Date: Fri, 29 Mar 1996 10:03:00 -0800 (PST)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: "Maher, Steve (SD-MS)" <SMAHER@gi.com>
Subject: Red face (was: Oops, I "fixed" the alternator light)
Well, the master mechanic was at it again, delving deep into the mystery
of the alternator that would no longer alternate. I had worked on the
instrument cluster of the V6anagon to fix the gas gauge, and founds lots
of strange hacks in the wiring of the cluster. Fixed most of same, I
though, and lost the alternator light as well as any system voltage
over 12V with engine running.
Well, I had also taken the opportunity to tighten the alternator belt.
The way an alternator mounts on the Chevy 60-degree V6 with AC (which
this engine evidently had but no longer has), gives an excellent place
to insert the jack hadle I use to pry the alternator outward to tighten
the belt. There's a plug in the way, but it's a quick-release type,
easy to pop off and move out of the way of the jack handle.
So I did, and tightened the belt, and snugged the bolt down, and
went off to live happily ever after, and, I, uh, well, sorta forgot,
to, uh, put the plug back in....
Boy, am I getting tired of writing posts like this. And I'm probably not
the only one. :-X
Many thanks to the posters who replied, in several cases giving valuable
insight to how the GM alternator works. Makes me wonder if the fancy-dancy
high-tech LED the V6anagon has in its dash as an alternator warning lite,
instead of the stone-age light bulb Chevys use, is the cause of the
alternator's refusal to alternate until the engine is revved way up.
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Steve Maher smaher@gi.com '80 V6anagon w/Chevy 2800
'66 Mustang Coupevertible, for sale
Check out the cars at http://www.lookup.com/homepages/76242/home.html
*** Naah, only an IDIOT would make a mistake that dumb...
what? ...huh? Who, me? ***
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BTW, I also re-re-wired the gas gauge, back to the way it should be, so
it gets 10V from the voltage stabiliser. Also installed extra redundant
connections on both sides, nice and tight, to bridge around any bad
connections that might be in there.
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