Ok. We have this problem. Our 70 Beetle, AKA Cindy Lu, has been sitting in our garage over a year. The red light was on and the first attempt to solve was to replace the voltage regulator.

Well that didn’t work, so a change of brushes on the Generator was made and that seemed like it would work. For about a day. Then the light was back on. So, final solution was to replace the generator.

Easy Job? Well sort of, but I must say that when I did this on my 58 Beetle it was much easier. The great thing about Cindy Lu not being a daily driver, at this point we don’t rely on her as transportation. I can take things apart and take my time. So I took two days to do this job.

I took off the rear hood and hinges, sanded down the rust, cleaned the dog house inside and out, and made sure the fan was all clean. I repaired breaks in wiring insulation and replaced the fuel filter. Fortunately I had my friend Spee help with the project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since he is from Germany, I figured he would make an excellent VW mechanic. For those not familiar with Spee, he once inhabited a dark ride at Six Flags Over Texas called the Speelunker Cave. When corporate moguls from the then majority owner Time-Warner decided to remodel the ride, they booted the Speelunkers (An original Angus Wynn Six Flags design) and replaced them with Looney Tune characters. Now I like Bugs Bunny and friendsl, but the ride has never been the same since they changed it to Yosemite Sam’s Gold Mine. So now five of the Speelunkers reside at our house. Occasionally earning their keep as VW mechanics and Halloween characters for our house.

Well, Cindy Lu is put back together and the red light is out. Now on to the next problem…running hot. So far I have tried adjusting the timing, and cleaning the oil pressure relief valve. Still running hot after about 15 minutes of driving. Next, adjusting the valve.