Battery drain and alternator not charging on 1.4 petrol AUA

E

Elion

Member
Dear All,

Looking for any recommendation in regards to an issue of battery drainage and alternator no charging to my A2 1.4 AUA 2002

Already replaced twice the alternator (90a) just in case I thought had an faulty one in first place and also a new battery. (did had a battery warning light on dash)
The new alternator brings low voltage to the battery with engine running (12.57v - 12.89v) not even above 13v. I haven't taken the car to a Audi main dealer yet, but looks like I've got and battery parasitic drain somewhere. All lights are off and car is locked ( in case the car electrical system stays 'awake'.) Also ccu unit looks and works okay (lights, door locks, windows etc). Checked also the alternator individually and the test gives normal figures, so also the alternator is not the issue.

I did read some useful comments in this brilliant forum in regards to ccu might mess around and could be the issue related to the battery drainage but how someone can tell this for sure?

Any advice from a personal experience will be highly appreciated , I know is not the easiest answer to give in this case :)

Car has done 100k and fully serviced and also spent a small fortune with recent repairs (clutch kit, brakes , long service, map sensor, O2 sensor, indicator relay, 4 tyres , front drop links, purge valve, etc..)

Many thanks in advance,

Elion
 
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Don't use an Audi main dealer! If you lack the skills to diagnose this yourself, find an auto electrician to sort it out.
 
steve_c said:
Don't use an Audi main dealer! If you lack the skills to diagnose this yourself, find an auto electrician to sort it out.
Click to expand...

Thanks Steve, will try this in first place and see what could be the results :) Thought to have some advice before seeing an auto electrician!
 
Elion said:
Thought to have some advice before seeing an auto electrician!
Click to expand...
I'm sure someone will be along soon enough with advice. If I had the same issue I'd probably work my way through the fuses with a decent multimeter, assuming that the obvious candidates such as courtesy lights in boot or glove box weren't the cause.
I know that some people have had issues with the sound system not switching off properly so that's something else to check.
 
That is close in (candidates) regards to a message in dash (unfortunately I was unable to get it as wife is driving the car) but she told me regarding a message in dash as 'apply for candidate' ?? She couldn't take a picture as the message disappears once she turns the ignition on.
Could this be a case of something wrong with any of the fuses though? Much applied for your answers Steve!
Never seen that message before and none of the threads in this forum though...!
 
Elion said:
Could this be a case of something wrong with any of the fuses though?
Click to expand...
I've not a clue what that message means I'm afraid.
I wasn't intending to imply that any of your fuses have a fault. Rather, that you can read the current flowing across the terminals of each fuse connection in turn when the car is turned off. But you do need a decent meter for that sort of work - I have a Fluke 77 III that covers me for just about any job. Once you identify the fuse which is at issue, you'd know where to look for the fault.
 
Buy one of these:

1mA - 80A AC/DC Mini Clamp Meter | Dilog (DL6506)

www.tlc-direct.co.uk

and clamp it around one of the leads from the battery (+ or -). It will show battery drain down to 1mA without any disconnections! If you have battery drain, start removing fuses to localise drain.

However, with the engine running, your battery voltage should be higher than that indicated.

RAB
 
steve_c said:
I've not a clue what that message means I'm afraid.
I wasn't intending to imply that any of your fuses have a fault. Rather, that you can read the current flowing across the terminals of each fuse connection in turn when the car is turned off. But you do need a decent meter for that sort of work - I have a Fluke 77 III that covers me for just about any job. Once you identify the fuse which is at issue, you'd know where to look for the fault.
Click to expand...
Many thanks Steve, will try to work it out and if not lucky than will have to see an auto electrician.
 
RAB said:
Buy one of these:

1mA - 80A AC/DC Mini Clamp Meter | Dilog (DL6506)

www.tlc-direct.co.uk

and clamp it around one of the leads from the battery (+ or -). It will show battery drain down to 1mA without any disconnections! If you have battery drain, start removing fuses to localise drain.

However, with the engine running, your battery voltage should be higher than that indicated.

RAB
Click to expand...
Thanks for your advice RAB, will have to figure out first why new alternator is not charging the correct voltage to the battery (keeps 12.55 ~ 12.89v) with engine running, and this doesn't looks correct normally figures should be around 14v with engine running though..!
 
bretti_kivi said:
so when the alternator was replaced, did the regulator get replaced at the same time?

- Bret
Click to expand...
Hi Bret, I believe the regulator is part of the alternator?
 

