Hi all,

Playing with a 71 Super Beetle. The gen light comes on when the key is on...as it should. Once you start it, the light stays on. As I recall, the big red wire on the generator should always be hot, right? That is not the case here. It is never hot. The old generator was making lots of noise - bad bearing. I replaced it with what I believe is a good generator. But that big red wire is just never hot - not with the old generator and not with the new. I suspect the problem is the voltage regulator since that is the guy that allows juice to get to the big red wire.

Can folks confirm that the big red wire should always be hot? And also, provide any input into the source fo the problem as well!!

Thanx!

Z

Just realized, this is actually not an alternator (3-phase AC machine), but a generator (DC-machine). You could try to remove the belt and the all wires and run the machine for a short moment as a motor. 12V on the output terminal (red wire). This should make sure the generator is properly magnatized.

It's been awhile since I've had to troubleshoot a generator problem so bear with me.

Positive terminal on the battery, #10 gauge wire, Red, to B+ on the regulator.
Second Red #10 ga wire goes to S9, (fuse 9) bridged to S8, then to terminal 30 on the ignition switch.
When the key is moved to the on position, current is provided to regulator terminal #61, 16 ga. blue wire, this closes the points in the regulator
and should make D+ hot at the generator, if I remember right that is.

Connect a voltmeter to the battery, what does it read?
Start the engine, bring the revs up to 2500 rpm.
If your meter reads less than 13.5v or the same as your first reading, you're not charging your battery.

If you did'nt change the regulator whe replacing the generator, do it now and retest.

In some cases, you may need to polarize the generator, but that's another story.

Buggsy

Good point. Worn out brushes will cause a no charge situation.

Buggsy