A couple q's?

[DAKOTAKIDD]

Hello all.  

1:--my glow plug light flickered this morning driving to work and then it stopped.  When I got to work I drained the separator in the rear of the car.  My question is, how much fuel should I drain?  If I leave the valve open, will it drain the entire tank?

2:--my battery light comes on dimly and fades in and out while at idle or driving along.  I haven't had time to look at this one yet but I am assuming the alternator needs rebuilding.  I am going to check later today and confirm.  So, does that red batt light, tell the car's voltage is low or batt voltage is low?  Whats the purpose of that light?


My car is a 91 jetta eco diesel.

Thx

C

[Smokey Eddy]

If you have the time i'd remove the water seperator (it doens't do anything with today's diesel). Usually, once you open it, it will never seal again and you'll suck air up into the filter.


fire that cocksucker into the dumpster.

[DAKOTAKIDD]

Hello again,

I did find my answer to how much water to drain from the separator and eventually I did get it to seal.  The glow plug light did flicker since, so I changed the glow plug relay and no flickering since.  Fingers crossed.

My batt light is still on dimly at idle.  I cleaned all the connections, tested the cars wiring from the alt to batt, OK.  tested the alt and its good, its charging and still the light is on dimly.  It goes away when you start driving or you load the system up by putting on the lights, rear defroster etc etc etc.

Any ideas?

Thx in advance......

C

[AudiVWguy]

I got the same problem, I think it was said that there is a bit of corrosion on the contacts of the voltage regulator for the instrument panel. It's on the back of the instrument panel, I've been putting it off.
-JB

[Vincent Waldon]

The other real real real common reason for a dimly glowing alternator light that shows up when you load the alternator is high ground resistance.

Battery grounds, tranny grounds, chassis grounds, ground at the cluster... any excess resistance will drop a bit of voltage under load and the alt light will sense it and glow dimly.

More than once I've run a couple of 10 gauge wires bolted to the alternator directly to the battery in an effort to get even better grounding, with good results.

[DAKOTAKIDD]

Hey thx for the replys.  I was hoping someone would mention the unit behind the panel as that was my next step.

Now this morning, the glow plug light came on again flickering which eventually turned into a sleady blinking.  I was on for approx 5 mins while driving at 100km/h and then went away then when I got to work it came on again sleadily blinking.  Could it be a bad glow plug issue?

Thx

Again

[Smokey Eddy]

I'm telling you man! Fire that water sperator into the dumpster! It solved the weird glow plug light issues i was having.

Either that or your relay/wiring is messed up. But you replaced the relay?

As fas as i know.... the light wont do anything if you have a dead plug but i may be wrong. My money is on if you just destroy the water seperator in what ever fasion you find amusing (black powder and a 12gauge work well) it will solve your problem.

[DAKOTAKIDD]

I'm telling you man! Fire that water sperator into the dumpster! It solved the weird glow plug light issues i was having.

Either that or your relay/wiring is messed up. But you replaced the relay?

As fas as i know.... the light wont do anything if you have a dead plug but i may be wrong. My money is on if you just destroy the water seperator in what ever fasion you find amusing (black powder and a 12gauge work well) it will solve your problem.

Thx for the reply man...Is it possible to just unplug or cut the wires without removing the separator right now just to see if its my problem.  I have 2 reasons for this--1)  unplug for troubleshooting and 2) its damn cold to be out side doing this mod right now..I intent to do it later for sure but will unplugging the connector under the floor of the trunk do the trick?

Cheer and thx again

Chad

[steve6]

At the water seperator, You have to pull the wires and join them together and the light wont flicker/flash anymore .  I did this just recently.. easy to do.  

My batt light also flickers just slightly at idle, i think its because my idle is too low, these TD's should be up around 750-800 rpm at idle according to the manual, mine idles lower than that when at a stop.

[Smokey Eddy]

At the water seperator, You have to pull the wires and join them together and the light wont flicker/flash anymore .  I did this just recently.. easy to do.  

My batt light also flickers just slightly at idle, i think its because my idle is too low, these TD's should be up around 750-800 rpm at idle according to the manual, mine idles lower than that when at a stop.

Steve, an easy sol. to that would be to turn the fuel screw in just a TAD. It's easier than changing the idle screw and you shouldn't notice a drop in mileage with a small enough adjustment. It doesn't take much on that screw to make the difference. a 1/4 turn is considered a very big change.

[DAKOTAKIDD]

At the water seperator, You have to pull the wires and join them together and the light wont flicker/flash anymore .  I did this just recently.. easy to do.  

My batt light also flickers just slightly at idle, i think its because my idle is too low, these TD's should be up around 750-800 rpm at idle according to the manual, mine idles lower than that when at a stop.

Did you do this through the trunk..  My batt light flickers dimmly at idle as well..Where is this fuel screw you guys mention?

[steve6]

At the water seperator, You have to pull the wires and join them together and the light wont flicker/flash anymore .  I did this just recently.. easy to do.  

My batt light also flickers just slightly at idle, i think its because my idle is too low, these TD's should be up around 750-800 rpm at idle according to the manual, mine idles lower than that when at a stop.

Did you do this through the trunk..  My batt light flickers dimmly at idle as well..Where is this fuel screw you guys mention?

As for the wires, no I did it at the device under the car..

no idea about the idle screw, I dont like to touch the injector pump :X lol

[Mark(The Miser)UK]

At the water seperator, You have to pull the wires and join them together and the light wont flicker/flash anymore .  I did this just recently.. easy to do.  

My batt light also flickers just slightly at idle, i think its because my idle is too low, these TD's should be up around 750-800 rpm at idle according to the manual, mine idles lower than that when at a stop.

Did you do this through the trunk..  My batt light flickers dimmly at idle as well..Where is this fuel screw you guys mention?

It's the 'power' screw on the same face as the fuel lines [should have the 13mm locking nut and a flat screwdriver slot  in...

[DAKOTAKIDD]

This could be a stupid question, but if I have a dimmly lit or flickering alternator light, how is increasing fuel to the engine gonna cure it?
I understand the part of increasing the idle speed, but to put the light out, mine has to increase enough by stepping on the accelator that it sounds too high.  So after saying that, what would increasing the fuel do that that adjusting the idle screw can't do?  or do you think I have another probem there?

Hope this makes sense

Thx

[Mark(The Miser)UK]

This could be a stupid question, but if I have a dimmly lit or flickering alternator light, how is increasing fuel to the engine gonna cure it?
I understand the part of increasing the idle speed, but to put the light out, mine has to increase enough by stepping on the accelator that it sounds too high.  So after saying that, what would increasing the fuel do that that adjusting the idle screw can't do?  or do you think I have another probem there?

Hope this makes sense

Thx

Two faults one thread :wink:  Flickering charge light can be low idle, a bit like the old dynamo world.
As you point out your problem is not caused by slow idle although increasing idle may smooth out any idle shake.
Power screw is quicker than idle stop screw for achieving similar idle speed alteration.
In your case, you may have an earth or alternator brush contact issue. Stick a voltmeter on see what idle through to faster charging revs values are...