I killed my generator

[72pdx02]

Driving home from work last night I heard a bad whine coming from what I thought was the generator. Shutting off the engine it made its final cry. The worst part is today I removed it to check it out and as I was  lowering it to the  

 

garage floor it slipped out of my hand and broke off the mounting tab. So I guess I really did kill it. Expensive mistake by me. 

[Son of Marty]

And people say that the word SHIT can be replaced.

[visionaut]

11 minutes ago, Son of Marty said:

And people say that the word SHIT can be replaced.

my replacement starts with a different letter…

 

But I have to admit, not as flexible:

 

Dogshit - very poor quality

Bullshit - not true

Horseshit - nonsense

Apeshit - rambunctious

Batshit - Insane

Chickenshit - coward

Ratshit - poor quality

No shit - obviously

Holy shit - mind blowing/unbelievable

Hot shit - very good

Dipshit - a total dumbass

Tuff shit - take it or leave it

Jack shit - nothing

The shit - perfection

 

😆

[JohnS]

When I heard generator I had to remember... Crap

[visionaut]

J. B. Weld to the rescue?

[Mike Self]

The whining you heard was either armature bearings, or brushes down to their nubs.  

 

Presuming you can't find a parts generator to cannibalize (bet it was used on other German cars, like pre-alternator MBs)...You'll have to dismantle the end plate, and take the pieces to a welding shop that specializes in welding cast iron.  They should be able to weld it back together--after all, cast iron engine blocks are welded all the time.  

 

mike

[TobyB]

The alternator in your future will be happy to provide 7.2 volts... or 14.4, if that's your flavor!

 

t

[mtv01d]

Hi there, I have had lots of generator drama over the years for my 67 1600, including the back casing bracket biting the dust mid-drive causing the internal parts of the generator to touch the side and short out.  We were able to JB weld the back plate for the 5 hour drive back home and I can tell you a fully charged 6-volt battery will make a 5 hour trip running on just the battery.  We started with 6.8 volts and made it home with 6.1 volts.  

 

You can still find old school alternator and starter shops that can source generator parts.  My first generator rebuild was performed by an automotive shop and they overcharged me to do shoddy work.  My second generator rebuild was performed by an electric shop that specialized in alternator, generator, and starter rebuilds.  They charged 1/3 of the what the first shop charged and did much better work.  The only reason their rebuild failed was due to the back case plate breaking, which caused the shortage.

 

The mounting bracket is a bit of a challenge but you can also try and find a machine shop to either weld it or possibly recreate it. There is some investigative work in it but it is doable.  The generator repair shop I used gave me a few backup plans for the day they could no longer find replacement parts.  Plan-B was a partial 6-12 volt conversion...run what you can on the two batteries for a 12-volt up grade and then run the rest of the electrics and lights off one of the 6-volts.  Plan-C was a full 12-volt conversion, which I am not interesting in doing on my car.  

 

I was lucky enough to find a NOS generator on this forum and have my old generator for backup.  You can also find some generators for sale on eBay but obviously do your research as needed.  I was also able to find a VW 6-generator at a motorcycle swap meet, which gave me additional generator parts.  

 

I hope this gives you some ideas on how to move forward.  Feel free to send questions!  Meg

[72pdx02]

I have a replacement generator on the way from ebay. I'll save my old one for a spare, getting the tab welded back on. I think the bearings in it need replaced. In a way I'm glad it failed when it did. I always thought it was going to give me trouble eventually.  I will be glad to replace it. I just wasn't looking forward to the cost to do it.  Its kind of stupid expensive for what it is. 

[72pdx02]

I’m back in business. Rebuilt generator arrived today so I installed it. Working good so far. Yay