is there something wrong or about to go wrong with my generator? the light on the speedo started lighting up last night now and then, remains off usually at idle, flickers on wen u accelerate and at cruising speeds mostly stays on. is my gen on the way out? its only 1 year old. just bought the new battery last week.
thanks
sam

[Edited on 12-7-2004 by VWFOOL]

[Edited on 12-7-2004 by VWFOOL]

Hopefully, Your generator isn't on the way out...
Normally , I would say Your brushes have worn down too far... which are inexpensive to replace... but with a year old generator, it must be Your Regulator playing up....
If Your light was on as You say, when cruising at night, your battery could go flat.... but with a faulty regulator, Your battery can still be getting charged... best to get it replaced... as the Generator light is also used to tell You if Your fan belt has broken... which means turn the engine off straight away...
You can check the two brushes in the slot or two holes [depending on what generator].. to see if they are worn down too far ... they should be about 20mm+ long... .

Lee --

If Your generator wasn't charging... with Your headlamps ON.
every time the red light came on... the headlamps would dim.
What model Beetle do You have Sam??
I can send You a good used Regulator....

Lee ...

its a 56 lee.

Just a (lame) suggestion, but have you checked the fan belt tension?
My Genny light did that for a little while when I put on a new belt...but then again, the generator in my S Beetle isn't exactly the most muscular thing on earth. The light always flickers when it's idling. My motor likes to idle slowly. I don't question it.
...my baby is crying again. sigh. teething.

u know i was thnkning about this before, culd it b the belt is too tight?

The only way I could see the bely being too tight causing that problem is if it was WAY too tight for way too long and it destroyed the generator bearings and the shaft being off centre wreaking unholy havoc upon the generator....But that's doubtful. Anyway, it never pays to have a belt too tight, because it can accelerate the wear on bearings, but what I said is doubtful.

Something else occurred to me. Is your generator magnetised/polarised...(whatever you want to call it) properly? Because sometimes they do need to be redone, especially if the generator has been sitting around for a long time. Sometimes the residual magnetism isn't enough to get the whole thing re-magnetising and charging properly on its own.

its been sitting about 2 months, is that long enough?
i shuld get it all checked out thsi week, i expected teething problems after i got it registered, thanks

I don't think a couple of months would have any effect on a fairly new generator....
You can always polarize it... its not difficult... just scary...

But as I said its probably the regulator...
otherwise the battery would go flat at night...

It does sound like the brushes worn down, but they shouldn't be with a one year old Generator....

1971 Generators start to charge around 1000rpm, maybe slightly lower.... so it would be normal with a slow idle for the light to come on.....
Used to happen with early beetles all the time....

and as someone else said... NEVER put a belt on too tight as it will put too much strain on the generator bearings, which are very small.... and probably wreck the belt too...

Lee ....

driving home tonight and the car shut down, the battery is dead. so does my generator need replacing? no mobile, no cash, had to walk home, geez im pissed off.

Get a voltmeter and see if your genny is putting out around 13.8 volts? If it is then your regulator is probably stuffed. You can take the cover off it and manually push the points across to see if the dash light goes out.

Finally check all your earths as a bad earth can sometimes be responsible.

Good luck

Steve

Yes, I hope its just the regulator....
they do eventually wear out...
If Your Generator is putting out 13.8 volts or more..
its OK... but its not getting thru the regulator...
which is either mounted on the generator or under the rear seat, depending on which model car....

Best of Luck...

Lee -- 68AutoBug --

this happened to me on little collins street.. turned out to be my bettery... has it been very cold latley sam? the coldweather F@#ked my battery, and it wasnt even very old.. at fiurst i thought it was my reg, or my Gen but both were fine

Is the red light the generater and the green light the oil pressure? Or the other way...ive just forgotten

my white light is gen and red light oil.
the oval is at the mechanics now getting it sorted

my red light is genny and green light is oil......on newer cars i think they are both red.

in my '68 theyre both red.. but i think i'v got a 74 speedo...

no worries guys its all fixed now had to buy a new regulator, just happy it wasnt the generator, thats all thats ever gone wrong on my cars is faulty generators and i hate the hassles. the Oval is back on the road...

Great News...

Lee

hey
my kombi just started playing up like this while i was away!!! nothing a few jump starts and push starts cant fix its at the auto electrician getting a alternator reco!!!
oh boy VW's are fun!!
cheers
rhys

good news that its back on the road sam:thumb