no juice

[howiesfamily]

I drive my Thing about 100 miles a day and have a laptop plugged in to the power port. Today I stopped for a few minutes and it wouldn't start up again. There wasn't enough battery power to start it. I got it jumped and made it home. Started up fine after I got home. After it got dark, I took it down the street and the headlights got really dim. They would brighten up a bit when I revved the motor, but then went dim immediately. The generator light is not coming on. Would this be a dead battery problem? Wouldn't the light come on if the gen or regulator weren't working properly? I did a search, but in all the threads I could find, the generator light came on.
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member of: Fort Worth Aircoolers Gang

[Towel Rail]

Does your generator light ever come on? Maybe it's been burned out for a while...
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1974 Thing -- under the knife
1967 Beetle -- spring/summer/fall driver
1996 Subaru OBW (EJ22, 5-speed, AWD) -- winter car, 3-seasons "don't feel like biking today" car

049 > 070 > 053 > 009

[baja kid]

sounds like a regulator problem to me i hade to replace my alternator on my bug because of similar problems at night my light would get super bright then back to normal pegging my amp gague at the time of bright lights. good luck
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My old Baja Bug thread

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=243718

[Skorzeny's G Ride]

Take the battery and generator out to have it checked. Could be either one or the light like tower said.

Do you check your battery?
Are your cables tight and secure? (this is a big one for most projects)
Maybe the gen/alt is going out.

Even though its not new to me I am reminded occasionally that procrastinating or doing things half-fast multiples repair time 100 fold. Make sure everything, including your connections, are solid and secure.
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...70 type 181
...59 Beetle
...62 beetle baja (new)

[Fun 181]

My battery went dead a couple of months ago. I cleaned my coroded terminals which helped a little, but I finally realized that my battery water levels were really low. I toped it off with fresh distilled water and it's been fine since.

Another time I had a starter wire fall off (the small blade connector) which drove me nuts for a few minutes before I figured out what was going on.
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[Thingggg]

"If you have a voltmeter, here are some easy tests to make:
Measure the voltage across the battery. Should be about 12.6 volts with the engine off. As the engine speeds up, the voltage should increase to somewhere around 14 volts. If it does, the generator is working and charging the battery. If the voltmeter does not go up with the engine running, first check to see that the generator brushes are not worn excessively. If you can, apply a little pressure to the brushes while the engine is running see if the gen the voltmeter reading increases. If it does, the brushes may be worn to the point that they don't exert enough pressure on the commutator." ( http://www.nls.net/mp/volks/htm/gen.htm )

Check SPEEDY JIM'S HOME PAGE site for other gen. checks.

[howiesfamily]

I checked the voltage on the battery without the motor running and it reads about 12-12.5 V on my analog meter. The light comes on when I start it like it is supposed to. A few weeks ago I pulled the motor and when I put it back in, I didn't have the belt tight. The light came on then, so I don't think its a problem with the light. I haven't checked the voltage with the motor running yet. I pulled the brushes out of the generator and they appear to be good. The end of the brushes and the commutator look nice and clean. The battery doesn't look very new. I've only had the Thing since June. I'll pull it and have it tested since it's easier to get out than the gen.
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member of: Fort Worth Aircoolers Gang

[90runner]

Could be a ground problem possibly I used to get that with my Porsche I'd be driving along and all of a sudden the lights would dim and the car would stall.

[howiesfamily]

Battery checked out OK. Just needs a charge. Guess I'll check all the connections and make sure everything is tight and then make my way to the regulator. I did check the voltage at the battery with the motor running and when I raise the rpm it does move up to about 14 volts.
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member of: Fort Worth Aircoolers Gang

[howiesfamily]

Ok. I checked all the connections and everything is solid. The only other thing I can think of is the regulator.
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member of: Fort Worth Aircoolers Gang

[Skorzeny's G Ride]

Does anyone have any extra grounds for their battery?
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...70 type 181
...59 Beetle
...62 beetle baja (new)

[howiesfamily]

Don't you hate it when the last thing you look at is the easiest to fix? The belt was a teensy bit loose. I took out one shim and no more problem. Of course, I did get to take the day off work and play with the VW.
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member of: Fort Worth Aircoolers Gang

[howiesfamily]

OK, maybe it isn't fixed. I started driving about 8 this morning. Had my laptop plugged in and the AC power light is nice and steady. About 10 it starts flickering. I put the multitester on the gen to check the voltage and at idle it shows about 14 volts. When I raise the rpm the voltage drops to about 5-6 volts. That doesn't sound right. Any ideas?
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member of: Fort Worth Aircoolers Gang

[74 Thing]

There is your problem-Voltage regulator, brushes or generator.

[Thingggg]

Did you try and polarize the generator as Speedy Jim suggests?

"What happens though to a generator which has been STORED a long time or is freshly built? The residual magnetism may have decreased to the point where it can no longer get the generator started producing voltage. In the case of a new generator or one which has been mis-treated, the residual may even be of the wrong direction (North and South poles reversed). Polarization is a simple process used to restore the Field pole residual magnetism and ensure the magnetic direction is correct." (Speedy Jim)

http://www.nls.net/mp/volks/htm/gen.htm

[howiesfamily]

I got it started and took it to Lyle Cherry. We traced it down to the voltage regulator. The contacts were fried. Swapped it out and I'm back on the road. Thanks for all the tips.
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member of: Fort Worth Aircoolers Gang