I did a dumb thing...now it stalls...what did I likely fry?

[jerseyboy]

Something like that happened to mine. The caretaker for the PO hooked it up to a changer backwards (actually the battery connections were colored backwards, so he thought he had it right). All that happened was one fuse was blown.

[steponmebbbboom]

Latent battery voltage should be close to 12.6V. It may have a surface charge of 13V or more right after shutdown, which will either leak away or disappear after a momentary load, like a couple seconds of cranking. Battery voltage should not dip below 10.8V during cranking.

I would tolerate a dynamic (running) voltage of 13.8 to as high as 15V, with 14.4V as VWGirl said being the standard (most electronic equipment, esp. stereo equipment has an advertised power handling wattage based on this magic number, which is where you probably saw it). Set your multimeter to 20 or 50V, red to red black to black and put it in neutral, set the handbrake, turn the key to "run" and connect a remote starter switch to the starter. Check latent voltage (12.6V) disconnect the positive secondary lead of the coil and crank for five seconds to check cranking voltage (no less than 10.8V) and hook the coil back up and start it. Blip the throttle to cut-in the alternator, and check dynamic voltage (14.4V). Post the results and we'll go from there.

[deschutestrout]

[deschutestrout]

Remote starter switch...ain't got one of those
_________________
'71 bug, answers to "Clementine"
'75 7 passenger bus called "Kombi"
'78 7 passenger sunroof bus, goes by "Gus"
'78 Westy "'Ole Red...The Happy Camper"
'78 Westy "The Big Turd"

[steponmebbbboom]

Any kind of switch with two wires coming out of it, with alligator clips at the ends will work but ideally you want a pushbutton style, good for 20A, with 14gauge wires. You can make one yourself out of shit you got lying in the garage if you cant afford the $10 one from IdIoT AuTo PaRtZ.

[deschutestrout]

[steponmebbbboom]

Is the light steady or does it flicker?

[Duncwarw]

In that case, I'd look closely at the regulator.

It has "points" in it and a heavy load (like a short) could cause a bit of welding to occur. An arc like that might make the regulator not so prone to a good connection.

If you have access to a spare (known good) regulator, swapping it would be a quick and easy way to potentially solve the problem.
_________________
“To find yourself, think for yourself”
Socrates, 470 BC - 399 BC

[deschutestrout]

Battery light comes on steady when it's in the process of stalling. When I have my foot on the gas...i.e. driving, it doesn't come on at all. Ok...with the talk of regulator being part of alternator I'm a bit confused....should have said at the start that this is my '78 2l FI....is the regulator a separate component or part of the alt?
_________________
'71 bug, answers to "Clementine"
'75 7 passenger bus called "Kombi"
'78 7 passenger sunroof bus, goes by "Gus"
'78 Westy "'Ole Red...The Happy Camper"
'78 Westy "The Big Turd"

[Duncwarw]

I'd sort the stalling out first.
The flickering charging light at low revs is not a surprise.

If you have a seperate regulator, it should be on the firewall to the right of the engine. It's a bit over square and has a black plastic plug with a few wires in teh bottom of it.
_________________
“To find yourself, think for yourself”
Socrates, 470 BC - 399 BC

[jerseyboy]

[jerseyboy]

[71_transporter]

alternator, gen. or starter

I work in a boat factory and i know if you reverse it in these boats it frys the starter...???
_________________
Bryan

Old hippies never Die, They just go up in Smoke!

63 Bug
67 Bug
82 WestfaliaVanagon

[VWBusrepairman]

[Randy in Maine]

Nothing to add other than sometimes a non-performing or underperforming alternator will cause a miss at idle.

FI is quite voltage sensitive.

[greatlord]

don't forget the ghetto charging system check folks, if you pull a battery terminal and the buss stays running the charging system is working, if theres no alternator current it will die.

my bet is you knocked off a vaccume hose egr connection or something anoying like that

EDIT: do not try this on feul injected or electronic ignition cars

[Randy in Maine]

[greatlord]

youch, I withdraw my moment of stupidity; I failed to consider the effects of rapidly varying voltage on FI systems, please no one try this with a feul injected bus, I've never had it harm my radio but my radio has a great big noise supressor in the power line.