[Vwdiesel] Cont'd Electrical gremlins - bad ground?

[mark drillock]

You better get a new volt meter or something. Alternators in VWs have
14v regulators. 13.9v while charging is fine. 12.5v across the battery
terminals is typical with everything turned off.

Mark


> >
> >   It almost sounds like a light may be getting left on or something else is
> > draining the battery. If you are getting 13.9 V while it's running, and the
> > battery is indeed good, it should maintain a charge overnight. On the other
> > hand, almost 12 volts when not running isn't that bad, so you may have some
> > other problem.
>
>    "almost 12" is a dead battery. In fact, 12v is a dead battery. A good battery
> will read a minimum of 12.5v, but should read 13.5 when fully charged. And I'd
> be suspicious at only getting 13.9v charging -- I usually see 15-16v with most
> cars. I've had defective alternators that only put out about 13v.
>
>