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Alternator Giving Very High Volts
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hamid
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 3:52 pm    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

ok it seems that I may have similar problems.

my questions pertains to alternator and regulator. I am not an expert at this at all. if on a new alternator, new regulator, new battery, all good connections, good ground there is a 16 volt reading at D+ and 13.7 volts at battery at idle, what does that mean( the ignition light is flickering with dim light).

when I push the gas the ignition warning light is full red now and it reads 16 volts at D+ and battery too?

when I disconnect the regulator there is no output to the battery.

I have done the voltage measurement at D+, DF and D- with ignition off, ignition on engine not running, and engine running measurement on new regulator( after burning two) still check out for how long? i do not know. is it possible that there is internal problem with alternator. where is the diode? inside the alternator? could that gate be a problem ? thanks

thanks I am getting ready to tow the bus to the mechaninc.
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telford dorr
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 4:58 pm    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

Quote:
ok it seems that I may have similar problems.

Don't we all...

Quote:
my questions pertains to alternator and regulator. I am not an expert at this at all. if on a new alternator, new regulator, new battery, all good connections, good ground there is a 16 volt reading at D+ and 13.7 volts at battery at idle, what does that mean( the ignition light is flickering with dim light).

It means one (or more) of those parts, even though new, is bad. The indicator light on the dash is operated by the voltage difference between the alternator D+ terminal (16 volts) and the battery (13.7 volts). The difference (2.3 volts) will make the dash indicator glow. Were the D+ at 13.7 volts like the battery, the difference would be zero and the lamp would be dark. On a normal alternator failure, the D+ voltage tends to be on the low side of battery voltage (e.g. no alternator output). In your case, the alternator is overdoing it (no regulation). The indicator doesn't know the difference; it just lights up.

Quote:
when I push the gas the ignition warning light is full red now and it reads 16 volts at D+ and battery too?

Yup - no regulation. The light being full red says there's a serious wiring problem somewhere between the regulator and the dash. If both voltages are 16 volts (even though it's the 'wrong' voltage), the indicator should not illuminate.

Quote:
when I disconnect the regulator there is no output to the battery.

With the regulator out of the circuit, the alternator output should be zero, as there is no drive current from the regulator to the alternator rotor coil to make the alternator work.

Quote:
I have done the voltage measurement at D+, DF and D- with ignition off, ignition on engine not running, and engine running measurement on new regulator( after burning two) still check out for how long?

What were they (specifically, Df and D-)?

Quote:
i do not know. is it possible that there is internal problem with alternator.

Could be...

Quote:
where is the diode? inside the alternator? could that gate be a problem ?

Yes - all nine diodes ( six big ones and three small ones) are inside, mounted on an aluminum plate located in front of the stator coils ('front' is the front of the bus). The critical cooling air from the main fan to the front alternator plate on type 4 engines keeps these diodes cool, as does the mounting plate passages on type 1 engines.

Quote:
thanks I am getting ready to tow the bus to the mechanic.

Seeing as you've already had this all apart, you might as well finish it. Review the jumper tests done at the regulator described above.

Critical points.
- With the regulator disconnected, there should be very low resistance between the Df and D- wires (the alternator rotor coil and brushes) and infinite resistance from either Df or D- to ground (the rotor coil isn't shorted to the rotor shaft).

- The previously described jumper tests (D+ to Df, then Df to ground, one at a time) should produce no alternator output. If it does, bad alternator (shorted rotor).

- With the regulator disconnected, the dash indicator should not light up (three small diodes not shorted).

Check these points and get back to us.
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hamid
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 5:57 pm    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

with the regulator disconnected engine running the dash light is off. and there is no output to the battery( the battery reads 12.4)

with the regulator connected at idle speed the battery shows 13.7 volts
with the regulator connected at high rpm the battery shows 16 volts just like D+

regulator test
volts D+ DF D-
ignition and engine off 0 0 0
ignition on engine off 1.26 0.6 0
ignition on engine on idle 16.1 7.4 0

resistance DF to D- only 11 ohm
DF or D- to ground apparently infinity( it just show 1 on the meter

what do you mean problem between the regulator and dash where exactly in dash?
do I have to worry about frying wiring harnesses at this point? I checked all the fuses under the steering wheel they are all ok.

