[Vwdiesel] Battery Charging Question

[LBaird119 at aol.com]

  First off, you're not supposed to disconnect from the battery with the
vehicle running.  It supposedly can damage the alternator.  I've never had
that happen but that's the general warning.  ;-)  Usually you can do just
fine with a real quick disconnect reconnect.  It's enough to tell if it's
charging.
  Drains can be easily checked with a test light.  Clip one end to the
terminal and hold the other to the post.  Slip the terminal off the post
(in this order if you have a radio you don't want to reprogram).  If the
light shows any light, you have a drain.  If not then it's probably not
an issue.
  Watch your alternator idiot light.  They are actually a good diagnostic
tool!  First make sure it comes on when you just turn on the key,
otherwise your field won't have power and it takes some HIGH rpm's
to get it to kick in otherwise.  In the dark is there a slight illumination
of it?  If so then you have a bad connection.  I thought I had a bad
alternator and it was simply a bad connection where the small,
auxiliary wire connects to the positive terminal.
  You usually have to blip the throttle a bit to get the alt. light off.
Get a jumper wire and do it manually under the hood.  Jumper
battery positive to the blue, B+ wire on the alternator.  Not the
blue W terminal if you have one.  This will give the field power
without touching the throttle.  If the engine rpm changes ever so
slightly, then it's now charging.  If not then it probably isn't.
  Without a meter of some sort it's hard to tell if it's doing full
voltage but if you have a console volt meter from a VW, then
just wire it in anywhere and it will tell you the voltage.  I snagged
the one out of the Dasher many times to do just that and I have
a DMM and a VOM!
     Loren