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Generator or Voltage Regulator bad?

FM Former Member
Yesterday after tuning the carb (lowered idle) I was still getting use to launching, not paying attention, and almost stalled the engine. When I did this the radio shut off. I didn't think anything of it until I could not turn it back on. Then I noticed the gauges weren't working either. When I got home and investigated I found out the only power was coming from the battery. I checked fuses and all were fine. I didn't have any power to the fuse block. I check the wire that supplied power to the fuse block from the regulator and no power. I am not too familiar with voltage regulators or generators. How do I test to see which is bad? I don't remember what all the posts were labled on the regulator, I think DF, D+, D-, and maybe one more. Then the generator had DF and D+. I checked the voltage at the battery and reved the engine. It is definatly not charging.
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FM Former Member
Yesterday after tuning the carb (lowered idle) I was still getting use to launching, not paying attention, and almost stalled the engine. When I did this the radio shut off. I didn't think anything of it until I could not turn it back on. Then I noticed the gauges weren't working either. When I got home and investigated I found out the only power was coming from the battery. I checked fuses and all were fine. I didn't have any power to the fuse block. I check the wire that supplied power to the fuse block from the regulator and no power. I am not too familiar with voltage regulators or generators. How do I test to see which is bad? I don't remember what all the posts were labled on the regulator, I think DF, D+, D-, and maybe one more. Then the generator had DF and D+. I checked the voltage at the battery and reved the engine. It is definatly not charging.
FM Former Member
Ok, so last night I tested the generator and found it to be working properly. I then bought a new regulator and installed it. After installing I noticed the battery was charging properly, but my accessories still did not function. I dug in deeper finding the 61 terminal off of the regulator was still not producing any volts. I started pinning out things and tracing wires and I found that the 61 terminal is acting as a ground. After further investigating I found that my battery was wired backwards. Would this cause a problem? I had driven it for 2 years without any problems. Below is a diagram of how my car is wired. I don't know if switching the terminals on the battery would do anything. I am no electrical expert. Any ideas?

LeonChuppLeonChupp
Peter.....

Your car should have a Negative Ground system.......DO NOT REVERSE POLARITY....The standard 12 volt regulator uses a Zener diode to limit max voltage applied to the battery....These go "POP" and die when you hook up the battery wrong.....Also, if you polarized the generator with it wired into the system, there's a good chance the Zener is fried....

If in doubt, have the regulator checked, then repolarize the gen.,
install the reg., and give it a shot.....

Good Luck....

Leon C.
LeonChuppLeonChupp
Rechecking my VW wiring schematics,...Reg. terminal wire 61 is the system ground connection to the reg., you will not have a voltage reading between 61 and chasis ground.....

On the reg., termminals D and D+ are the generator field connections.
Voltage between these terminals varies with charging demands....
Terminal B+., is the battery charging line and power feed to the fuse block in most cases. Voltage should be 13.2+ volts when the battery is charging.

Hope this helps...

Leon C.
FM Former Member
Ok the 61 terminal is confusing me now. I thought this was to be used as a sort of remote turn on (like for accessories). That is how it was wired up. I have the + on the bat to the frame, - goes to the B+, and 61 goes straight to the fuse block. Is this wired incorrectly? The diagram I saw from painless (painless wiring harness) showed this. If the 61 doesn't power anything how would I get power to accessories that wont drain my battery when the car is off?
LeonChuppLeonChupp
Peter and Adam....

The 61 wire is normaly reg. ground and the B+ is the battery charge line.... Obviously the charge circuit is wired up for POS. (+) ground.
It will work this way, but I'm suprised things like the radio and guages worked unless they and everything else was also wired in reverse.

I still think you are looking for a bad wire or connection....

Good Luck....

Leon C.
FM Former Member
Well I have everything working temp. I took the wire that had been hooked up to the 61 terminal and hooked it to the B+ just to see if everything still worked. That worked, so I spliced it in to the wire that goes to the coil. I hope this doesn't pull too much power that is causes me to miss. The wire going to the coil is the only on coming out of the column that goes pos when I turn the ignition on. Let me know if you have any other suggestions as to where i could get power.
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