specifically how do I jumper DF to D-? it is not clear in the thread. do I connect them together while they are connected to the regulator and D- is disconnected while the engine running or I connect DF and D- while all are off of regulator?
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telford dorr
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 10:29 pm    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

hamid wrote:
regulator test
volts D+ DF D-
ignition on engine on idle 16.1 7.4 0

This indicative of a bad regulator. The Df voltage should drop to zero if the alternator output rises too high (as seen at the D+ connection). With 16.1 volts at D+, I would have expected 0 volts at Df. The 7.4 volts indicates that the regulator thinks the alternator output is OK, but the 16.1 volts at D+ clearly indicates it isn't. Normally, a mechanical regulator increases the Df voltage to increase alternator output, and decreases it to lower output. (This appears to be a mechanical type regulator, as the control occurs at the Df terminal. On solid state regulators, the Df terminal voltage is the same as D+, and the D- terminal voltage varies to control the alternator. The alternator itself doesn't care which method is used.)

Quote:
resistance DF to D- only 11 ohm
DF or D- to ground apparently infinity( it just show 1 on the meter

Those values look OK.

Quote:
what do you mean problem between the regulator and dash where exactly in dash?

The connection to the little plate the dash indicator lamp holder mounts on, the battery cable connections, the trannie ground strap, the connections at the starter, the connections at the fuse block, etc., all influence the operation of the alternator system and the indicator lamp. In summary, with the engine running:

- there should be very little voltage drop (say. 0.5 volts max) between the battery positive pole and the mounting plate the ALT lamp mounts on at the instrument cluster. (You'll need to make up a long extension jumper for your meter to check this...)

- there should be little voltage drop between any of: the battery negative pole, the engine case, the vehicle body, or the case of either the alternator or the regulator.

Quote:
do I have to worry about frying wiring harnesses at this point? I checked all the fuses under the steering wheel they are all ok.

Other than the power to the indicator lamp mounting plate, which is fused, the rest of the charging system is unfused. Thus, smoke and flame are always a possibility. Use caution.

Quote:
specifically how do I jumper DF to D-? it is not clear in the thread.

Make up a wire 6" long, 16 AWG, with a male 1/4" blade terminal (available at any decent FLAPS) crimped on either end. This is the D+ to Df jumper. Make up a second wire, about 18" long, with a 1/4" male blade terminal on one end and an alligator clip on the other. This is the D- to ground jumper. The 1/4" terminals will plug into the socket the regulator normally plugs into.

Quote:
do I connect them together while they are connected to the regulator and D- is disconnected while the engine running or I connect DF and D- while all are off of regulator?

With the regulator disconnected. jumper the D+ (red) and Df (green) connections first, with D- (brown) unconnected. Start the engine and check the alternator output. There shouldn't be any. Repeat with D- connected to body ground, and Df and D+ disconnected. Should see the same results - no alternator output. If there is output in either of these configurations, it indicates the presence of either a harness short or internal alternator problem.

Based on your measurements, I suspect the alternator is OK and the regulator or its connections are the issue.

To Do:

Check the D+ terminal at the regulator. Is it clean? is it making good contact to the regulator? This is the voltage reference for the regulator, and is the voltage that is actually regulated.

Is the regulator case well grounded to the body?
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hamid
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 10:27 am    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

this morning i performed the tests

regulator disconnected D+to DF jumper 16 VOLTS PUTPUT TO THE BATTERY!!
DF to ground no output.

the regulator is new. the connection are all good.

based this the problem is the new alternator! harness problem unlikely since there is no out put when the regulator is disconnected. if there was a short for example between the green and red, it would have output. so is to reasonable to assume that it is an internal problem?

thanks. if that is the case then that is not my job with major back surgery. I need to tow it in to the mechanic who put the alternator in few weeks ago.

my question is that it was working well for the last few weeks even though at nights i has noticed the flickering of the ignition warning light. anyways I really appreciate your help. any other suggestions are welcome. thanks

if the battery is being charged at 16 volts what happens to it? does that also mean that the entire system receiving 16 volts including the FI system? and what are the consequences?
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 2:48 pm    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

hamid wrote:
this morning i performed the tests

regulator disconnected D+to DF jumper 16 VOLTS PUTPUT TO THE BATTERY!!
DF to ground no output.

