Thought I'd try to tackle the transfer pump replacement project that I've been putting off this morning. It was a nice morning, sunny, warm (for Alaska in April)... everything was looking up. I got the covering plates removed from the rear section of the wagon, pull the two torx screws from the cover plate and was all ready to go. First, though, I thought I'd check and see what kind of current the pump was drawing. Well, before I got there, I thought I'd make sure it was getting juice. What did I see when I checked? 19 odd volts! Awesome, I'm sure you're all thinking. With dreams of high output alternators in my head, I went up to the battery and, sure enough, 19+ volts showing at the terminals. Just for fun, another check at the alternator... 19+ volts.

Sigh.

Called a few shops in town with visions of burnt up AMMs and ECUs dancing in my head. Napa had one in stock, not bosch - Beru? - and they wanted $50 for it. To save us all time, they were cheapest in town by far. Picked it up an hour later, drove back to the University and installed it with the help of a friend behind the Engineering building. Everything seems to run okay on reassembly and voltages seem more normal. Of course, either things weren't taut enough or something wasn't making contact, as while I was driving to Costco to talk to them about some photos I'd had developed later in the day, I see the speedo start to bounce and the tach start to drop to zero when the turn signal would blink. After a few seconds of thinking, I quickly turned off every electrical thing I could reach and prayed, PRAYED that the would change for the lane I was in. It did, but only after an interminable wait. Got to Costco and checked the voltage - 10.3 V and dropping. Shut the car off, swore under my breath, and decided to go inside and sort out my picture problems. Came back, tried to start her up, and got little more than a half-hearted turnover. Swapped back to the bosch regulator and got a jump from someone parked across from me. Still no joy in mudville, but enough juice to get the car home. Took everything back off, put the Beru regulator back on and all was back to normal at a happy 14 V.

Moral of this story: Stick with 19V... your car will be faster. Or not.

Zach

I had an intermittent high-voltage situation on my '82 245. The voltage would spike without warning or apparent cause in all types of situations. All of a sudden the blower motor would race, all the lights inside and out would become extra bright, and I'd worry the whole electrical system was about to melt. Turned out the cause was loose fasteners holding the regulator and brush pack to the alternator housing. It was a little tough to diagnose while running. The alternator on the car is a rebuilt one and the screw holes may have been partially stripped during the rebuild or before. My solution was a couple of oversized, self-tapping screws installed in the Home Depot parking lot with the alternator still on the car. Now all is well, but before I got the regulator securely back on the alternator housing I'm sure I cooked off some of the battery electrolyte.

Good luck with it!

I fixed a charging problem in a 1988 245 that turned out to have old damage to the alternator wiring right where they go through the bracket against the block- a tough to see spot under the alternator.

Get under there and have a look at the small red wire, large red wire, and small blue ground wire. Any bare spots must be insulated and the ground wire must be securely attached to the engine block.

Good luck with it!
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::: Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 92 244 ::: 90 745GL ::: 90 745T ::: 84 242DL ::: 90 745T Parts ::: Used to have : 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 91 244, 88 244GL, 88 744GLE, 82 245T, 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 88 245DL, 89 244DL!