Hi all,
I've been a long time viewer of the forum but this is my first post.
I purchased a 2004 FSI in July 16. Very shortly after buying it I had the red battery (charging) light come on the dash permanently. After some fault finding with a multimeter it looked like there was no output from the alternator at all and the battery was slowly draining (culminating in the engine cutting out).
After taking the car to A2 Cars they sent the alternator off to an alternator shop and replaced it with a reconditioned unit. This immediately solved the issue and it continued to work flawlessly for the next 12 months (~10000 miles).
One day in July 17 when I went to start the car it turned over very slowly and wouldn't fire at all. After charging the battery on a charger over night I tried again with the exact same result. I left it another day and tried again and this time it eventually sputtered into life after about 5 seconds of turning over slowly. Everything appeared fine and all the lights cleared. Over the next week I started getting intermittent red battery light on the dash again (which generally cleared with revs).
Eventually the light came on steady once again and coincided with the power steering failing. It was again sent to A2 cars who sent the alternator back to the service shop. They said that alternator had been damaged by water ingress and replace it with yet another reconditioned part. This made no difference and A2 cars tried cleaning one of the earth connections which seemed to cure the problem.
I then drove the car for another two weeks before the light once again came on and the power steering again failed. My next port of call is to check the earth strap behind the headlight and inside the passenger foot well, check the positive battery lead in the plastic housing and check the loom where it runs through the firewall.
I'm sure that both alternator and battery are in top condition so I strongly suspect a wiring short or bad earth somewhere on the car. From browsing this forum it looks like there could be a myriad of corroded wires so I'm open to any suggestions.
I'll keep you updated with what I find.
Cheers,
Mark
I've been a long time viewer of the forum but this is my first post.
I purchased a 2004 FSI in July 16. Very shortly after buying it I had the red battery (charging) light come on the dash permanently. After some fault finding with a multimeter it looked like there was no output from the alternator at all and the battery was slowly draining (culminating in the engine cutting out).
After taking the car to A2 Cars they sent the alternator off to an alternator shop and replaced it with a reconditioned unit. This immediately solved the issue and it continued to work flawlessly for the next 12 months (~10000 miles).
One day in July 17 when I went to start the car it turned over very slowly and wouldn't fire at all. After charging the battery on a charger over night I tried again with the exact same result. I left it another day and tried again and this time it eventually sputtered into life after about 5 seconds of turning over slowly. Everything appeared fine and all the lights cleared. Over the next week I started getting intermittent red battery light on the dash again (which generally cleared with revs).
Eventually the light came on steady once again and coincided with the power steering failing. It was again sent to A2 cars who sent the alternator back to the service shop. They said that alternator had been damaged by water ingress and replace it with yet another reconditioned part. This made no difference and A2 cars tried cleaning one of the earth connections which seemed to cure the problem.
I then drove the car for another two weeks before the light once again came on and the power steering again failed. My next port of call is to check the earth strap behind the headlight and inside the passenger foot well, check the positive battery lead in the plastic housing and check the loom where it runs through the firewall.
I'm sure that both alternator and battery are in top condition so I strongly suspect a wiring short or bad earth somewhere on the car. From browsing this forum it looks like there could be a myriad of corroded wires so I'm open to any suggestions.
I'll keep you updated with what I find.
Cheers,
Mark