To be clear, the first test was: D+ (red) to Df (green), with D- (brown) disconnected?

The second test should have been D- (brown) to ground, with both D+ (red) and Df (green) disconnected.

Assuming this is true:
For the alternator to produce output, there must be a connection to BOTH Df and D-. These connections power the alternator rotor coil. Since you're getting output with no connection to D-, then we must assume that the current has found an alternate path: either there is a short from the brown harness wire to ground, or there is an internal short on the D- side of the alternator. The problem is, previously you measured the resistance from D- and Df to ground and didn't find any (specifically, the meter had the same ohms reading when measuring D- and Df to ground as it does when the probes are not connected to anything). So, what we have here is a first class 'water mystery'...

Quote:
the regulator is new. the connection are all good.

Unfortunately, these days 'new' doesn't necessarily equate to 'good'.

Quote:
based this the problem is the new alternator! harness problem unlikely since there is no out put when the regulator is disconnected. if there was a short for example between the green and red, it would have output. so is to reasonable to assume that it is an internal problem?

In this case, the problem seems to involve the D- (brown) wire, so it could still be a harness problem.

Quote:
thanks. if that is the case then that is not my job with major back surgery.

Been there, done that, have the t-shirt! Fortunately, I recovered and am pretty functional.

Quote:
I need to tow it in to the mechanic who put the alternator in few weeks ago.

In that case, sounds like a plan.

Quote:
my question is that it was working well for the last few weeks even though at nights i has noticed the flickering of the ignition warning light. anyways I really appreciate your help. any other suggestions are welcome. thanks

When you figure out what it is, post the answer. This is the second bus with the same mysterious symptoms. It's a shame you're not in San Diego area. I'd love to get my hands on this thing and figure it out. It's starting to bug me...

Quote:
if the battery is being charged at 16 volts what happens to it?

It boils the piss out of it. Think: overheat badly, warp the plates, bubble acid all over the battery tray. In short, BAD!

Quote:
does that also mean that the entire system receiving 16 volts including the FI system? and what are the consequences?

Yup, and could lead to fried electronics (stereo, FI controller, etc.) You do not want to let this continue. If you must drive it, disconnect the regulator, make the (short) trip, then recharge the battery once back home.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 6:42 pm    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

hamid wrote:
ok it seems that I may have similar problems.


Sorry to hear that Hamis, hope you fix the problem. Strange that we are having such similar problems; especially since I couldn't find anything in the forums about this type of issue. Electrical problems are such a pain in the butt to deal with too.

Ok, sorry I haven't posted any updates on my problem lately, that last Nor'Easter we had up here really did a number on my town. Lost power for 3 days, trees down, and the car port I keep my bus in blew away... well almost blew away, the anchors holding it down snapped, and the only thing holding it down was the extension cords; scratched my bus up pretty good Evil or Very Mad . Been a crazy week.

I finally had time to clean it all up, and install my new harness; which was a pain to install. I did get it all connected, and it fits very nicely. I crossed my fingers and started the bus... 17 volts.... But for sh!ts and giggles, I tried my old VR. Started the engine, and boom, 14.38 volts. I revved the engine, just to make sure, and yup, volts looked good. I'm not calling it a success yet, but it's a step in the right direction.

Why does my old VR work, but the new one doesn't? Do the new digital BERU units work with 70 amp alternators, and if so, do they get fried easier than the analog units? Does anyone know of any other manufacturers of voltage regulators?

I'm hoping to drive the VW in the next few days, so hopefully the volts stay below 14.4, but will post updates. Dang 40 year old German electronics!

Thanks for all the help everyone!
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 6:53 pm    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

smitty1976bus wrote:
hamid wrote:
ok it seems that I may have similar problems.


Sorry to hear that Hamis, hope you fix the problem. Strange that we are having such similar problems; especially since I couldn't find anything in the forums about this type of issue. Electrical problems are such a pain in the butt to deal with too.

