[Vwdiesel] alternator light :(

[Terry Briggs]

I haven't had a dash apart in years, but aren't the bulbs set into a 
board, with the leads set in resin, sort of a circuit board, if the 
lead to that bulb is even scratched, it could cause a problem, I'd 
start there with a meter and work your way back to the power leads for 
the dash panel.
On Jul 30, 2006, at 4:19 PM, Pam & Doug Boes wrote:

>
>
> Message: 2
>
> Date: Sat, 29 Jul 2006 12:04:52 -0700
>
> From: Roger Brown <r.c.brown at ieee.org>
>
> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] alternator light :(
>
> To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
>
> Message-ID: <44CBB154.3090901 at ieee.org>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
>
>
> Pam & Doug Boes wrote:
>
>> The alternator light on my 85' Golf diesel quit working. I replaced
>
>> the bulb but it still doesn't work. The alternator was recently
>
>> replaced and at the
>
>> D+ terminal and at the end of the blue wire both read 12+ Volts when
>
>> D+ the key
>
>> is turned on. The rest of the indicator lights seem to be working
>
>> fine. I've disassembled the dash 3-4 times to verify the light is
>
>> installed correctly and the led actually lights. I've pulled the fuse
>
>> and it looks OK. I've grounded the blue wire to the negative battery
>
>> post and still no alternator light.
>
>>
>
>>
>
>>
>
>> What else would be keeping the alternator light from lighting when the
>
>> key is turned on? If I'm looking for a broken connection, where would
>
>> be the place to start?
>
>
>
> Did you use an LED for the dash bulb?  If so, maybe it is in 
> backwards, LEDs
> have an anode and cathode connection.
>
>
>
> -- 
>
>     Roger
>
>
>
> Yes, I did use an LED and originally thought maybe I'd installed it
> backwards. Then I thought maybe I'd damaged it if I had hooked it up
> backwards. Yesterday, I removed it and hooked it up to the battery 
> charger
> to verify it would light up in one direction. It does, everything is 
> OK with
> the bulb. I also verified that the flat spot on the edge corresponds 
> to the
> common (negative) side of the LED, just like the Bentley says. Looking 
> at
> the instrument foil from the back, the common (negatives) for each LED
> appear to be to the left because the left side of all the LEDs look 
> like
> they meet just below the plug (toward the temperature gage). I haven't 
> tried
> intentionally installing it backwards to verify that backwards is 
> really
> forward. I'm not electrically inclined, but it seems odd that all the 
> LEDs
> would be powered from the same source and would depend on each light's
> individual ground to complete the circuit?
>
>
>
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>
Third Wheel engineering
Custom Design and Fabrication
2576 King Circle
Corning, New York 14830
Vbriggs at stny.rr.com