I had at one time the light come on when it should not have had to.
I tried all kind of things too.  Finally I asked at the VW dealer and
the most experienced guy said that there is a blue wire under the
driver seat in the battery area to be disconnected and there is the
wireing at the counter where the spedometer cable is coming from
under the car and that can be disconnected.  So I did and it never
came on again while driving, until the car got stolen.
I hope, you will succeed without the car getting stolen.
Zoltan

---- Original Message ----
From: dabomb@TANJABARNES.COM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: RE: Alternator Light...
Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 00:10:04 -0700

>OK, I looked through the archives for the past three years about my
>current
>issue, and though many postings were helpful, none illustrated
>*exactly* the
>problem I'm having.  Here goes:
>
>At higher rpms, say 3,800 to 4,000, my alternator light comes on.  I
>usually
>drive around 3,500 so the light will come off after I've completed
>shifting.
>If I drive any faster than 70 mph, the light is sure to come on.
>
>I recently replaced the batter as of last week.  My mechanic -- a VW
>air-cooled specialist, not water-cooled -- tested the alternator
>while we
>had the car running with the lights on and air conditioner as well
>and he
>said the alternator checked out fine.  As did the regulator.
>
>From what I can tell from the archives, it could be brushes or an
>alternator, despite the readings my mechanic is getting.
>
>Has anybody had this problem?  Please advise.
>
>
>
>
>Love and Rockets,
>DaBomb
>'89 Vanagon GL
>