Battery light not on, then flickering?

[gavc]

Hi, I've searched the forum but can't find an answer that seems to fit my problem, any advice appreciated - I'm in Spain and wondering if the van will get us home to the UK!

Symptoms are that the battery light no longer lights when the ignition is switched on, then when the engine starts it flickers very faintly, a bit brighter at higher revs, but still nowhere near as bright as when the LED is usually full on at startup. Sometimes it doesn't glow at all when driving, ie looks normal.

Has anyone had anything similar, or can throw any light on this? I'm guessing it's an alternator problem. Belt looks fine, connections look OK. It's a bosch 65A, the van is 22 years old so I don't know if it's original, but it looks like it could be.

Does the flickering mean ***some** charge is still getting to the battery? Hope so! I've 5 days and about 150 miles to get the ferry, once I'm in the UK I can get towed if needed...

Thanks!

[R0B]

Sounds like you need a new brush pack.

[Oldiebut goodie]

^^^^WHS.
Keep your batteries well charged if you have hookup/solar so that you can use the leisure as a backup. If you are diesel you have a good chance as the electrical requirements are lower than one of those funny petrol vans.No night driving with lights draining the battery etc. Or change the regulator/brush pack as said.
Just to point out - it isn't a led - the charging system wouldn't work as intended. The alternator wouldn't get it's excitation current if it were a led. You must use a bulb, especially if you think that it is an upgrade by using a led.

[gavc]

Thanks for that, very helpful!

Any idea how long brushes take to fail once they start to show these signs of failing, ballpark? I stand next to chance of getting any here, or having them fitted, much easier in the UK.

A couple of questions - do you think the battery is being charged, albeit not as much as ideal? And if not, how far is a battery good to drive before it's run out, assuming no headlights etc. I might have to pick up a battery charger and charge every day, get home that way.

A leisure battery would be nice Might have to an upgrade this winter. Re the LED, my mistake, just looks like one to me.

Thanks again.

[kevtherev]

There's no ball park, when it runs out it runs out/fails ..every km is a good km

you can get brush packs in spain it's not a VW desert..all you need is a part no. at a part store

[Oldiebut goodie]

I would say that the brushes have already failed if the bulb isn't lighting on switch on.
You don't say what engine you have but a diesel only needs power to hold open the fuel cutoff solenoid and your starting power so it's needs are minimal. Petrol engines need power for the spark continuously but as to how long it would last is a 'how long is a piece of string' question. Depends on state of charge/size of battery/restarting frequency/etc.
Have you checked to see what voltage the battery is at whilst the engine is running?

[gavc]

Thanks.
It's a 1.9 petrol.
The battery is quite new, can't remember the size except it was the largest I could get, good thing
I can't check the voltage of the battery when running, no gear with me except basic tools.

Re desert, just spent a day in France failing to buy an HT set (or even a single lead), dead technology now apparently. 2 VW dealers, 2 autoparts warehouses and 3 garages all said no chance mate. Brickwerks sent a set in the end, much quicker

[kevtherev]

I stand corrected

[gavc]

I'll let you know how Spain is for parts That last post read stronger than I meant, wasn't meaning to correct you
Funny thing - the picture of a brush pack here on the forum shows it has printed on it "Made In Spain"

So I've managed to loosen both screws holding the brush pack, but I haven't taken it out yet in case it falls to pieces. I'll try and order one here, either locally or from UK. JK are out of stock on their site, Brickwerks don't show it listed, any other suggestions from anyone please? I've seen VWHeritage.com as well, but if there are more suppliers anyone can recommend I'd be glad to hear of them.

For fitting, I'm assuming it's just slot it in, do the screws? Anything I need to look out for - I'm not very experienced at this!

Thanks!

[kevtherev]

the brush pack is common to a whole heap of Boshe alternators.
just quote the part number it should come up.
nothing will fall to bits.. trust me
there is a little metal tab that the brush pack makes contact with inside the alt. make sure it's clean.

[gavc]

Thanks! I saw that metal tab you mentioned on a youtube video today changing the brushes on another VW (Golf maybe?) with a similar looking alternator, so I can visualise that. I'll give it a clean before I put the new unit in, thanks for the tip. We're calling a local VW dealer in the morning with the part number, hopefully that'll lead somewhere.

I now have a screwdriver with a long enough shaft to reach the bottom screw easily, which I didn't have this morning when I scraped my knuckles trying to reach around and undo it with one that was ***just*** too short
I've also acquired a cheap multimeter from a local shop so I can check what charge is reaching the battery. So at least I have some things to be going on with tomorrow
Thanks again for the advice, it's much appreciated.

[kevtherev]

Early golf alternators are the same as yours

[gavc]

Success! Thanks chaps for the great advice, new brush pack arrived today, fitted in 5 minutes and all is good to continue our journey

Parts in Spain? Forget VW dealers. I gave them the part number, and while they could eventually find it on their system (as a Golf part like you said Kev) they said it's too old, not available any more. They offered a used set for 75 Euros by next day. Used?!

So a big to Luis at http://www.volkstuning.com/es/ recommended by http://www.vwheritage.com as their agent in Spain. 2 hours after calling he'd found a source in Spain, and arranged a delivery for next day. Can't fault his excellent service, nice guy too.

Mods - it'd be great to have a sticky or wiki entry with specialist independent VW garages/traders outside the UK like volkstuning.com, it would have helped me no end lately. France and Spain are tricky to source parts even with the part numbers, just because of the age of the vehicle. Autoparts places and VW garages find them on their computers, but can't order them as they show unavailable. But independent traders have their sources! Just an idea...

Again - thanks R0B, Oldiebut goodie and kevtherev for the really useful help and advice

Gav

[Oldiebut goodie]

Glad you have got it sorted.

[gavc]

Thanks Oldie, completed the trip now so , although home again means holiday over so

For the record it was the connector wire from one of the brushes had come unsoldered from the base of the brush pack, hence the slightly intermittent nature of the fault. Plenty of wear left in the brushes themselves. A new brush pack is on my spares list for next trip

Again for the record, VW dealers were useless, apparently my 22 year old van is too old for them to be able to order any parts, so independents are the way to go. I'd love to have a list of various European independent specialists to refer to on this site, it would have been a real help for me on this trip, sure it would be again for me and for others.