Wiring - was related voltage question

[Ben Swann]

Nick,

I recently had poor wiring kill an '87 5ktq.  From what I could tell, there 
is a single poor excuse for a ground that goes from chassis to engine mount 
to the oil pan.  Coupled with this, all the positive goes through the 
connection at the starter.

The car just died in stop and go traffic  - began to run poorly.  Heat 
aggravated the problem, as I had had a problem starting when hot a week 
earlier.

Anyway, fix was to run a new, separate and independant ground - did this 
from the other side of chassis.  I also ran beefed up hot wire to and from 
starter/alterntor and checked and cleaned all positive connections.

A cleaning of battery terminals and the ground which connect to the chassis 
under the seat is also important.

Ben

[Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2005 16:19:53 -0400
From: "Nick Lawrence" <nick at beol.net>
Subject: related voltage question
To: <quattro at audifans.com>
Message-ID: <004101c5d4ea$77b2a7c0$f30c73d1 at D7Z0ZR61>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Is there anyone of us out there that had a type 44 when new?
I have seen the problem a few times on my cars.

With the lights on, A/C, rear defrost, radio, wipers on, sitting in rush 
hour traffic the alternator won't keep up and battery voltage goes down 
enough to kill the motor.
I can't imagine new car owners putting up with this.  Is it just that the 
cars and wiring are just getting old?
Nick]