Is my car alternator faulty?

[nb celestine]

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place.

  For the last couple of weeks my headlights have been pulsing slightly, about 2 pulses a second. I'm assuming it's the alternator.

  Coming back from my special lady friends house about 2 hours ago I was accelerating up a hill when I heard a bleap and all my headlights went off. I pulled to the side of the road and found out that my sidelights and tail lights were still working so tried to limp the six miles home through the Cornish countryside. After a mile or so I tried the high beam and it worked so I travelled back through the lanes so as not to blind anyone. After a few minutes various warning lights came on the dashboard but those and other dashboard lights were getting dimmer.

   So I'm asking is it just a case of putting a multimeter on the battery tomorrow when the engines running and see if it's showing about 14.4. 

   And any idea why it looks like both dipped beams have blown when the high beams are ok? 

   Again apologises if this is in the wrong place.

[Paul C]

You forgot to say what kind of car it is (year make and model).

 

Its worth testing the alternator but it doesn't sound directly related. Also, its not as simple as just seeing there's about 14.4V - that's fairly meaningless in itself. What you want to do is to get a bunch of voltages eg before starting, just after, an hour after and all points in between etc. And also a bunch of voltages with little/no load; and with a high load (and probably something in between).

 

Without knowing the car make/model/year nobody knows what kind of alternator controller the car has - a lot of them have more sophisticated ones. It may/may not have left a fault code; or be possible to do diagnostics through OBD2 port etc. Of course, you'd need the right code reader/diagnostic tool, and the right data to troubleshoot it.

 

[bizzard]

3 minutes ago, nb celestine said:

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place.

  For the last couple of weeks my headlights have been pulsing slightly, about 2 pulses a second. I'm assuming it's the alternator.

  Coming back from my special lady friends house about 2 hours ago I was accelerating up a hill when I heard a bleap and all my headlights went off. I pulled to the side of the road and found out that my sidelights and tail lights were still working so tried to limp the six miles home through the Cornish countryside. After a mile or so I tried the high beam and it worked so I travelled back through the lanes so as not to blind anyone. After a few minutes various warning lights came on the dashboard but those and other dashboard lights were getting dimmer.

   So I'm asking is it just a case of putting a multimeter on the battery tomorrow when the engines running and see if it's showing about 14.4. 

   And any idea why it looks like both dipped beams have blown when the high beams are ok? 

   Again apologises if this is in the wrong place.

You could try the multimeter check, and check the alternator drive belt. the charging would be controlled by the ECU on a modern car so it will probably need a diagnostic check at a dealer.

[nb celestine]

Thanks for the replies.

The car is a 2005 Passat estate.  A mate of my sons is a mechanic and has one of those iPad things that plugs into the car and has offered to pop up next week if I need him. 

  I'll try the various suggestions though and I may learn something.

  Thanks again.

[Paul C]

28 minutes ago, nb celestine said:

 

The car is a 2005 Passat estate.

Jesus wept, errr I mean good luck (you'll need it).

[Boater Sam]

Scrap it, its worth £200.

Not worth repairing.

[nb celestine]

Hi, just been out to check and my battery showed 11.9v before starting. After starting with no load it's showing 11.4v. Belt seems fine.

I hope it's just a case of a new alternator. 

You're right Sam, I may have to scrap it which is easy, it's finding a few grand for a half decent replacement which is the hard bit.

[David Schweizer]

1 hour ago, nb celestine said:

Hi, just been out to check and my battery showed 11.9v before starting. After starting with no load it's showing 11.4v. Belt seems fine.

I hope it's just a case of a new alternator. 

You're right Sam, I may have to scrap it which is easy, it's finding a few grand for a half decent replacement which is the hard bit.

I would take it to a VW garage (preferably not a main dealer) and have it tested.  The B5.5 Passat had some odd electronic problems, most of which can be sorted out without expensive replacement parts. Without knowing the mileage it is difficult to advise on whether the cars worth keeping or not, but it will almost certainly be worth more than the cost of a replacement alternator, and good low mileage ones are like hen's teeth especially if you want a petrol one. I failed to find a suitable replacement after over a years searching when my 2004 Passat Estate was written off by a "White Van Man!" I ended up with a 2009 Golf 1.4 TSI which has almost as much cargo space as the Passat, and performs as well as the Passat 2 litre.

 

 

Edited March 4, 2019 by David Schweizer

[Boater Sam]

Up to now you are in for a new alternator, 2 headlamp bulbs and whatever else that is duff,

If its taken the bulbs out, I would be concerned for the electronics, ECU for one.

I would find out exactly what has failed , cost it all and then consider whether it is worth spending possibly a few hundred pounds at least on a 15 year old car.

 

When is the MOT due? will it pass? May be worth finding out now.  What else is wrong with the motor?

[nb celestine]

The cars not bad Sam. 150,000 miles. Mot due September. It's a handy car for my building tools, springer spaniel, and stuff like that. 

Just had a alternator priced at £150 inc vat but going to get my sons mate to plug his gizmo in to see if there is damage to the electronics.

