Full Version: 73 1.7 Idiot Light
73 914 sat for over a year (looking for fuel pump). Replaced pump, cleaned tank and fired it up. runs fine. Battery died over that period; had to jump. Getting an idiot light "G"....what is this? How do I diagnose. Clearly I'm not a mechanic, but I can follow instructions! Thanks.
That "G" light is for the Alternator.....Check the charging system, inlcluding the voltage regulator, with engine running with a volt meter on the battery...should be around 13-14.5.....
Generator/Alternator light ... it can light up when alternator output is not as great at battery voltage which could be an alternator problem or voltage regulator problem among other things that people here will state...
Try cleaning fuses and fuse box too. Check voltage reg, and where the alternator plugs into the relay board.
QUOTE(retravis23 @ Nov 30 2010, 05:22 AM) 
73 914 sat for over a year (looking for fuel pump). Replaced pump, cleaned tank and fired it up. runs fine. Battery died over that period; had to jump. Getting an idiot light "G"....what is this? How do I diagnose. Clearly I'm not a mechanic, but I can follow instructions! Thanks.
Sat for a year ? First see if the fan belt survived.
If you did not replace the battery with a known good battery, it could have a bad cell that will short out the charging circuit.
I am not sure if you guys in the warmer climates see this, but up here where an uncharge battery sits over the winter, it will freeze and wreck the battery...one good freeze is all it takes to lunch a battery, in my experience.
A cheap way to see is replace the battery with one of your other car batteries and see if the light goes out...
If it does, go to Sears...
rich
I am not sure if you guys in the warmer climates see this, but up here where an uncharge battery sits over the winter, it will freeze and wreck the battery...one good freeze is all it takes to lunch a battery, in my experience.
A cheap way to see is replace the battery with one of your other car batteries and see if the light goes out...
If it does, go to Sears...
rich
check ground at trans strap,battery,injectors,and fuse panel
....Means you're too late for the show! 
(follow instructions above)
(follow instructions above)
Everything as reported above.
put ammeter on the postive and neg terminals and you should be in the 13.6 volts. If it is in the 16 volt range, you need a new regulator (relay board)
If you have a load meter (from Harbor freight), then you could check how strong the battery is when the car is not running.
Check tension on alternator belt
Check fuse. the fourth one from the right
Worst case is the alternator is shorted and needs to be replaced (if car ran fine when last run, and car was not exposed to moisture/elements, I would not expect it to be become bad all of sudden)
hopefully the simple stuff, a loose belt or low battery charge. it starts become time consuming when the alternator needs a change out. tell us what happens
put ammeter on the postive and neg terminals and you should be in the 13.6 volts. If it is in the 16 volt range, you need a new regulator (relay board)
If you have a load meter (from Harbor freight), then you could check how strong the battery is when the car is not running.
Check tension on alternator belt
Check fuse. the fourth one from the right
Worst case is the alternator is shorted and needs to be replaced (if car ran fine when last run, and car was not exposed to moisture/elements, I would not expect it to be become bad all of sudden)
hopefully the simple stuff, a loose belt or low battery charge. it starts become time consuming when the alternator needs a change out. tell us what happens
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