1986 Golf 1.6 N/A Crank No Start

[jhax]

My plan was to get the alternator tested tomorrow after work. I checked the voltages at a few places today and got some interesting numbers.

Alternator + post to ground = 11.6V (same as the battery indicating no charge)
Alternator excitor wire (plugged into alternator post) to ground = 9.6V
Alternator excitor wire (unplugged from alternator post) to ground = 11.6V (ODD)
Alternator excitor wire post (with wire unplugged from alternator post) to ground = 0.5V

[jhax]

PS now the indicator doesn't turn on at key on prior to start.

[theman53]

I think that means you didn't get the wires back on the alt right or the wiring to it is messed up. Get the Bentley it helps as I had issues years ago and it is fairly easy to track once you know what does what.

[jhax]

Oh, you mean the one blue wire that goes from the back of the alternator (D+) to pin A2/01 and then out from U2/12 to the light? Yeah man, it's plugged in and wired correctly, if it wasnt, the car wouldnt have been charching in the first place...I have a bentley and have had one for quite some time. Now could the wire have a bad connection where it is crimped onto the spade connector? Perhaps, but it is Definitely wired correctly. Forgive me for seeming curt, but your question offended me a bit. I understand you are trying to help by thinking of all possible situations but that one is definitely covered. Thanks though. Maybe it's a sheisty alt to starter wire but like I said, I'm getting 11.6V out of the + post coming out of the back of the alternator. Maybe I can convince O'reilly to give me a new Bosch alternator since this is the 3rd one of their re-manned alternators I have had problems with.

[mtrans]

Alternator + post to ground = 11.6V (same as the battery indicating no charge)
Alternator excitor wire (plugged into alternator post) to ground = 9.6V
Alternator excitor wire (unplugged from alternator post) to ground = 11.6V (ODD)
Alternator excitor wire post (with wire unplugged from alternator post) to ground = 0.5V

If this with off motor,than no good,you at least have bad accu.
If this is with on motor at least you have bad regulator.

[theman53]

Cool, sounds like you got it.

[jhax]

Yep, alternator crapped out. Had it tested. Battery volts = 11.55 actual, lamp on volts = 11.14. Could there possibly be anything in my wiring that can cause this? I have gone through 3 of o'reilly's re-manned alternators in the past year and a half. 2 after the wiring swap. It passed the rectifier test but failed the lamp/diode trio and regulator tests. The other two when tested resulted in bad voltage regulators. This was the first time I had an alternator bench tested. The only two wires plugged into the salt are the power and exciter wires. I can't think of anything from my wiring swap that would be causing the alt to go bad.

[ORCoaster]

What brand of rebuild are they handing you across the counter.  Same one everytime?  Might pay to take a refund and shop NAPA.

[jhax]

I just looked into it and i would pay between $50 and $150 for an alternator from either carquest or napa since I would have no core to give them. In order to get my refund I have to give oreilly my broken alternator. I guess ill keep getting oreilly crap until i get my tdi built.

[jhax]

New one in, charging normal. So any thoughts on if my electrical system could be killing the alternators?

[vanbcguy]

Nope, what you're experiencing is super common for the cheap parts store rebuilds.  The ONLY thing worth ever considering with alternators in my opinion is a Bosch or Valeo, either new or remanufactured BY Bosch or Valeo.  All the third party ones are crap.  I generally try to put at least a $30/hour value on my time and it is NOT worth going back to the parts store multiple times - that $150 becomes cheap pretty quick.  Last cheap rebuild I ever bought or hopefully will ever buy ate a brush in about 20,000 km leaving me scrambling on a long road trip. 

[jhax]

Yeah that's what I suspected. Thanks for the tip.

[libbydiesel]

I generally try to put at least a $30/hour value on my time and it is NOT worth going back to the parts store multiple times - that $150 becomes cheap pretty quick.

I agree regarding not buying crap parts even if they have a 'lifetime warranty'.  I got a set of 'rebuilt driveshafts' with a lifetime warranty which included turning in my cores.  I swapped them 4 times in the next six months and then gave up and bought actual German joints...

Regarding placing a value on time, there are a couple other things to consider.  One is the 'fun factor'.  If I think something is fun then my $/hour cost for that type of activity can be way less.  When I put on an audiobook and work on a car project that does not have a stress inducing deadline, I'm just having fun and would almost pay for that.  Strand me away from home with a broken part and each stressful minute on the side of the road is VERY expensive.

One other consideration is that the old adage that 'a penny saved is a penny earned' is not even close to correct.  A penny saved is more like 1.5 pennies earned.  You pay the extra 0.5 penny in taxes on the pennies earned but there isn't a tax on pennies saved.  To value your time at $30 per hour for things where you are saving money, you should be making $45 per hour at your 'real job' and your real job should be a similar amount of fun. 

[jhax]

Quite insightful indeed. Ill get a refund and replace the crap alternator for a bosch one prior to my trip to vegas in may or june. By my calculations it should fail around that time anyway. I have a week off of work for Christmas and will be changing my clutch (dont worry, I got a Sachs) and rear main (mahle) so that will definitely be a fun job. One thing I have noticed though, the furthest point between two pulleys on my car is now between the alternator and crank and when the car is idling, that belt is 'slapping' up and down quite a bit in that area. Obviously as the rpms increase it 'tightens up', the belt is about as tight as it can be (1/2" of deflection) at this point, should I opt for a slightly shorter belt, is there anything I can do to midigate slappage? Is it worth it to try? It charges fine so it's mechanically doing its thing.

[ORCoaster]

I just replace a "slapping belt" as you described with one 5 mm shorter and went from the fully extended end of the adjustment to the needs very minor adjustment on the belt.  Alternator was slipping and my battery was giving slow starter performance. 

4.99 and I am back in business and plenty of stretch wear available.  Which I will check for after a few runs where the car can warm up under the hood.