Awhile back, the alternator light began glowing on my 87 Westy....so I took the alternator out and dropped of at the local alternator/starter repair shop. The owner checked out the alternator and said there was nothing wrong that a good cleaning of the ground contacts couldn't fix. So he cleaned the contact point where the regulator unit sits as well as the places where the alternator bolts up to the brackets. It worked...the light went out.....for about a couple of weeks...but came back dimly on. I went back, and he suggested putting a ground strap from the alternator to the engine block. So I did that...but the light would still stay on dimly. The odd thing is that the battery hasn't died, even with headlights, heater fans and wipers on. Its been a couple of months now....the more stuff I turn on the brighter the alt light gets...when I flick on the high beams the light will brighten to full and then back to a dim light. At all times the light does not get as bright as when the ignition key is full on. I just pulled the alternator out and am going to bring it back to him. Has anyone experienced this problem before? If so, what was your solution? Any hints, suggestions offers of brand new alternators for free will not be refused!
Thanks in advance.
Ric |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.