Generator or Alternator?

[BJT]

My wiring is original and dirty, so I’m sure that’s one of the issues. The PO appears to have used it as a beach Thing, plenty of dust and some sand has been found by me. Haven’t had a hard time cranking, new battery and all. Guess I’ll start cleaning all the connections first and testing the voltage
Thanks all

[kenj06]

Wildthings has a point about the voltage drops across the wiring. I've been going through my connections for a couple years. Pulling connections apart, cleaning or replacing the terminals. The latest one is the heater that I still haven't found but did find I was dropping a volt across the light switch. Cleaning the starter connections gave me a little more cranking speed and would be a good place to check.
I had the same issue, generator light glowing at night with the headlights on and replacing the regulator and generator finally cleared that up but I was running stereo and fog lights too. You can run that way as long as you are charging off idle and let the car run for a minute without the headlights on before shutting down. That was on a 5 year old battery that I'm still running 4 years later. Worst case a push start may be needed.

[Wildthings]

[BJT]

Battery is a year old, belt is nice and tight. The gen light is very dim, but on when driving with headlights on, middle range rpm, at idle it’s on brighter. I’ll get a voltage check done. Prob a 44 year old generator, would be surprised if it’s not giving its best anymore.

The only extra thing I’ve added is an oil temp gauge, can’t imagine that’s pulling much extra power.

[kenj06]

Not normal.
The Haynes manual has some good troubleshooting for generator issues. And any repair info really.
wiring diagram here: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/wiring/181_Wiring_Diagram_4-73.pdf
Check grounds on generator and regulator. Check brushes and belt tightness.
Assuming good battery, with engine running, start by checking the voltage at the regulator B+, should be 13.3v to 13.8v depending on idle speed. If not, check the D+ on the regulator, should be above 14v. If not good on B+ but good on D+, probably regulator. If not good on D+, probably generator.
Recheck with lights on and voltages should all be similar. If not, generator may not hold up under load or could be grounds for lights, or voltage drops on wires, switch or fuses.
Does the light go out when at a higher RPM?
The generator should be able to run everything the car came with. unless you are running a lot of extras like fog lights, stereo and other accessories. You are better off finding the cause of the issues before switching out to an alternator.

[BJT]

Is it common for the gen idiot lamp to come on when driving with headlights on? I’ve got stock electric, no radio, nothing added, in fact even the power socket/ cigarette lighter socket is unhooked.

Thinking of switching to an alternator... or am I overthinking the warning lamp? Doesn’t come on while driving without headlights.

[kenj06]

From Page 1

[BJT]

So My 74 Thing is relatively new to me, and I’m learning about VWs fast, put in new Thing correct front end and exhaust and other minor stuff so far...

Looks like I’ve got some oil leaking from under the generator stand, to replace those gaskets and deflector, I assume the generator will have to be removed, which from what I’m reading requires removing the engine or dropping it at least to get the shroud off. Has anyone found another way to change the gaskets and deflector without dropping the engine?

[joescoolcustoms]

A magneto is what is required to fire a engine without a battery. It has permanent magnets the will generate enough power to fire and ignition and bring a engine to life.

Just like your push hand crank start lawn mower. No battery, just a magneto.
_________________
Bad News Racing 2018 NORRA 1000 3rd in Class
Best Day Ever Racing 2022 NORRA 1000 2nd in Class and first All Female team to complete the race

Everyone is gifted. Some just do not open the package.

Looks like it was painted with a live chicken,polished with a brick and buffed with a pine cone

[Semper_Dad]

[MRJEL]

Did the early Kubels (hand cranked) have magneto ignition?

Generator or alternator, you gotta have some sort of power to get things sparking.

[joescoolcustoms]

A generator does not start charging until it hits a minimum RPM around 600 to 700 RPM.

Kinda hard to do hand cranking.
_________________
Bad News Racing 2018 NORRA 1000 3rd in Class
Best Day Ever Racing 2022 NORRA 1000 2nd in Class and first All Female team to complete the race

Everyone is gifted. Some just do not open the package.

Looks like it was painted with a live chicken,polished with a brick and buffed with a pine cone

[GI Joe]

[Captain Spalding]

IIRC, the way it goes is this: to push start or hand crank you can have either a generator or an alternator, but in the case of the alternator the battery has to have at least a little juice in it. If the battery is totally disconnected or missing, you can push start or hand crank with a generator but not an alternator.

[GI Joe]

[citroen]

a 21 mm wrench is made to fit the pulley, and this is a factory boot.

factory boot on a alt this is a external reg alt 4 terminals

21 mm wrench on the alt pulley

[Zylinderkopf]

Gi Joe - agree I could get it installed either way, but a comment was made earlier in the thread that you cannot push start with an alternator. So does this mean you can't hand crank an engine with a dead battery if it has an alternator?

[GI Joe]

[Zylinderkopf]

reviving this old thread again -

I was thinking about getting the hand crank for my Thing. Will it work with both, an alternator and a generator - or only with a generator?

[Bashr52]

Also, since a dead thread has been revived, I will just mention that changing out the fuel pump is not absolutely necessary to do the generator/alternator swap. The pump will still clear, its just a real PITA trying to remove a generator pump with an alternator in the way sometimes