Well....we picked up our Beetle last night and it drove home perfectly!
However, driving the kids to school today and from the word go the red G (generator) light was on.
Got back from the school run and checked all fuses / redid the connections on the generator / cleaned contacts etc plus checked the connections on the 'thing under the back seat on passenger side' to do with charging (sorry, cant remember name of it....been a long time!)
So after cleaning everything the light was still on....so i gave it a bit of a rev and it's now gone off, but whether it stays off is another thing.
Has anyone got any ideas?

First thing I would do is check the output to the battery with an multimeter,
For a 6 volt car I'm not sure what the acceptable range figure should be.

On a 12 volt car you should be getting 12-13 volts.


Also is your fan belt in good condition and adjusted correctly?


My Generator light stays on for a few minutes while the car is cold, if you hold your foot on it a bit it goes out.

yeah normally indicated the generator or battery isnt putting out the correct voltage, i drove one of my beetles for months with it on, just had a few issues driving at night :P

Isn't one of the primary purposes of the generator warning light to tell you if the fan's not being spun properly anymore? This might happen if, for instance, the fan belt broke or slipped off or something. I would be bothered if the light was always there, glaring at me, in a type-1 powered VW, because how would I know that the engine was being cooled properly? This might actually cause some real damage.

Mind you, I have also driven a Bus (1600SP) home with the light on, but I made sure the fan belt was in good condition beforehand, and it was one of the first things I fixed when I got home.

Or have I misunderstood this problem entirely?

Cheers, Aurel.

Check your regulator. Take the top off the regulator, and check the contact points. Sometimes they can get some grit in them. Just run a small file across the contact points to clear this away. Also check your belt tension too.

My bay with alternator does something vaguely like that. If I start it up and it's happily idling away, the alternator light stays on, nice and bright until I give the accelerator a blip. Then the light goes out, even though it's idling at the same RPM as before.
The ghosts of Bosch. At least we don't have to chase out the demons of Lucas (nor do any new car owners anymore)

Have a look at the brushes,generators do this when the brushes are worn out as they will make contact intermittently,if you are not familiar with the electrics take it to some one who knows such as an auto electrician.I have seen quit a few with burnt wiring,cooked regulators etc because someone had put a file in the points to clean them,flashed it on another part and POOF! instant destruction.Take Care.

Thanks for all the advice, will deffo look further although i contacted the previous keeper and he said it stays on until it's warmed up and then goes out, which it does....so i'm not overly worried at the moment.