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On 11 Apr 2006 at 13:10, Rusty Rockers wrote: > For some time now my wipers have been very slow if I tried to use them and > my lights at the same time. Lately, I have had a few mornings where my > battery hasn't had enough juice to get my car going started. The battery > itself is only a year old. I am trying to test my no-load voltage according > to instructions in my books. They are as follows: Disconnect lead from > terminal B+ of regulator. Connect a voltmeter between B+ and ground. Start > engine, take readings. When I disconnect the wires at terminal B+ on my > regulator I don't even have an interior light anymore. No power anywhere > and certainly nothing when I turn the key. > > Am I doing this incorrectly? That doesn't sound like a very useful test. Here's what I recommend. Just leave everything connected and connect a voltmeter across your battery. With the engine off you will measure a voltage which should be just above 6V. If that voltage is less than 6V then either the battery is bad or it's badly discharged. With the engine running, the voltage should rise to slightly above 7V as you bring up the RPMs. If the voltage doesn't move, or drops somewhat, your charging system is not charging. If the voltage rises, but not enough, then the voltage regulator is bad. You should probably check the generator brushes if you're not getting any charging. I'll forward you my charging system testing instructions. They are written for a 12V system, but they will apply to a 6V system if you just divide all the voltages by 2. -- Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711-3054 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~