[Vwdiesel] Alternators versus Generators --( for beginners )

[Sandy Cameron]

At 11:54 AM 10/23/05 EDT, you wrote:

  The grounding issues are 
>just plain "interesting" why they happen.  I've never seen a design flaw for 
>them, unless they should've used gold contacts or something.  ;-)
>     Loren

If all VW diesels lived in arizona or new mexico, or even sunny CA, no problem.

(come to think of it, all  diesels in CA, like lawyers at the bottom of the
sea, might be a good idea)

But in the sub-arctic near north, where salt is the road scourge, it even
eats the cables away.

I have replaced a starter motor to solenoid lead that disappeared (that's a
heavy cable), a wire to a marker light that turned to green dust inside of
its plastic tube, and the whole ball of fan connections behind the left
headlight wrapped in tape (A3 factory connection) that disolved and quit on
one road trip. Made the 300 mile trip home by keeping it moving and not
using the A/C 

1..Cables sized for gas engine's lower cranking amps.
2.. The long way around is not always the shortest way home.
3.. A copper lug held by a steel bolt to an aluminum transmission housing =
a 2 cell battery when salty water is added. Only problem is it won't supply
cranking amps, (14 volts cranking would be nice) all it can do is eat away
the metals and cover them with non-conductive chlorides.

Sandy