HELP! Excite 3-wire VW alternator?

xflowgolf Dork
6/10/17 1:04 p.m.

So I drove my mk1 diesel away from home. Maiden voyage. Battery is completely dead.

This car has a hacked minimal harness to make it run, no factory wiring, and no factory cluster. The alternator does not self excite, which I found out the hard way.

How can I rig this up to get home?

Can I put 12V jumper right to B+?

Do I just tap it then remove it?

Etc.

Thanks!

xflowgolf Dork
6/10/17 2:32 p.m.

Nobody?

JeffHarbert HalfDork
6/10/17 3:51 p.m.

IIRC, factory wiring has an idiot light between switched 12v hot and the D+ terminal, which is what excites the alternator.

xflowgolf Dork
6/10/17 4:19 p.m.

Well, finally got it jump started. Turns out, tapping 12V to the D+ terminal once it was running kicked in the alternator to charge. So far so good.

jimbbski Dork
6/12/17 9:15 p.m.

I installed a 12v light bulb in line with the exciter wire. On mine there was a small gauge blue wire that was routed to the dash and then to the ignition switch. It developed a dead lead somewhere so I rewired it and installed a 12V bulb to put a load on the alt. Problem solved!