Date:         Sun, 24 Jan 1999 22:22:28 -0800
Reply-To:     David Marshall <vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Marshall <vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG>
Subject:      Re: alternator upgrade
Comments: To: BILL <billv2@PRODIGY.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <00e601be47e9$723ceca0$05af48a6@default>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

This is what I know about VW alternators.

- stay with Bosch - Motorola and others are not that good.
- most all Bosch alternators will work on almost any VW.  Currently I am
running my Vanagon 90A alternator on my Audi 80 engine.  This means that
any inline four alternator will work on your Vanagon.  Basically you have
to swap over your existing belt pulley to make it work.
- try to find a Passat or Corrado 120A Alternator - some EVs have 150A
alternators.  I have almost 1kW of high beams and the 90A alternator drops
below 12V with all the lights on.  90A isn't enough especially in the
winter with the blower and wipers on all the time.
- The wire that runs from the alternator to the stater should be changed to
at least 4 gauge.  Lots of loss occurs here.  From the starter to the
battery it is pretty thick stuff.

Now, does anyone have any info on how to wire up TWO alternators?  :)

At 15:32 24/01/1999 -0700, BILL wrote:
>It seems that the bearings in my 65 Amp alternator are giving out. They
>vibrate and make a dry bearing noise till it warms up.
>
>I plan on putting in a second battery in the near future for additional
>accesories like a heater. I think now would be a good time to upgrade to the
>90 Amp. After searching the archives, I discovered that along with the
>alternater change, I will also have to upgrade the wiring.
>
>I would like to hear from Westy owners that have gone through this upgrade.
>Please p-mail me only.
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Bill
>'85 GL [*Magic*Bus*]
>'82 Westy [FreeBird] ...cause I'm as free as a bird now...
>Big Sky Country                                 ---Ronnie Van Zant
><><
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>

--   David Marshall - Vanagon List Admin - Quesnel, BC, Canada   --
--    78 VW Rabbit, 80 VW Caddy, 87 Audi 5KSQ, 85 VW Cabriolet   --
--  88 2.0L VW Syncro Double Cab, WANTED: VW / Bombardier Iltis  --
-- David's Volkswagen Home Page        http://www.volkswagen.org --
-- Fast Forward Autobahn Sport Tuning  http://www.fastforward.ca --
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