[T3] Generator Eating Brush

["Garret Trask" <garret_trask@hotmail.com>]

<x-flowed>On saturday, I replaced the brushes in my generator because after following 
Jim Adney's faq I determined that the generator wasn't working, and that the 
brush on the top side of the engine
(the one that's visible when the generator is installed in the car) had worn 
down so that it had sunk down inside the sleeve that holds it in position.

I was surprised that the brush had already worn down so much because the 
generator is less than one year old.  I took off both of the old brushes and 
compared them.  The brush on the bottom side of the generator was still in 
pretty good shape, it was still protruding above it's sleeve.  So it looked 
like these brushes definitely wore unevenly.

After putting in the new brushes and re-installing the generator, the 
generator still didn't work.  I saw that the commutator was kind of messy 
(dull, with some black marks on it) so I sanded it, and it started working.

Over the course of yesterday and today, my generator light has gradually 
begun taking longer and longer to shut off (like 2 minutes or so).  On the 
way home today, it stayed on and never went off.

I checked the generator and the new brush on the top side is already worn 
down so that it is even with the top of the sleeve.  The commutator was grey 
instead of a copper color.  I sanded it again so it was a shiny copper color 
and the generator started working again.  I notice that the top brush 
doesn't spark, but I can see flashing on the inside of the bottom part of 
the generator which indicates the bottom brush is sparking brightly.

Any ideas on what might be wrong?  Is the spring clip that applies pressure 
to the top brush too tight?

Let me know what you guys think.

Gary
68 Notchback
Highlands Ranch, CO

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