Warning lights

[Ingo Rautenberg]

Kneale,

No, not exactly.

I'm sorry, I missed that crucial last part where you said the lights were
still on but it appeared to be charging.  What does your voltmeter say?  Is
it above twelve -closer to 14v or so or is it below 12v.  If below 12v, no,
don't drive it, it's not charging.  Check belt for tightness.  If it's
tight, then either have it towed to your 'favorite' shop (AAA Plus will tow
up to 100 miles at no cost to you) or remove the alternator and have it
bench tested.  Could also be bad regulator or marginal brushes.  But before
you do either of these, make sure the blue wire is attached and didn't rip
loose when you went through snow/water.

HTH

-Ingo

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kneale Brownson" <knotnook at traverse.com>
To: "Ingo Rautenberg" <ingo at waratap.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2002 8:54 PM
Subject: Re: Warning lights


> You'd drive it with the warning lights on (figuring the alternator
> eventually will dry out and the lights will go away)?
>
> Thanks, Kneale
>
>
> At 08:28 PM 03/03/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>
> >Most likely (OK, definitely), you got water into the alternator and it
> >stopped charging (funny how those alternators don't like the water, yet
are
> >placed so low on these cars).
> >
> >Of course, your belt is also likely loose, and that coupled with the wet
> >alternator made charging even more difficult.  I'd check the belt tension
> >and just keep an eye on things for a while.
> >
> >-Ingo
> >'91 200q20v...Slightly modified  + '83 Urquattro
> >http://hometown.aol.com/quattringo/index.html
>