I'm having a problem with my 1980 240d, and I'm hoping that someone here can point me in the right direction. I've read many of the posts here and have found many of the topics to be extremely helpful.

The problem: The car would crank up a couple days ago, but I then had to jump it because the battery was low. I later noticed that the alternator belt did not have enough tension on it, and tightened it. After I had jumped the car and let it run for a while to charge the battery, I tried to crank it up. I heard an odd noise that sound like electrical switches coming from the engine compartment, but nothing happened. The engine would not even turn over one time.

If anyone knows what could be the problem, please let me know. Thank you!

Nathan

Have you checked the charge and the condition of the battery? Was the output of the alternator verified by testing the voltage? Are the terminals clean and tight?

Have you added distilled water to your battery lately?

I had a battery just die, no reason why, until I looked at the water level. At that point, even refilling did not help it. So called Maintenance-Free crap.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

One of the easy ways to test for whether the car is charging or not is to get a simple 12 volt tester. Should be 12.7 or so without the car running and into the mid to upper 13's with it running.

If the car will run and only puts out 12. something, then you either have:

1. a bad alternator or
2. a bad voltage regulator (easier and cheaper)

The battery can also surprise you by acting strong when in fact its not. For example, you can jump the car, get it running and notice that 13. something volts are kicking out. But the battery may only hold a charge for a day or two. That can also be tricky.

Good luck

dp

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DAILY DRIVERS:
'84 300DT 298k (Aubrey's)
'99.5 Jetta TDI IV 251k (Julie's)
'97 Jetta TDI 127k (Amber's)
'97 Jetta TDI 186k (Matt's)
'96 Passat TDI 237k (Don's
'84 300D 211k Mint (Arne- Undergoing Greasecar Conversion)

SOLD:
'82 240D 229k (Matt's - Converted-300DT w/ 4 speed

if your battery was really totally dead, then it would need a little while of running to get it charged enought to restart the engine. clean the terminals on the battery and the connectors, make sure they are tight and jump start it. take it for a drive for awhile, about 10-15 minutes. then see if it starts up.
alternately, do you have a voltmeter? when the engine is off how many volts do you measure across the battery from the neg to the positive terminals? it should be between 11.8 and 12.2v.
get the engine started and rev it a little. the voltage level should rise a little bit, maybe to about 13v or even a little higher. if the voltage does not increase, then you probably have a bad alternator.

Dale

1983 240D

Thank you everyone for your help. It sounds like I need to find my voltmeter and check the levels.

I tested the voltage on the battery before starting and it was 11.49 volts. Then I jumped it and tested the battery and it was at about 8.2 volts while running. Also, after the car was turned off I tested the Amps and it read 3.5.

Sounds like an alternator problem. Can the brushes be replaced or is it recommended to replace the entire unit? Thanks everyone for your help!

Nathan Foose
1980 240d 156k

Yes, the brushes can be changed. They're cheap too.

I had an alt. that was draining my battery while the car was sitting. It was a bad diode [sp.?] so I replaced the alt.

Cheers,

Bill

Thanks Bill, I'll give it a try!

Nate

Nate,
If you are lucky you will only need a new brush/diode set... so as soon as you install the new one in all liklihood you will own it for most parts houses do not accept returns on such unless they are obviously defective. So as soon as you put the new one in, whip out your volt meter again and check the voltage with the engine running and it should be 13.5+... as per "diesel don"'s POST earlier.

If you do not have 13.5+ voltage out of the alternator then you probably have a defective armature or field windings and that most likely means a new/rebuilt alternator.

Good luck and keep up up on what you do and I'm sure you will get more advice.
Sam

Nate,

If you should need a new one, I got mine off ebay for like $70. Been working fine for quite a while now.

Cheers,

Bill

I ordered some new brushes, so I'll check the online manual to see if they have a section detailing the installation. Thanks for the help!

Maybe you could take some pics while doing the installation and post them?

Cheers,

Bill