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93 VW Eurovan
Samba Member
Joined: March 30, 2022
Posts: 2
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 Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2022 11:57 pm Post subject: 70 amp vs 90 amp for 1993 Eurovan? |
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Any advice if a 90 amp alternator will work okay in a 1993 Eurovan?
I had the original 70 amp replaced last month with another 70 amp from Autozone, and everything ran great until the vehicle shut down on me on the freeway a few days ago. Napa Auto tested the new alternator and battery and they said the 70 amp alternator isn’t providing enough power overall, but the battery is still good.
Other symptoms include:1.) It requires a jump to start, but will immediately die after disconnecting the cables, 2.) It ran for about 30 minutes before dying when the battery was taken out and brought to a full charge then reinstalled, and 3.) The power steering has gone out.
I’m posturing to have a 90 amp installed but am interested to see if there are any pros and cons with it for this make and model, particularly with the voltage regulator, connections, etc.
Thanks for your help. |
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TheOneTrueQuux
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Joined: May 26, 2021
Posts: 451
Location: Winona, MN
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| Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2022 7:37 am Post subject: Re: 70 amp vs 90 amp for 1993 Eurovan? |
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| 93 VW Eurovan wrote: |
Any advice if a 90 amp alternator will work okay in a 1993 Eurovan?
I had the original 70 amp replaced last month with another 70 amp from Autozone, and everything ran great until the vehicle shut down on me on the freeway a few days ago. Napa Auto tested the new alternator and battery and they said the 70 amp alternator isn’t providing enough power overall, but the battery is still good.
Other symptoms include:1.) It requires a jump to start, but will immediately die after disconnecting the cables, 2.) It ran for about 30 minutes before dying when the battery was taken out and brought to a full charge then reinstalled, and 3.) The power steering has gone out.
I’m posturing to have a 90 amp installed but am interested to see if there are any pros and cons with it for this make and model, particularly with the voltage regulator, connections, etc.
Thanks for your help. |
There's no downside to installing a 90A unit.
However, the fact that the power steering isn't working and it's not charging makes me wonder if the crankshaft pulley has separated. I.e. the rubber between the inner part of the pulley and the outer part has failed. |
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MrPulldown
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Joined: September 08, 2020
Posts: 649
Location: Truckee
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| Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2022 1:29 pm Post subject: Re: 70 amp vs 90 amp for 1993 Eurovan? |
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| 93 VW Eurovan wrote: |
Any advice if a 90 amp alternator will work okay in a 1993 Eurovan?
I had the original 70 amp replaced last month with another 70 amp from Autozone, and everything ran great until the vehicle shut down on me on the freeway a few days ago. Napa Auto tested the new alternator and battery and they said the 70 amp alternator isn’t providing enough power overall, but the battery is still good.
Other symptoms include:1.) It requires a jump to start, but will immediately die after disconnecting the cables, 2.) It ran for about 30 minutes before dying when the battery was taken out and brought to a full charge then reinstalled, and 3.) The power steering has gone out.
I’m posturing to have a 90 amp installed but am interested to see if there are any pros and cons with it for this make and model, particularly with the voltage regulator, connections, etc.
Thanks for your help. |
Curious what was in the van before. Do you have rear AC. Doesn't that come with a 150 amp alt.
If the old was 70, 70 should be fine. I would be more suspect of the napa alternator. Their house brand alts have a terrible reputation of dying after a short period. Even heard of a a couple of weeks. Should get a bosch.
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2002 EVC |
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postjosh
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Joined: November 20, 2017
Posts: 143
Location: NYC
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| Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2022 6:19 pm Post subject: Re: 70 amp vs 90 amp for 1993 Eurovan? |
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you wrote that the van stalled as soon as the jump pack was disconnected but the battery was good. so the battery still had a charge? usually when you need the jump pack to stay connected that indicates the battery has zero charge. if the battery drained that quickly, i would think that points to a non-functioning alternator.
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'93 EV Wkndr – 5 cylinder – 5 speed - 280k+ miles |
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CdnVWJunkie 
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Joined: February 01, 2004
Posts: 1132
Location: Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2022 5:27 am Post subject: Re: 70 amp vs 90 amp for 1993 Eurovan? |
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I'm not sure that I've ever seen a 70A alt on a T4? I think the 90A units were on T4s without AC and 120A were fitted to T4s with AC.
Get the van running. Then take a volt meter and measure what voltage is at the battery terminals. If you've just boosted the measurement should be quite high as the alternator load will be significant to charge the discharged battery. 14+ volts is what i'd expect to see. But back to the 70A, that seems awfully low... |
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93 VW Eurovan
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Joined: March 30, 2022
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2022 11:25 pm Post subject: Re: 70 amp vs 90 amp for 1993 Eurovan? |
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Thank you everyone for the helpful advice!
As of now, I haven't proceeded with the 70 to 90 alternator swap yet. I'm going to bring it to the shop this week and have them diagnose if it's the alternator, crankshaft pulley, or something else.
I'll post what the news is. Thank you again! |
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MrPulldown
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Joined: September 08, 2020
Posts: 649
Location: Truckee
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| Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2022 10:00 am Post subject: Re: 70 amp vs 90 amp for 1993 Eurovan? |
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| 93 VW Eurovan wrote: |
Thank you everyone for the helpful advice!
As of now, I haven't proceeded with the 70 to 90 alternator swap yet. I'm going to bring it to the shop this week and have them diagnose if it's the alternator, crankshaft pulley, or something else.
I'll post what the news is. Thank you again! |
Seems like if you are going that route you should at least get the 120 AMP alt. THe 150 amp one is hard to find, but the 120 version is common.
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