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After investigation , the auto electrician advised the earth lead has gone bad and a new battery wiring harness is required. Audi quotes £189 + vat and delivery 7-10 days. Part number is 8Z0 971 228G
Car has been tested with individual earth wiring and finally brings the voltage requested for charging the battery (14.1v)
Any recommendation is highly appreciated, need this car to get it back on the road.
Thanks
 
With a bit of luck, someone here will be able to offer you a used (but working) harness at a sensible price. My instinct however would be to bite the bullet and order the new replacement which would offer real longevity.
Is your battery less than fully secure at the moment?
 
steve_c said:
With a bit of luck, someone here will be able to offer you a used (but working) harness at a sensible price. My instinct however would be to bite the bullet and order the new replacement which would offer real longevity.
Is your battery less than fully secure at the moment?
Click to expand...
Hi Steve,
Got the battery slowly dying and will make another earth check on Monday, I know a new battery loom might be needed but will try in w/shop to run an additional earth and this my rectify the issue with the charging. Thanks for the reply, will come back here for the outcome.
From Audi the price is ~ £250 plus fitting costs.
 
damadgeruk said:
Part 20 in the diagram is prone to fail(earth from body behind left headlight to starter), I don't recall reading the main battery earth failing as it's not exposed to the elements.

earth line Audi A2 (A2) 2002 year Audi EUROPA 972000

earth line Audi A2 (A2) 2002 year Audi EUROPA 972000 spare parts
audi.7zap.com audi.7zap.com
Click to expand...
Thanks for the part diagram, got this from TPS as well and its highly likely to be #20 as you mentioned. Will work on it on Monday and will update here. Hopefully could be the earth cable as per image and sort the issue with charging.
 
Update-
After few investigation and earth testing in the w/shop (I do work in Main Dealer) found the bad earth, rectified it and also a new alternator.
Now I've got the normal voltage at the battery and is charging as it should, 14v what a relief and to be honest is not the easiest car to work with :)
Soon I will have to sell it (unfortunately ) as family is getting bigger and more room is requested.
If anyone is interested , please PM and will explain the long history service maintenance. Also I am the 2nd owner of this car and done 100k (from 85k since a bought it).
Thanks to everyone for the support and suggestions.
Elion
 
A further update!

I purchased the car from Elion, and knowing about the charging problems I've been keeping an eye on things.

The car was a bit slow to start a couple of days ago, so I checked the voltage at the battery with the the engine running and it was only 12.5v.

I disconnected the earth lead (as shown in the photos, it runs from the starter) and using a set of jumper leads connected it to the batter -ve terminal. Measured the voltage and got 14.5v at the battery.

On inspection of the earth point that had been used, it looked a bit dirty, and as you can see in the photo, there was a plastic ring (or remains of) which may have prevented a proper earth being made.

I cleaned it all up and connected everything back together and now there is 14.5v at the battery.

Does anyone know if this is the correct earth point to use. People have talked about an earth point near the left hand head light, but I don't think this is it.

Is the unused stud near the earth point the correct one to use?

Thanks in advance.

Elion - loving the car! I've got the CDs out - do you want them back?
 

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foundsatis said:
A further update!

I purchased the car from Elion, and knowing about the charging problems I've been keeping an eye on things.

The car was a bit slow to start a couple of days ago, so I checked the voltage at the battery with the the engine running and it was only 12.5v.

I disconnected the earth lead (as shown in the photos, it runs from the starter) and using a set of jumper leads connected it to the batter -ve terminal. Measured the voltage and got 14.5v at the battery.

On inspection of the earth point that had been used, it looked a bit dirty, and as you can see in the photo, there was a plastic ring (or remains of) which may have prevented a proper earth being made.

I cleaned it all up and connected everything back together and now there is 14.5v at the battery.

Does anyone know if this is the correct earth point to use. People have talked about an earth point near the left hand head light, but I don't think this is it.

Is the unused stud near the earth point the correct one to use?

Thanks in advance.

Elion - loving the car! I've got the CDs out - do you want them back?
Click to expand...
The location of the 'under the headlight earth point' is illustrated in this excellent post by Birdfish. It's not actually under the headlight but taking the headlight out is the normal way to get at it, hence the description.

Andy
 
Thanks for the link Andy.

I think I’m going to have a lead made up and fit it to the correct earth (providing the original bolt hasn’t been sheared off- which seems to be a common occurrence).

It looks like the ends are M8 stud and M8 bolt - can anyone confirm please?!
 
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