When kicking around my alternator options, I called a local
alternator shop (A-1 Alternator in Allentown, PA).  Since they
promised (and delivered) on a 24-hour turnaround, I decided to have
that done rather than try to change the connections on the
remanufactured Bosch.  In the process of talking with the owner, he
told me that "remanufactured" and "rebuilt" are NOT the same.  Check
out:

<http://www.a1-alternator.com/terms.html>

He really seems to know his stuff and had my alternator waiting for
me when I stopped by today.

So now that makes me wonder about this "remanufactured" Bosch
alternator I got from TBD.  Oh well, I'll probably either keep it as
a spare or hock it at some point.

FWIW, the rebuild was $100 and included brushes, bearings, and most
of the guts.  The case was glassbeaded and looks almost new and the
fan and pulley were glassbeaded and repainted.

I installed it (making sure not to crush any fuel lines in the
process) and drove around tonight and it seems to be fine.  The
Digifant Tool tells me the battery voltage is 13.5.

They key to rebuilding an alternator is to catch it before it self-
destructs.  Mine was squealing slightly, which turned out to be an
indication of a bearing starting to spin...the guy showed me how the
bearing positioning tab was sheared.  If you let it go beyond that,
it's not worth rebuilding.  He felt that I would not have made it
more than a few hundred on this one, which would have probably meant
being stranded on the road somewhere (not terrible since I had a
spare, but no fun nonetheless).

-Karl

Karl and Kristina Bloss, Trexlertown, PA
'87 GL Weekender  "Beverley"
Mechanic list: http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/vwshops
Busses by the Trail - Oct 15-17, 1999: http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/bbtt
PA/NJ Vanagon owner's mailing list: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/pavanagon