Spent the night and the very early morning in the garage changing the clutch on my wife’s 1997 Mk3 Golf GTI 8V 2.0.
She’s called me saying the battery light is staying on. When I’ve thought about it, I’ve connected the alternator output to the wrong bolt on the starter motor housing. Instead of going to the +ve feed from the battery, it’s connected to an earthing point. (I blame a combination of lack of sleep and all the wiring being black).
Anyway, she’s only a few miles down the road. I’ve told her to avoid using any electrical systems on the way home and I’m hoping the battery lasts the 10 minutes or so that are required. It was charged off the car recently so I’m hoping it has enough residual charge. If not, it isn’t far.
Anyway, that’s the situation but it has me wondering what other systems on the car could be affected by my mistake? I assume that the alternator will be providing a steady charging voltage to the earth of the vehicle. All of the systems (lights, turn signals, dashboard, HVAC blower) all seem to work. Is it possible that the alternator feeding to the vehicles -ve terminal will cause any other issues?
