This is long shot, but back when I was driving diesel early 90s VW Jettas, all that was ever wrong with the alternator was the brushes and or regulator. Brushes would wear out (and start floating at high rpm, or flickering the alt light at idle), or the regulator would burn out (rare). I only saw one alt with burned diodes, and that was almost 20 years old.
My question : does the contour alternator have a removable brush/regulator assembly? Can you remove it without removing the alternator? They were a whopping 24$ for the VWs, and were held by 2 screws...
I'm thinking I might replace the regulator and maybe the pulley bearing, as I will be replacing my clutch soon. Nothing wrong with the alt yet, but at 167000 kms (100k miles), I know it might go soon.
Thx
Marco Tatta
98.5 SE MTX, Duratec
EGR block, indiglo gauges, custom shift boot, monsterflow intake,
Quasi dual cardoctor exhaust.
Hacksaw short shift, Momo race s carbon knob, ghetto rear strut bar, 16 inch cougar wheels with 225/50/16 kumho 712s
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