Re: Lights flash intermittently

[Brad Sheridan <brads@mindspring.com>]

> 
> Hello All,
> 
> 	I am noticing, just the last week or so, that the red 
> light(indicators) for the battery and the Oxygen sensor light up 
> intermitently and together at the same time on my car, an 87 16V. 
> There is no real pattern that I can decipher, but happens on and off.
> It is usually when I am changing through gears and in an
> accelerate? mode. Does not do it at steady freeway speeds.
> 
> Is there a reason it is doing that or is there some kind of
> electrical fault. Has anybody else experienced that. Is it
> something that I should look into?
 
  One of the more common culprits of this is an alternator belt that is
slipping. Notice that these same two lights come on when you first start the
car. Thats because the alternator isn't producing the power to run the car.
When your alternator belt slips, your alternator will not be able to produce
the power to run the car. In both cases, this means that battery power is
used to supply the extra power demand. This isn't good, it can lead to dead
batteries among other things. 

  Check the tension and condition of the alternator belt. If everything
appears to be in good shape there, have a charging system check done. And
buy a Bentley manual if you don't have one. You could easily
diagnose this problem with it.

  One thing that isn't covered in the Bentley is the inadequecy(sp?) of the 
grounds on the Scirocco, especially the 16V. Clean all the ground points,
and the battery -ve terminal on the main ground strap. As another poster
did, rewiring the main ground isn't a bad idea, although simply adding an
auxiliary ground wire from the battery -ve to the alternator case can fix
the problem. If you don't want to figure out the length of wire to do this,
and the location to mount the wire, New Dimensions sells the wire that comes
with instructions on how to mount it, that will simplify the procedure.


Brad
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send email to scirocco-L-request@privateI.com,
with your request (subscribe, unsubscribe) in the BODY of the message.