Car stalling when clutch engaged

[xleith]

Folks,

I have an old '89 Jetta which I keep in excellent condition. But recently it keeps displaying a low battery warning or worse still, completely stalling, when I'm gearing down with the clutch and brake engaged (to a stop light for example). It appears to be more frequent when the beam lights and fan heater are on. Any ideas ?

[SpyCamera]

A quick guess.
Xleith is sounds like to me that your alternator is faulty. Your battery does not seem to be charging correctly. After that I'm not sure.

Spy.

[Junior]

Xleith, I'd agree with what Spy said. It sounds as though theres a drain on the system somewhere when theres a load coming onto the system.

Now this maybe because of a faulty alternator which isn't keeping the charge, it may also be faulty wiring somewher along the line. By faulty wiring I mean a realy about to go or a number of bad earths. Also check all fuses to make sure that they all are ok and the correct 'sized' fuses

[xleith]

Hey thanks guys, I'll check that out.

[Toad]

Does it ever not start first thing...as if the battery is not holding a charge maybe.
But it's most likely the alternator,

[BeCos]

I dont think you have an alternator problem, unless as Toad asks the car is slow to start. You may find that lately due to the cold weather that your engine is idling at lower RPM than it should. If the revs drop too much the battery light will come on and the car will begin to stall. Even if you alternator was totaly shot and not charging at all your car will still run provided you have a good battery with at least 12 volts in it, although the battery will literally be driven flat. I'd suggest adjusting your idle speed first and see if that cures it.

You may have a carb problem and using other current consumers like the lights, wipers, fan etc will aggrevate the fault.

[Junior]

<bows to BeCos's Knoweledge>

[xleith]

The car has been in the service shop for the last 4 days, and I finally got it back last night (after returning it repeatedly for not being fixed correctly)- it seems to be 100% now.

It turns out it was a combination of factors:
1. The idling was far too low, and was increased.
2. The timing and fan belts required replacing.
3. There was dirt in the fuel line, which would have affected the carb.

If that hasn't fixed it, I'll be damned.
Thanks.