[Vwdiesel] re:moving on/alternator update! also... any spare wheels

[raymond greeley]

I spoke with two   different alternator rebuilders and both said that 
dysfunctional diodes in the
in the alternator would cause the battery to discharge while running
I have replaced the said alternator with one from a local auto recycler. Has 
anyone replaced
the diodes and if this can be done using above average skills where might i 
find these parts.
It would be nice to have a spare though this local recycler sells used ones 
for 15.00usd on
wednesdays so i may just pick up another there. The charging system seems to 
be working
as it should, starting my beast during the recent zero temps in chicago.
On the subject of wheels,. i am looking for a pair of honeycomb alloys to 
phase in while i clean
up the ones on the car, two at a  time. I could use some steelies though a 
back up pair would be desirable.
anyways, happy holidays,, ray

>From: Chris Geiser <cfgmail at direcway.com>
>To: 'raymond greeley' <rgreeley2 at hotmail.com>, Vwdiesel at vwfans.com, 
>LBaird119 at aol.com
>Subject: RE: [Vwdiesel] re:moving on/alternator update!
>Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 08:05:55 -0600
>
>I'll be interested in what you find - I'm having very similar problems with
>my 92 Jetta Ecodiesel.  Occasionally battery will slowly discharge despite
>driving over a couple of days.  Put the charger on and battery charges back
>up and stays up for a month or two.  Sporadic...
>14.4 volts at battery when running.  No current leak at rest that I can
>find.
>Bought the car about 3 yrs ago - it killed the battery that was in it the
>first winter.  Bought a new one at Sears and it killed that one within a
>year - got it replaced under warranty, but now that battery is getting 
>weak,
>so I need to figure out what's happening...
>
>Chris
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] On
>Behalf Of raymond greeley
>Sent: Saturday, November 19, 2005 9:01 AM
>To: Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
>Subject: [Vwdiesel] re:moving on/alternator update!
>
>As previous mentioned, I have replace several cables to improve current
>movement efficiency
>and of course grounding, i did replace the battery though still serviceable
>the old one wasn't
>working at full strength any longer. so now it is a bench tool, also
>adjusted v-belt which
>could have been the culprit as is a recent replacement and must have
>stretched some
>as i could spin the alt pulley with the belt in place but now i'm at the
>limit of adjustment
>so next adjustment would be a shorter belt.
>Here's what is really interesting,  i found while visiting a friends repair
>shop, whom used a cool "snap on" anylizer, the alt is putting out 14.4
>volts, great! this great tool also says that somewhere in the
>system i am giving back more voltage. discharging battery.
>Back at my home i did the old "light in between the positive cable and
>battery" test light. found
>no drain of current, put the head lights on just to make sure the test 
>light
>
>worked and it did.
>I also used the test light circuit on the alt cable and found no charge
>drain.
>I'm thinking somewhere in the alt diodes is a failure responsible for the
>charge drain.
>so, has any one had this issue. something that suggests a previous problem
>here is
>that in the bag of misc parts i recieved from the previous owner (i've 
>owned
>
>this car 16 mo,)
>is a brush box that looks like it might fit my alt. any help is greatly
>apprec. winter snapped
>a towel at us here in chi town this week and that took several days off my
>between
>recharge schedule.
>thanks, ray
>
>
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