hemang02
24-10-2007, 12:09 AM
Hi everyone :sadwavey: .... I hope I can get some advice ..I have been searching for a Golf owners club website so I get to the bottom of this trouble that I am having with my dad's car...
I bought a MK4 Golf 1.6 ...1998 reg. model (Auto with AC) for my retired mom & dad. It has done around 40K miles.
When I got the car around 2 months ago, I had a full major service done on it along with cambelts.
Its had:
new spark plugs
new battery
new oil / oil filter
air / pollen filter
fuel filter
new belts / tensioner
new waterpump
The mechanic pointed out that it seemed a new alternator had been installed on the car... as it looked more clean and shiny compared to the other engine parts.
All was running smoothly for nearly a 1000 miles until last week.. when my parents are driving along.. and suddenly the airbag + ABS light (that's what dad told me) came on.. and the car started beeping...a minute or so later the engine cuts out and the car cannot be started. When you try to crank it.. you just get a clicking sound... (as if the battery was dead). Leaving the car overnight .. it starts up fine again...
The problem reoccurred again.. this time they were quite far from home... so I had the RAC recover the car to my house.
I did this test on the car the following morning:
test the battery voltage while engine is off: 12.5 v
I then start the car (car starts right away without any hesitation), and with the engine at 2000rpm and with all the electrics running in the car (wipers, fan, ac, headlights, radio, window demister, etc. etc...) I test the voltage across the battery and i get: 14.1V. Then I switch of all the electrics and with the engine still running at 2000rpm.. I get: 14.4V
So I guess the charging is ok and the battery is ok.... so why is it that the battery seems to get drained...(if that's what is happening). Is the alternator giving up intermittently ?
I can't reproduce the fault consistently ... so I can't really demo it to a mechanic to get the source of the problem...
Has anyone encountered something like this before... ?.. or any ideas as to what to do / how to diagnose further ?....
I am very hesitant to give the car back to my parents.. as I don't want them to get stranded somewhere... :dunno:
regards,
- seth.
I bought a MK4 Golf 1.6 ...1998 reg. model (Auto with AC) for my retired mom & dad. It has done around 40K miles.
When I got the car around 2 months ago, I had a full major service done on it along with cambelts.
Its had:
new spark plugs
new battery
new oil / oil filter
air / pollen filter
fuel filter
new belts / tensioner
new waterpump
The mechanic pointed out that it seemed a new alternator had been installed on the car... as it looked more clean and shiny compared to the other engine parts.
All was running smoothly for nearly a 1000 miles until last week.. when my parents are driving along.. and suddenly the airbag + ABS light (that's what dad told me) came on.. and the car started beeping...a minute or so later the engine cuts out and the car cannot be started. When you try to crank it.. you just get a clicking sound... (as if the battery was dead). Leaving the car overnight .. it starts up fine again...
The problem reoccurred again.. this time they were quite far from home... so I had the RAC recover the car to my house.
I did this test on the car the following morning:
test the battery voltage while engine is off: 12.5 v
I then start the car (car starts right away without any hesitation), and with the engine at 2000rpm and with all the electrics running in the car (wipers, fan, ac, headlights, radio, window demister, etc. etc...) I test the voltage across the battery and i get: 14.1V. Then I switch of all the electrics and with the engine still running at 2000rpm.. I get: 14.4V
So I guess the charging is ok and the battery is ok.... so why is it that the battery seems to get drained...(if that's what is happening). Is the alternator giving up intermittently ?
I can't reproduce the fault consistently ... so I can't really demo it to a mechanic to get the source of the problem...
Has anyone encountered something like this before... ?.. or any ideas as to what to do / how to diagnose further ?....
I am very hesitant to give the car back to my parents.. as I don't want them to get stranded somewhere... :dunno:
regards,
- seth.