#@$!$%^ing "ultranators"

[Gerard]

My 1995 VW Mk1 Golf has the alternator light running all the time for 
some strange reason. I had a mechanic friend of mine look at it and the 
alternator is a Lucas and not a Bosch. The voltage is spot on 14V and 
the battery is charging. He says he would never consider using a Bosch 
again 'cos when their regulators go they peg the voltage up high. He 
indicated this had happened to him before in a veedub Jetta with 
horrible effect on the electrics. The Lucas, for some reason, just dies 
when the regulator goes. Annoying, but safer.

How much of this is true, I am not sure, having no bad experience with 
Bosch units.

Even though my Lucas is doing something strange to keep the alternator 
light running, the thing still puts a good 14V out and still charges the 
battery.

Try a Lucas perhaps?

Brett Dikeman wrote:
> Broken AGAIN.  Voltage regulator is putting the voltage so high the  
> Bozo speakers shut off up front and the gauge is pegged...and that's  
> with every accessory I can think of turned on.  I had to drive the  car 
> home 5 miles in 5th @25-30mph to keep revs low enough that the  
> alternator wouldn't generate too much voltage.
> 
> Folks- regardless of how nice Avi is or how long he's been on the  list- 
> his alternators are built with cheap crap for components; this  is the 
> second time the voltage regulator in my "ultranator" has  failed, and 
> failed "on full bore". The regulator is some sort of  custom widget that 
> none of the local parts stores can find, so I've  got a useless car 
> sitting in the driveway and a club social event in  a few hours I need 
> to be at.  I don't give a rat's ass how fast he  overnights me a 
> replacement or how free it is- it's a huge  inconvenience and 
> potentially a multi-thousand-dollar failure if it  blows electronics.
> 
> Steer clear and go OEM.  I'm about to.
> 
> Brett