02 Alhambra TDI, Total electrical Failure

[jonjosar]

My sister has just been in touch with me. She was driving along quite normally tonight and she noticed the voltmeter in the dash going down to around 9 volts. The lights started to dim and she pulled into a local filling station. The car refused to restart but she managed to get it going with jump leads. The voltmeter showed about 10 volts. As she made her way home, the wipers started to work intermittently and eventually, the car stalled just as she pulled into her house. Every warning light is on and the cars is totally dead. She has checked the battery connections and they seem alright. I,ve told her to have a look at the fan belt to make sure its still there. Sounds like an alternator failure to me.
Any one have any ideas?

[zollaf]

she didnt mention the steering going really heavy, so it must be the alternator that has died.

[100andthirty]

feels more like a drive belt failure, not alternator failure

[zollaf]

but she never mentioned the steering going really heavy, so how can it be drive belt failure?

[100andthirty]

sorry - misread your earlier thread;

yes, I agree, alternator or battery or both

[jonjosar]

Earlier today, Checked all the connections and drive belts and all appear ok. Then checked the battery with the multimeter and it showed 11.73volts. The car wouldnt start on it but started 1st turn with jump leads. Then checked the reading again and its showing 13.20 volts which would indicate that the alternator is putting some charge into the battery. I,d have preferred it to be about 14volts or a bit over but all the warning lights are out now. Gonna try another battery and see what happens to the readings.