Ok, sorry I haven't posted any updates on my problem lately, that last Nor'Easter we had up here really did a number on my town. Lost power for 3 days, trees down, and the car port I keep my bus in blew away... well almost blew away, the anchors holding it down snapped, and the only thing holding it down was the extension cords; scratched my bus up pretty good Evil or Very Mad . Been a crazy week.

I finally had time to clean it all up, and install my new harness; which was a pain to install. I did get it all connected, and it fits very nicely. I crossed my fingers and started the bus... 17 volts.... But for sh!ts and giggles, I tried my old VR. Started the engine, and boom, 14.38 volts. I revved the engine, just to make sure, and yup, volts looked good. I'm not calling it a success yet, but it's a step in the right direction.

Why does my old VR work, but the new one doesn't? Do the new digital BERU units work with 70 amp alternators, and if so, do they get fried easier than the analog units? Does anyone know of any other manufacturers of voltage regulators?

I'm hoping to drive the VW in the next few days, so hopefully the volts stay below 14.4, but will post updates. Dang 40 year old German electronics!

Thanks for all the help everyone!


Are we sure it's a genuine Beru or is it a Chinese fake?

Even genuine replacement parts can occasionally be bad but this junk VW parts out of the box schtik is really getting long in the tooth... either that or the old harness really WAS the problem and fried the new VR.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 7:56 pm    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

Congrats! Bad harness + bad regulator. Not simple to diagnose or fix.
One down; one to go.

Just as a follow-up:

- is the old (working) regulator mechanical (has relays inside), or electronic?
- I assume the new (non-working) regulator is electronic?

Mechanical regulators can take a joke more than electronic ones can. If you had a harness short, a mechanical regulator might survive a situation that would cause an electronic one to let out the purple smoke.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 8:15 pm    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

telford dorr wrote:
Congrats! Bad harness + bad regulator. Not simple to diagnose or fix.
One down; one to go.

Just as a follow-up:

- is the old (working) regulator mechanical (has relays inside), or electronic?
- I assume the new (non-working) regulator is electronic?

Mechanical regulators can take a joke more than electronic ones can. If you had a harness short, a mechanical regulator might survive a situation that would cause an electronic one to let out the purple smoke.


Good point. IMO, no "new design" modern external electronic regulator on the market today has any business on an ACVW.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 8:20 pm    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

Tram wrote:
Are we sure it's a genuine Beru or is it a Chinese fake?


No idea. Bought it from BusDepot and it has BERU on it, ha:

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Guess the only way to tell, is to buy a new one; luckily they're fairly cheap. Plus, the old one is a trooper, when it starts to give off irregular readings, I just tap it a little, and it's good as new:


I just noticed that the Bosch part # on my old VR doesnt match the BERU part #. Is that a problem? Or do they all do the same thing.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 8:24 pm    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

telford dorr wrote:
Congrats! Bad harness + bad regulator. Not simple to diagnose or fix.
One down; one to go.

Just as a follow-up:

- is the old (working) regulator mechanical (has relays inside), or electronic?
- I assume the new (non-working) regulator is electronic?

Mechanical regulators can take a joke more than electronic ones can. If you had a harness short, a mechanical regulator might survive a situation that would cause an electronic one to let out the purple smoke.


Thank you telford dorr! As to your questions, the old VR is mechanical; and the new one electronic. Can see them in the pictures in my last post. Might try and find some of the old mechanical VR's for back ups, rather than the new styles, ha.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 8:35 pm    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

Tram wrote:
Good point. IMO, no "new design" modern external electronic regulator on the market today has any business on an ACVW.

I don't know if i'd go quite that far. I run electronic on mine. But the problem is, electronic ones are more vulnerable to unnatural failures like harness shorts. In theory, they shouldn't be any more unreliable overall than, say, the (electronic) diodes inside the alternator itself.