If it's bad news, I'll be looking for second hand A4.   

[Boater Sam]

Auto electrician will rebuild an alternator for a lot less than £150.

[Machpoint005]

37 minutes ago, nb celestine said:

I'll be looking for second hand A4.   

 

VW Passat = Expensive Skoda

Audi A4 = Very expensive Skoda

 

Get over the badge snobbery and buy a Skoda? You'll get more toys and a big boot for less money.

[TheBiscuits]

46 minutes ago, nb celestine said:

The cars not bad Sam. 150,000 miles. Mot due September. It's a handy car for my building tools, springer spaniel, and stuff like that. 

Just had a alternator priced at £150 inc vat but going to get my sons mate to plug his gizmo in to see if there is damage to the electronics.

If it's bad news, I'll be looking for second hand A4.   

I had to replace the alternator on a 2003 A4 last year, and found a reconditioned exchange on eBay for about £70 from a Polish company called SGR.

 

 

[David Schweizer]

1 hour ago, Boater Sam said:

Auto electrician will rebuild an alternator for a lot less than £150.

Sir Nibble of this Parish is the Alternator Wizard, but he doesn't post much these days. I used to use Vehicle Electrics on Stockfield Road in Acocks Green but I am not sure if they are there any more.

 

 

Edited March 4, 2019 by David Schweizer

[GUMPY]

1 hour ago, Machpoint005 said:

 

VW Passat = Expensive Skoda

Audi A4 = Very expensive Skoda

 

Get over the badge snobbery and buy a Skoda? You'll get more toys and a big boot for less money.

The Skoda Octavia has a bigger load space than an Audi A4.

 

[Machpoint005]

2 minutes ago, Loddon said:

The Skoda Octavia has a bigger load space than an Audi A4.

 

 

Yes - that's why I bought one (it also makes the boot in a Mercedes-Benz C-class estate look like a shoebox).

[David Schweizer]

2 hours ago, Machpoint005 said:

 

VW Passat = Expensive Skoda

Audi A4 = Very expensive Skoda

 

Get over the badge snobbery and buy a Skoda? You'll get more toys and a big boot for less money.

Skodas are fine if you are happy to drive an earlier version of the equivalent VW.  My 2009 VW golf estate is a generation newer and has far more features than My friend's 2010 Skoda Ocvtavia estate, which is virtually identical inside to my wife's old 2002 VW Bora, but noisier.

 

 

Edited March 4, 2019 by David Schweizer

[Machpoint005]

5 minutes ago, David Schweizer said:

Skodas are fine if you are happy to drive an earlier version a proven version of the equivalent VW.

An equally valid viewpoint. My 2012 Octavia has exactly the same infotainment/phone system as the 2008 Audi A8.  Admittedly it is not a poverty spec model.

[GUMPY]

I drive a Skoda Yeti there is no equivalent in either the VW or Audi range.

Reason being it takes the best parts from more than one VW model which in the drive towards single platforms across the makes meant it was dropped

[Iain_S]

The lighting fault could be caused by an intermittant bad connection or short to earth, either of which would be capable of taking out the bulbs.  The latter could take out the alternator, as could the former, depending on where it was.

 

Many years ago, I had to fix a Mini Countryman with "the headlights aren't working". Initial fault was the battery shorting against the back seat. Ended up having to replace all the bulbs, apart from indicators and one instrument panel bulb.

[ditchcrawler]

4 hours ago, David Schweizer said:

Skodas are fine if you are happy to drive an earlier version of the equivalent VW.  My 2009 VW golf estate is a generation newer and has far more features than My friend's 2010 Skoda Ocvtavia estate, which is virtually identical inside to my wife's old 2002 VW Bora, but noisier.

 

 

And the cost comparison? 

[Machpoint005]

11 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

And the cost comparison? 

...depends on the value you put on a certain badge, I'd suggest.

[David Schweizer]

32 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

And the cost comparison? 

Skodas seem to have caught up with VW's on quality, but the current price difference is much less than many people are suggesting.  Comparing a new VW Golf estate 1.1 TSI, and a Skoda Octavia estate 1.1 TSI, the performance and dimensions are almost identical (The Skoda is 5cm longer and the boot capacity is 110 litres more) but the price difference is almost negligible. the forecourt prices are:- VW Golf £22,000 :- Skoda £20,800 so only £1,200 less.

 

When I was looking for a replacement for my destroyed Passat I did look at some Skodas, but found that the S/H prices were very similar for the same specification, and  I just didn't like them as much, particularly that odd bonnet with the centre ridge and square badge nose, and the big grinning mouth radiator grille.

 

 

Edited March 4, 2019 by David Schweizer

[Paul C]

What's the Skoda equivalent of the VW Eos? Or Corrado, or Scirocco?

[David Schweizer]

39 minutes ago, Paul C said:

What's the Skoda equivalent of the VW Eos? Or Corrado, or Scirocco?

As far as I know the Eos was built on the Golf/Jetta floor pan so from a technical perspective it's nearest Skoda equivalent would be the Octavia. Not sure anbout the other two.