kvanderlaag
05-10-2007, 11:25 PM
Chris had posted something rather discouraging in the "MkI Common Problems" thread here, and I'm sort of wondering if anyone can elaborate.
For a while, my MkI wasn't charging the battery under load, really, and I was getting all my check lights coming on when I'd have the lights, brake lights, and turn signals all on at once, and it wouldn't really go away until I let her idle for a while or whatever. Mechanic friend of ours sort of thought it might have been a voltage regulator problem, so we found a reman ND alt, and popped it in. It seems to charge a lot stronger, but the voltage still won't come up over 12, ever.
Also of note, the alternator gets really hot. REALLY hot. Like, exhaust manifold hot. Short somwhere, maybe?
I hear the charging system is this bad normally -- is there anything we can do to bring it up to par? It'd be nice to be able to run a stereo on this thing.
For a while, my MkI wasn't charging the battery under load, really, and I was getting all my check lights coming on when I'd have the lights, brake lights, and turn signals all on at once, and it wouldn't really go away until I let her idle for a while or whatever. Mechanic friend of ours sort of thought it might have been a voltage regulator problem, so we found a reman ND alt, and popped it in. It seems to charge a lot stronger, but the voltage still won't come up over 12, ever.
Also of note, the alternator gets really hot. REALLY hot. Like, exhaust manifold hot. Short somwhere, maybe?
I hear the charging system is this bad normally -- is there anything we can do to bring it up to par? It'd be nice to be able to run a stereo on this thing.