I'm with Erin on this-- the starter bushing sounds flaky, and the battery is certainly suspect. He got his voltage numbers from good sources -- one of them is probably me . . . . and they are spot on. Also, Erin- I think the 'not charging if the indicator light is burnt out' syndrome applies only to alternator equipped cars. Is yours a generator or alternator, Asad?? Of course, he said it comes on when the key is turned on . . . that means it works. <duh> I'm thinking the battery has a shorted cell. It would charge up OK, but not hold it. The dimming of lights when driving sounds like it might be the regulator, too. If it's an alternator, I'd also look at the diodes, if one is burned out, the charging current will be inadequate while trying to run the headlights, but without the extra load, it will seem OK.
HTH! glenha :<) No Quarter wrote: > Humming from the starter is more than likely your starter bushing in the > transmission is shot and it's allowing the the armature to slop around and > hit up against the side of the starter motor. It may very well be causing > your battery to drain however, 11.92 volts is not what a battery at rest > should have - should be able to hold 12 to 13 volts. > > First of all, replace your starter bushing which pretty much requires you to > pull the engine. There are ways to do it without pulling the engine but in > this case, I would pull the engine and inspect the teeth on the flywheel and > starter motor just to be safe. I'd also pull the starter and just do a > general inspection to make sure nothing is amiss on it. I'd also check the > torque on the flywheel, set the end play, replace the main seal and o-ring, > inspect the clutch and throwout bearing. Also replace the input shaft seal > on the transmission while you're back there. > > Once you have the bushing replaced and everything bolted back up and > running, then you can tackle your charging problems. First, verify that > your generator light is indeed good by pulling it out and putting 12v to it. > You will not be charging if your light is burned out. Once you've verified > that situation, then you need to check for 13.6 to 14.1 volts DC going into > the battery. Anything less and your system will charge slower or not at > all. > > I have a strong hunch your indicator light is burned out and your starter > bushing is toast but I'm just guessing. > > Erin > > _______________________________________________ > vintagvw site list > [email protected] > http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vintagvw > > > _______________________________________________ vintagvw site list [email protected] http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vintagvw
