Hello everyone,
I am in the middle of replacing the Alternator on a 2006 GTI (my 17 year old Son's GTI). We bought this car in Oct 2019. As were some of the other connectors, the 2-pin Alt connector had been previously damaged, and it refused to be disconnected. After all my tricks and efforts, I was forced to carefully pry this connector off of the alternator. I thought I would break the outside-shell of this connector during this, but I did not. However, somehow during this, I managed to damage the internal parts of this connector, but did not damage the Alt jack/receptacle. Side Note: A few months ago I bought a VW/Audi "Connector Removal Tool". Not even this Tool would help the dis-connection from the Alt. I am now working on (the process of) replacing this very unique connector for the alternator. This very unique connector part number is 1J0973772... and a very similar connector (but is not for the Alternator) is part number 1J0973722.
After much searching, I was shocked to learn that the MKV GTI alternator has NO aftermarket "connector pigtail" available for this alternator. If you know about a new pigtail for sale, please share a link. BTW, I did find one, used, on ebay, that was obviously cut-off from a junkyard car. I almost bought that one, but the wires were a bit short, and est. shipping time was too slow.
Moving-on to Alt Connector Replacement:
Found the new connector via a local VW dealership, 2 day lead time, for $10. Picked it up 2 days ago, and then talked with a senior VW Tech about the "uniqueness" of this connector. When the connector is brand new, the face of the connector is offset (cocked or crooked) in relationship to the body of the connector; this is normal, and is in the "unlocked" state. Unlocked means that the connector is ready to have the (wires) contact pins inserted into the connector. Once the contact pins are inserted, you must carefully pry the hot-pink face of the connector downward (aka sideways) in order to (1) get the connector in the locked state (2) the center face of the connector will now become centered in relationship to the body of the connector. Despite this unique locked & unlocked state, the senior Tech said that the Pin Removal Tool is still needed for pin extraction. What we failed to say to one-another is now obvious; Prior to being able to extract the pins from the old connector, YOU MUST either pry the face into the Unlocked state, or maybe just sheer-off/break-off the old hot-pink face BEFORE you can use the Pin Removal Tool. If the pink face is sheared-off or broken-off, you must now focus on the same hot-pink plastic bits deeper inside the center of this connector, located below the face, and shift (pry) this pink part into the unlocked-state.
Extraction/Removal of the 2 contact pins (aka Terminals) inside of the connector: Found a 2-piece tool set at IDParts.com. "VW Pin Removal Tool Set". I could not find this tool locally, so I was forced to order. These tools will arrive tomorrow (Monday).
I will post back after the surgery is over.
BTW, I inherited this Alt Job, because it was a family friend who deemed the Alt was bad, and they ordered the replacement Alt. I was not involved, I was not available, when those decisions were made. It bothers me that I am about to install a XYZ-Brand Alt. Leave me alone, I do not wanna talk about it.... where's my beer?
EDIT 9/3/2020 - The "original" Alt was later found to be functionally OK via bench testing at a local car part store. This "original" Alt is believed to be an aftermarket and/or rebuilt Alt. This Alt did have one spot hard-printed as Bosch... but an additional ID sticker (hard to read due to some sticker damage) indicated it was an aftermarket rebuild. A partial part number on this sticker was "13853". Part number search results indicated 13853 are for aftermarket/rebuilt Alts. END OF THE STORY IS: we re-installed this original alternator and also did a very through clean-up job of all the large cable connection points (Hots & Grounds) and the charging system has been OK ever since this. None of these connections were badly corroded; it had only very light sulfate-like corrosion. Since this electrical clean-up, -this has apparently solved our intermittent charging system problems... and much! more! strange! is that the SA2 80A fuse has not blown ever since this clean-up ((see link at post #4)).
I am in the middle of replacing the Alternator on a 2006 GTI (my 17 year old Son's GTI). We bought this car in Oct 2019. As were some of the other connectors, the 2-pin Alt connector had been previously damaged, and it refused to be disconnected. After all my tricks and efforts, I was forced to carefully pry this connector off of the alternator. I thought I would break the outside-shell of this connector during this, but I did not. However, somehow during this, I managed to damage the internal parts of this connector, but did not damage the Alt jack/receptacle. Side Note: A few months ago I bought a VW/Audi "Connector Removal Tool". Not even this Tool would help the dis-connection from the Alt. I am now working on (the process of) replacing this very unique connector for the alternator. This very unique connector part number is 1J0973772... and a very similar connector (but is not for the Alternator) is part number 1J0973722.
After much searching, I was shocked to learn that the MKV GTI alternator has NO aftermarket "connector pigtail" available for this alternator. If you know about a new pigtail for sale, please share a link. BTW, I did find one, used, on ebay, that was obviously cut-off from a junkyard car. I almost bought that one, but the wires were a bit short, and est. shipping time was too slow.
Moving-on to Alt Connector Replacement:
Found the new connector via a local VW dealership, 2 day lead time, for $10. Picked it up 2 days ago, and then talked with a senior VW Tech about the "uniqueness" of this connector. When the connector is brand new, the face of the connector is offset (cocked or crooked) in relationship to the body of the connector; this is normal, and is in the "unlocked" state. Unlocked means that the connector is ready to have the (wires) contact pins inserted into the connector. Once the contact pins are inserted, you must carefully pry the hot-pink face of the connector downward (aka sideways) in order to (1) get the connector in the locked state (2) the center face of the connector will now become centered in relationship to the body of the connector. Despite this unique locked & unlocked state, the senior Tech said that the Pin Removal Tool is still needed for pin extraction. What we failed to say to one-another is now obvious; Prior to being able to extract the pins from the old connector, YOU MUST either pry the face into the Unlocked state, or maybe just sheer-off/break-off the old hot-pink face BEFORE you can use the Pin Removal Tool. If the pink face is sheared-off or broken-off, you must now focus on the same hot-pink plastic bits deeper inside the center of this connector, located below the face, and shift (pry) this pink part into the unlocked-state.
Extraction/Removal of the 2 contact pins (aka Terminals) inside of the connector: Found a 2-piece tool set at IDParts.com. "VW Pin Removal Tool Set". I could not find this tool locally, so I was forced to order. These tools will arrive tomorrow (Monday).
I will post back after the surgery is over.
BTW, I inherited this Alt Job, because it was a family friend who deemed the Alt was bad, and they ordered the replacement Alt. I was not involved, I was not available, when those decisions were made. It bothers me that I am about to install a XYZ-Brand Alt. Leave me alone, I do not wanna talk about it.... where's my beer?
EDIT 9/3/2020 - The "original" Alt was later found to be functionally OK via bench testing at a local car part store. This "original" Alt is believed to be an aftermarket and/or rebuilt Alt. This Alt did have one spot hard-printed as Bosch... but an additional ID sticker (hard to read due to some sticker damage) indicated it was an aftermarket rebuild. A partial part number on this sticker was "13853". Part number search results indicated 13853 are for aftermarket/rebuilt Alts. END OF THE STORY IS: we re-installed this original alternator and also did a very through clean-up job of all the large cable connection points (Hots & Grounds) and the charging system has been OK ever since this. None of these connections were badly corroded; it had only very light sulfate-like corrosion. Since this electrical clean-up, -this has apparently solved our intermittent charging system problems... and much! more! strange! is that the SA2 80A fuse has not blown ever since this clean-up ((see link at post #4)).
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