[Vwdiesel] Battery Charging Question

[Nate Wall]

<<<<.  In the dark is there a slight illumination
of it?  If so then you have a bad connection. >>>>

The Jetta began exhibiting this at some point. In the dark, at idle, the charge
light (LED) flickers a little. Increase the rpms and the flicker goes away. Is
it time to clean all the connections in the charging system? Old Beetles were
notorious for this.

--Nate

LBaird119 at aol.com wrote:

>   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
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