[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] [New Search]
On 20 Jun 2005 at 12:22, Iturzaeta , Joseph wrote: > How exactly does a voltage regulator work? I replaced mine over the > weekend. I took the cover off the old one and it looked fine. It looks > like a couple of electro magnets that operate a couple of switches. My > car runs better now that I replaced it, so is there a way to fix my old > one so if the new one some how burns out I can have a spare? Is there a > way to check it off the car or does it have to be hooked up in order to > check it? In my experience, I've found that the large wire-wound resistor that's underneath is always open when these fail. I believe that the resistor fails first, then the relay contacts arc and this changes the calibration. I used to play with them, but finally gave up because I was unable to ever get them to be reliable again. If you want to check that resistor you will need to open up the VR and put some paper between 2 of the relay contacts. Then you should measure the resistor. It should measure about 4 Ohms, but it will probably be infinite. -- Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711-3054 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~