Alternator problem uncovered

My wife has a 74 VW and I've been battling dead battery problems for
months now. Recently I had changed out the regulator and brushes, and while
the battery voltage was on the low side and showing that it was charging
properly, the alternator light was still on. It all works right but there's
still the light. I had nine something volts on the alternator/generator
field side of the light and twelve on the other. After much scratching of
my head, I put the meter on AC and found six volts AC. So there it was, six
volts AC, which says I have a bad diode in the pack.
Is rebuilding the Motorola alternator as easy as I've read it to be?

On Sun, 15 May 2005 15:33:50 GMT, "carl mciver"
> wrote:

> My wife has a 74 VW and I've been battling dead battery problems for
>months now. Recently I had changed out the regulator and brushes, and while
>the battery voltage was on the low side and showing that it was charging
>properly, the alternator light was still on. It all works right but there's
>still the light. I had nine something volts on the alternator/generator
>field side of the light and twelve on the other. After much scratching of
>my head, I put the meter on AC and found six volts AC. So there it was, six
>volts AC, which says I have a bad diode in the pack.
> Is rebuilding the Motorola alternator as easy as I've read it to be?



Make sure you don't have the external regulator. It will be mounted on
drivers' side under the back seat (US) and will be marked "Motorolla"
Not much to it, smaller than a pack of smokes. metal cover, solid
state.

The external regulator is , if my memory serves me right, no longer
available. Normally one replaces the Alternator with a new Bosch unit,
and wire around the Motorolla piece.



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MUADIB®

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One giant leap for attorneys.

"MUADIB®" > wrote in message
...
| On Sun, 15 May 2005 15:33:50 GMT, "carl mciver"
| > wrote:
|
| > My wife has a 74 VW and I've been battling dead battery problems for
| >months now. Recently I had changed out the regulator and brushes, and
while
| >the battery voltage was on the low side and showing that it was charging
| >properly, the alternator light was still on. It all works right but
there's
| >still the light. I had nine something volts on the alternator/generator
| >field side of the light and twelve on the other. After much scratching
of
| >my head, I put the meter on AC and found six volts AC. So there it was,
six
| >volts AC, which says I have a bad diode in the pack.
| > Is rebuilding the Motorola alternator as easy as I've read it to be?
|
|
|
| Make sure you don't have the external regulator. It will be mounted on
| drivers' side under the back seat (US) and will be marked "Motorolla"
| Not much to it, smaller than a pack of smokes. metal cover, solid
| state.
|
| The external regulator is , if my memory serves me right, no longer
| available. Normally one replaces the Alternator with a new Bosch unit,
| and wire around the Motorolla piece.

I got another regulator at Schuck's for thirty something bucks the other
day. Had to order it, but that was no big deal. My local alternator repair
shop supplies me with all the parts I need to do rebuilds, but I just wanted
to know if the job was something I needed special tools, equipment, or
skills to do. Rebuilding alternators and such is no big deal, I just hate
having something apart and all over the bench and having to stop for lack of
something I should have known about. Most car manuals don't touch
alternator rebuilds, so it's territory limited to the adventuresome or the
professional shop.

> I got another regulator at Schuck's for thirty something bucks the other
>day. Had to order it, but that was no big deal. My local alternator repair
>shop supplies me with all the parts I need to do rebuilds, but I just wanted
>to know if the job was something I needed special tools, equipment, or
>skills to do. Rebuilding alternators and such is no big deal, I just hate
>having something apart and all over the bench and having to stop for lack of
>something I should have known about. Most car manuals don't touch
>alternator rebuilds, so it's territory limited to the adventuresome or the
>professional shop.

from that limited little post, I say go for it.
Sounds like you have the guts and know-how.

Good luck

P.S. there are many online placxes to order the parts also. I looked
up and found several before I posted the first response



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MUADIB®

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One giant leap for attorneys.

On Sun, 15 May 2005 15:33:50 GMT "carl mciver"
> wrote:

> Is rebuilding the Motorola alternator as easy as I've read it to be?

From your posts, I say that you know what you have to do. Just make
sure that you have a source for replacement diodes, and that when you
press out the bad diodes, use a punch that is smaller than the old
case, so that you don't enlarge the hole.

Be careful to press the replacements in square, or that will enlarge
the hole. (They need to be tight in there.)

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Jim Adney
Madison, WI 53711 USA
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