[Vwdiesel] blinking alternator light ??

[David Cook]

I bought a small, cheap trickle battery charger at
Wally-World a winter or two ago.

It and the block heater are plugged into a very short
extension cord that gets plugged in at night.

The block heater gets the  engine warm and the battery
charger warms the battery and gives it a bit of an
edge for starting.

The charger is very small and fits in the space
between the battery and the headlight.

David

--- Rolf Pechukas <rbp at 4u2bu.org> wrote:

> hey all
> 
> so the alternator failure continues
> 
> symptoms again:
> blinking red battery LED indicator - will come up as
> tach needle  
> drops (even w/ engine revs up)
> occasionally tach will jump back up, but sporadic,
> inaccurate, jumpy
> battery LED blinking, glowing, fading, etc
> battery not getting charged, of course, and is now
> dead
> 
> - I have checked electrical connections at the alt -
> they look solid  
> and clean
> - belt is new and properly tightened
> - I have not checked connections at the battery or
> at the relay (?)  
> panel
> - I am getting ticker-tape sounds from the relay
> panel when the tach  
> drops and the red LED comes on - what is the circuit
> there? is it  
> possibly a relay that is failing?? doesn't the alt
> feed directly to  
> the battery?
> 
> questions:
> 
> short-term strategy - any recommendations?
> I need to keep my batt charged - it's cold cold here
> and need  
> cranking power in the AM - I have AC power available
> portable battery charger?
> 
> longer term - how do I know for sure if it's
> alternator?
> do I have any other choice but to replace ($200+)(!)
> and see?
> any way to trouble shoot what's going on at the
> relay box?
> 
> thanks for any advice
> -- 
> 
> Rolf in MA
> 
> 
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> 


David Cook
Red '86 Cabriolet Diesel Powered
Red '90 g60 Corrado 
Brown and White '78 Westy Campmobile "Bear"
and others in various states of disrepair
Pictures here: community.webshots.com/user/superdave5599


 
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