ITS A DIESEL, i noticed the charge light came on this morning, so i took a look and noticed a burned out wire coming from the little plug connector on the alternator (its the on on the left).
i took my multimeter out and there is no charge coming from the big wire going to the + of the battery either
does anyone have any ideas?? it does have a split charge relay wired in (westy joker). help, i am knackered without my daily driver
ps, the engine and alternator are from a mk3 1.9 golf (the connector plug has only 2 wires)
One possibility is if the split charge relay takes its signal from the wire that is now burnt out has some sort of short on it?.The big wire should have around 12.6volts on it.
I dont think, so I'm not[do I exist?]
1992 1600td [ jx ] syncro panel van[leisuredrive camper ]
If it was me, I would take the thinner wire off temporarily then fire the engine up.
You should get around 14volts on the thick wire, any less that 13.4 means the alternator is not working right.
They have a brush pack that often plays up and can cheaply and easily be replaced.
However, the alternator / regulator might have been damaged by whatever caused the short that burned out the thinner wire and this needs to be looked into.
You will need to trace the wire back to any other devices connected to it, such as a split charge system and disconnect those items to determine where the short is.
I would fit a 5 amp fuse on this thin wire, close to the alternator, to prevent any further damage if the short exists during subsequent testing.
The thin wire has hardly any load on it normally, as it is mostly there to work the ignition charging light in the dash, and often the split charge relay too, so a 5 amp fuse is enough.
Take care with that thick wire, it is connected straight to the battery, and if you short it against any metal the result could be horrid (fire, Sulphuric Acid, even explosion !!)
cant for the life of me find where the burned wire went? i had a mess with it earlier, now the dash light is out and its showing 14.1v on tickover.
the relay in the front is also working now i am baffled.
ive wired a digital volt meter into the dash via a switch, so i cant keep an eye on it when driving.
i just cut the burned wire out altogether, so i just have the blue one and the main one all good
i am baffled.
all good