TheSamba.com Forums
 
  View original topic: generator light stays on Goto page Previous  1, 2
gcan Thu Jun 19, 2008 10:34 am

A picture would be great if you can get one.

On mine I have two black wires, one connector, on the fuel gauge. One goes under the dash like to to the flasher and the other looks like it goes to the brake test light. So mine is obviuosly screwed up. I need to take the whole thing out and trace the wires to be sure. To add to this I also have a green/red and BK wire loose which looks like it should go to the horn (which doesn't work by the way)

What a mess and the area I am least experienced at and to add to thisl the drawings in my manual are a pain to read even with a magnifing glass.

Thanks for the responses

gregthomas Thu Jun 19, 2008 7:12 pm

Here ya go...



Hope this helps!

burdpete Thu Jun 19, 2008 7:54 pm

Sorry I didnt upgrade everyone. I noticed in the morning that my oil light and fuel gauge didnt work either. I found a blown fuse and replaced it and fixed the problem. I think I maybe have other issues with the wiring but for now this fixed the problem.

gregthomas Thu Jun 19, 2008 8:07 pm

Cool! Glad you got it fixed. :D

gcan Fri Jun 20, 2008 5:25 am

great pic....thanks

that confirms what I thought I had found, mine doesn't have the BLK wire you show just below the bulb holders....does this wire come from the fuel gauge? if so I need to find out where mine goes and why. I have two BLK wires from the gauge and it appeared one goes to the brake test light and the other to the flasher but I'm out of town for a couple of days and can not confirm.

But everything else works so if necessary do you think it would hurt anything if I jumped a third wire from the fuel gauge to the GEN light plug?

Thanks again

gregthomas Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:42 am

You could, but if it were me, I'd find that wire. I wouldn't want a loose wire with 12 volts on it wandering around my dash. That's a fire looking for a place to happen! And if you haven't done it already, you should unhook your battery until you work this out.

gregthomas Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:03 am

Oh and btw - on my wiring diagram there is another wire coming off of the same fuse going to the brake warning light, and it is black, so I'm pretty sure your wiring for that is correct. Just find that loose wire!!!!!! :shock:

volksfurer Sat Jul 05, 2008 3:20 pm

I had a similar problem in my ghia. I was chasing a dragon. I replaced the Generator, Voltage Regulator, and Battery twice. In the diagnoses I aslo happened to burn out my electric ignition... some three hundred dollars later in parts in one week with the gen light still on and I gave up (I was really tempted to throw a brick at it at that point.

I took it in for a full inspection and they found out that my horn relay was grounding out on my spare hub cap in the bonnet! solution after some four hundred additional dollars in electrical diagnoses and labor.......
less than a dollars worth of duck tape to stop the relay from grounding out.

jamesdagg Sat Jul 05, 2008 3:33 pm

gregthomas wrote:


The way this system works is that the light has 12 volts on it at the speedo, if the alt isn't charging, the wire for the light (hooked either to the alt or to the reg if it's external) is at ground potential which grounds the other side of the light causing the light to burn, if the alt is charging, then the wire for the light (at the alt or reg) starts coming up closer to 12 volts. The bulb then has 12 volts on both sides with no ground so it doesn't come on. If the 12 volts from the fuse box is missing then when the 12 volts from the charging system comes on, the light is then grounded on the other side through something else (I'm assuming the fuel gauge) and the light comes on... in reverse sort of.

Check for 12 volts at the speedo.

Nice!! That's the best explanation of this that I've ever read!! It explains how this light can glow dimly at idle.It also explains how the heat booster fan in a bus only comes on at idle.

jim

gregthomas Sun Jul 06, 2008 9:03 pm

jamesdagg wrote: gregthomas wrote:


The way this system works is that the light has 12 volts on it at the speedo, if the alt isn't charging, the wire for the light (hooked either to the alt or to the reg if it's external) is at ground potential which grounds the other side of the light causing the light to burn, if the alt is charging, then the wire for the light (at the alt or reg) starts coming up closer to 12 volts. The bulb then has 12 volts on both sides with no ground so it doesn't come on. If the 12 volts from the fuse box is missing then when the 12 volts from the charging system comes on, the light is then grounded on the other side through something else (I'm assuming the fuel gauge) and the light comes on... in reverse sort of.

Check for 12 volts at the speedo.

Nice!! That's the best explanation of this that I've ever read!! It explains how this light can glow dimly at idle.It also explains how the heat booster fan in a bus only comes on at idle.

jim

Thanks for the props! You can also wire your electric fuel pump to the same wire so it only comes on after the engine is running and the alt is charging. I've tried an electric pump though and I don't really like 'em.

bartts Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:23 pm

had a similiar problem with my generator light, always glowed lightly. Finally ran through then entire wiring harness and found about a half dozen ungrounded grounds. Fixed those and no more glowing light!

CHECK YOUR WIRING FOR LOOSE GROUNDS!

B



Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group