If I were driving cross country, spending a lot of time in the middle of nowhere, I'd either want a good mechanical regulator and some fine sandpaper (so I can fix it), or a couple of spare power transistors to patch up an electronic one...
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 5:31 am    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

Quote:
If you had a harness short, a mechanical regulator might survive a situation that would cause an electronic one to let out the purple smoke


Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 7:41 am    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

Abscate wrote:
Quote:
If you had a harness short, a mechanical regulator might survive a situation that would cause an electronic one to let out the purple smoke


Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy
Just pump the smoke back in and they are good for another 100k miles..... Cool The big problem is sourcing the purple smoke. You may have to mix red smoke with blue smoke in the right proportions since purple smoke is NLA.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 9:50 am    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

TomWesty wrote:
Abscate wrote:
Quote:
If you had a harness short, a mechanical regulator might survive a situation that would cause an electronic one to let out the purple smoke


Just pump the smoke back in and they are good for another 100k miles. The big problem is sourcing the purple smoke. You may have to mix red smoke with blue smoke in the right proportions since purple smoke is NLA.

And therein lies the problem - getting the smoke back in. Usually requires special tooling. Some people just run straight blue smoke, but it doesn't work nearly as well (and sometimes it has an oily smell, as opposed to the normal burnt plastic).... Smile
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 5:01 pm    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

Looking around leads to the conclusion that these new Beru regulators are Chinese. Multiple ebay vendors
list the country of origin as "CN", ie. Red China.

Same excessive voltage problem reported on another forum: http://www.02forum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=8281
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 6:01 pm    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

Amazing.

Here's the schematic for an alternator voltage regulator (AL82 type):
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

how many parts are there? Maybe 13? Gotta cost maybe $3.50 in volume for good quality electronic parts (plus the case, labor and packaging ...)?

Why is it that the Chinese just can't seem to build anything worth a damn? (Actually, I know - they build exactly what the buyer specifies - or mis-specifies, as the case may be. With liberal substitution with whatever parts they have on hand. Even if your design is total crap, they never say 'no'.)
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'71 panel, now with FI
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In theory, theory works in practice; in practice, it doesn't - William T. Harbaugh
When you're dead, you don't know you're dead. The pain is only felt by others.
Same thing happens when you're stupid. - Philippe Geluck
More VW electrical at http://telforddorr.com/ (available 9am to 9pm PST)
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smitty1976bus
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Joined: January 21, 2013
Posts: 369
Location: Cape Cod
smitty1976bus is offline 

PostPosted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 7:16 pm    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

telford dorr wrote:
how many parts are there? Maybe 13? Gotta cost maybe $3.50 in volume for good quality electronic parts (plus the case, labor and packaging ...)?


Probably half that, haha. I popped open the new VR, and there isn't much to it; just a little control board covered in silicone.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


The most expensive part of this unit is probably the 3M tape holding the cover on:
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Which is probably a knock-off too. But the circuitry that makes up the brain of this VR is probably very small, and easily burned away; especially when compared to the heavy duty mechanical VR.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Just bought a couple used, old mechanical, regulators, ones with matching numbers (if it makes a difference), for back ups. And bought 1 more BERU unit, I'll see how it holds up.
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hamid
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Joined: October 05, 2010
Posts: 101

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PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 5:37 pm    Post subject: Re: Alternator Giving Very High Volts Reply with quote

Hi everyone
as I promised to get back to you with my bus story, I drove the bus to the mechanis who had installed the rebuilt engine with brand new alternator.

and you all were right it was the defective brand new Bosch alternator. he told me that he has three in a row in the last couple or months!! I also did the smog for california and it passed!! with good numbers

the harness was fine. so it is fixed with the new alternator until it breaks down again, I hope not.

well, I learned a lot from you all and appreciate the time you took to help. I hope this would help someone else.

I have this bus for 8 years and spent ton of money and time to restore it and have enjoyed it driving it up and down coast highway from south to north camping by the ocean, in Sierras etc.. I hate to say it but I am going to put it for sale. why, because I had major back surgery with fusion etc and cant really work on it anymore and also not using it that often. so sadly I need to sell it way below what its worth and what i spent on it. I have three months to sell it here with smog certificate, after that I have to smong it again unless i sell it out of California. I may change my mind if I take a new trip up the coast to SF. I keep you posted

meanwhile i hope it works well and i dont have to bother you until I sell it. thank you,
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