer weather, I dunno.
5) When the light decides it's gonna glow, shutting down the bus,
turning everything off and on again does not change anything.
Letting it sit for a minute or two also does not change anything.
6) If the light had been glowing, letting it sit for several hours
(stone cold) will often but not always make the problem go away for
some time--sometimes I may not see it again for days or weeks.
7) Poking and pushing wiring in the engine compartment does not seem
to change anything. All connections there appear to be solid.
8) This is a NA diesel, so the electrical system is basically there
just to power my lights and for the glow plugs and starter on start
up, so the engine, of course, runs fine.
A few other maintenance-related data points:
9) the printed circuit foil behind the dash is a bit worn. for
example, I have no illumination on the speedo, even though the bulb
tests good.
10) I have not yet checked all the ground connections, since a) until
recently it's been raining a *lot*, b) I don't know where to look for
all the candidate connections, and c) I'm am really a klutz with
electical stuff, so I guess I've been avoiding it.
11) When we got the bus in February, the battery was not secured in
the tray in the engine compartment, so it fell over against the
alternator which buzzed through the battery ground cable and messed
up the alternator harness and starter positive cable. I had a VW
dealership fab up a new set of cables, which I installed.
12) The connection of the positive cable to the starter solenoid
comes quite close to the body of the solenoid/transmission itself,
and is bare metal there on the cable connector end quite close to the
solenoid/tranny. Could a slight intermittent contact there be
contributing to this?
Initially I suspected I have a weak charging system, but observation
3 above makes me reconsider that.
Any ideas or pointers (connections/components to check?) would be appreciated.
T.
--
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Tobin Copley Bowen Island, BC, Canada tobin.copley@ubc.ca
'82 westy 1.6L NA diesel ("Stinky")
'97 son Russell =============
'99 daughter Margaret /_| |__| |__|:| clatter
1995: 'Round US, Mexico, Canada 15,000 mi O|. .| clatter!
1996: Vancouver to Inuvik, NWT 7,400 km ~-()-==----()-~
Previous buses: '76 westy deluxe (Daisy), '76 westy standard (Mango)
| 
