| cory43767 |
Thu Oct 29, 2009 7:47 am |
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| Yes you are correct.... but you can take all the idiot lights out and the alternator will still charge on other cars. I was stating that it is amazing that a little bulb makes the connection! |
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| dirtkeeper |
Thu Oct 29, 2009 8:21 am |
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cory43767 wrote: Yes you are correct.... but you can take all the idiot lights out and the alternator will still charge on other cars. I was stating that it is amazing that a little bulb makes the connection!
Everything that i have read here on the samba about alternators says you need the idiot light. I have a motorola alternator and my idiot light does not work. When i start the car the alternator does not charge at first but after about 1 minute or less it starts to charge. This according to my ammeter gauge. not sure why or how but it has made me very slow to actually fix my light ( been a year now) |
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| nolyg |
Sat Oct 31, 2009 10:17 am |
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| I did the test "I connect one wire from my idiot light to the positive side from the coil and the other wire to +d on my alternator" my light stayed on. Another test I tried is I started my car and removed the battery cables and the car stayed running. Any ideas where I should go from here? Thanks! |
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| gevmage |
Sat Oct 31, 2009 10:58 am |
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nolyg wrote: I did the test "I connect one wire from my idiot light to the positive side from the coil and the other wire to +d on my alternator" my light stayed on. Another test I tried is I started my car and removed the battery cables and the car stayed running. Any ideas where I should go from here? Thanks!
Ok, just to make sure we're talking about the same thing:
The stock way is that the rail that touches the bodies of the the three lights on the bottom of the speedo (but not the speedo body itself) is hot when the key is turned "on" but off when the key is turned off. The center spade of the generator/alternator light is the one that goes through the harness to the alternator/generator.
However, it's wired, the light that you want to use to indicate alternator failure (or to just deliver current) should have one side connected to something that's hot when key is on. The other side connect, through wires, to the terminal on the alternator that's not the big fat one that goes to the battery. NEITHER SIDE of this light connects to chassis ground.
When key turns on with engine still stopped, the light turns on and stays on. When you start the engine, the light should turn off fairly soon. |
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| nolyg |
Sat Oct 31, 2009 11:13 am |
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| I replaced my gen with a alt about 2 years ago. I installed a (two wire light) one wire going to the alt and the other to a positive post connected to my ignition. It worked fine until about a month ago. Once again I took my two wire light connected one wire to the positive side of the coil and the other wire to the D+ on the alternator. The light stayed on. I also removed the battery while the car was running, the car continued to run with the batter removed. |
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| gevmage |
Sat Oct 31, 2009 2:47 pm |
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cory43767 wrote: Yes you are correct.... but you can take all the idiot lights out and the alternator will still charge on other cars. I was stating that it is amazing that a little bulb makes the connection!
Ok, I see what you mean. The alternator is the same, but I've heard that some cars have a resistor in parallel to the alternator light, that will feed the alternator current even if the bulb burns out.
However, since the generator/alternator warning light in a Beetle is essentially the "your cooling system just shut down" light, personally I'm a big fan of that if the light's broken, replace it NOW.
Which means that an appropriate light bulb really needs to be in your always-take-with-you toolkit, like a fan belt. Which reminds me--I should check my toolbox to make sure I have one. :oops: |
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