Alternator warning light

[MikeO]

Hi folks

Just went to take the car down the road to the local village and noticed that the "alternator warning light" (IE. little red battery symbol) stayed on! EEEK...

Checked the belt driving the alternator and that appears OK. Had a look at the battery itself and must admit it took a while to work out where to check the level! There appeared to a little plastic plug with a clear top to it. I'm assuming this is meant to be the "magic eye" mentioned in the manual. Well I've looked at this before and never been able to see anything by peering into it (not even when the car was new). It looked like it unscrewed, so I removed it and it looked like the level was fine. So I've tried putting it on a slow charge.

Now I wonder if this is likely to be the alternator? or could it be the battery? The car is just coming up to four years old (only 25k miles though). Though I must admit that it doesn't get that much use these days (not many long trips).

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[MikeO]

Emmm. Just remembered, it's got a Volt meter in the dash! I'll check that later when I take the car off charge.

Question... if this is showing a decent voltage, is this likely to rule out the alternator?

 

[Guinness]

might do, depends, I think the alt runs at 14v when its good not 100% sure, if the car is starting it shouldnt be the battery, although dont rule it out, its not what I would have thought the problem would be though.

 

[muddyboots]

If the voltmeter jumps up to around 14.4 volts when the engine is running, that would suggest the alternator is OK.

I did have a problem on my Mk4 TDI Sport, where one of the alternator wires had broken. It was at one of the connectors where the loom passes (and is clipped to) the front of the gearbox.
My warning light used to come on 10 minutes after every startup, it also disabled the ABS/ESP because they relied on a load signal from the alternator.
However, the alternator still charged OK and maintained correct voltage.

Bit of a bugger to look for, you need to take the undertray off and get your head underneath to have a good look.

Techie told me to look for it, he said he'd fixed a few Fabia TDIs with the same problem.

 

[Red ibiza]

Also have a look at the same wires as muddy is talking about, but cheak them where they join the alternator, a small plug with two small wires.
On my tdi the plastic outer of the wires broke mentioned to dealer and they just taped them up!!!!!

 

[Guinness]

so baisicly we all think it is the alt

 

[muddyboots]

so baisicly we all think it is the alt

Um, no it could be the wiring....

 

[MikeO]

Hi folks...

Just took the battery off charge and started her up (warning light still on) and checked the volt meter on the dash and I would swear that it used to read about half way between 12V and 16V and now it's just the wrong side of 12V! So I'm assuming this is pointing to the alternator!?

One strange thing is that it looks like the rear window heater now does not work! Coincidence? or could it be that the relay wont work because the alternator is "under volting" (NB. may just have made that phrase up!).

Also.... sounds like a daft question.... but where is the fuse box? it certainly does not appear to be where the owners manual says it is! (IE. removable panel on the left hand side of the dash... there's just a void there!).

O'hum... and my nearest dealer is now Carlisle (asuming Harper & Hebson are still Seat dealers of course) and that's the best part of a hundred mile round trip. I'd say "happy New Year" but it aint started out so great.

Thanks for the input so far.

 

[Red ibiza]

Try starting again and take the revs to just past 2000rpm and see if the volt meter goes up?

 

[muddyboots]

Yes sometimes you need to rev up before the alternator kicks in, once it has done it should stay charging until the engine is switched off (even when it drops back down to idle).

Fuses are at the right hand end of the dash. Need to have the drivers door open.

If you still don't get over 12v, it could be the regulator, which fits in the back end of the alternator and is available separately (I changed mine before I found the duff cable). FAR cheaper than a new alternator.

Also check the alternator actually turns, the pulleys have a clutch inside them, maybe this has failed

 

[MikeO]

Thanks again....

I've tried holding the revs for a bit and nothing happens. In fact the volt meter does not move at all when you rev the engine.

muddyboots.

You say fuses on the right hand drivers side. Is this the panel that is otherwise hidden by the door? It's just that the passenger side one is an easy pull off (though nothing behind it), while the drivers side one looks to be locked (IE. tucked) under the air vent and does not look like it's designed to easily pull off.

It does look like the driver belt is actually turning the spindle of the alternator, well the plastic bit that the belt is attached to is actually turning.

Thanks again...

 

[rashcupra]

sounds to me like a dying alternator or dodgy wiring mate! the fuses are behind the pannel on the right hand side end of the dash (behind drivers door when closed) my pannel comes off without removing the vent but you might need to loosen it from dash to get enough space to unclip the pannel!!

 

[Guinness]

to me this sounds like a dealer job as there are a lot of problems it could be, wiring, or parts, if its worn wiring you might take ages to locate the fault

 

[rashcupra]

not if the wiring to the alternator has been taped up by the dealer before id put it down to this then the dealer will have to diagnose the problem!

 

[MikeO]

Guiness... starting to think the same thing myself.

Now I do have an extended warranty, but it's not with SEAT (it's with warranty Direct) so think I'll give them a call tomorrow morning and see where my nearest "authorised dealer" is. Though I suspect it's going to be a pain, one problem with living in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Guinness]

I mean dont rule out lucking for it as rash says it might be something easy, but probably worth being checked out if its this complicated, as none of us really seem to know an exact problem

 

[inkafone]

Alternator pulley has a clutch built into it so it doesn't cause "drag" when starting - take alternator off and get a specialist (car electrics dealing mainly with starter motors/alternators) to test it - £20 for a new pulley without a clutch or about £50 for one with. Alternatively (??) take it to Seat and get ripped off.

 

[MikeO]

Checked it again this morning, in the vain hope it would just be working fine now (forever the optimist) but no.

Did notice that the volt meter in the car reads 11/12v initially, even before you start the engine, so I'm assuming this is the voltage across the battery. On starting the car, the volt meter doesn't move. So again I'm assuming this is pointing to the regulator / alternator.

Phoned Warranty Direct and they pointed me toward the Nationwide Autocentre in Dumfries, just 12 miles away. Now somewhere like this would not normally be my first choice, but if it's the free option (IE. under warranty), then so be it. Booked in first thing Thursday morning, I'll report back after they've had a look.

I'm assuming the battery should be OK for a 12 mile journey if the alternator isn't working!?

As a side issue, finally got the panel off for the fuse box. And it is on the drivers side. Mind you, the little card with the fuse layout took a bit of de-coding, as it looks to be for a left hand drive car! So you have to look at the card and think in mirror image. Certainly would not have fancied trying to do this on a wet dark evening!

 

[muddyboots]

As long as your battery is reasonably well charged you should be OK (so long as you don't drive with rear screen heater, heated mirrors, headlights, front fogs, fan on full speed, etc etc!!).
Oh and try not to steer too much because the power steering is electric and draws a hefty current

TDIs usually have fairly high AH (Amp/Hour) ratings so should get you by OK.

 

[MikeO]

Thanks muddyboots..

No worries about having the heated rear window on... as it too appears to have stopped working! I'm hoping this is connected to the alternator problem, as it stopped working at exactly the same time. Seems reasonable to me that it wont allow you to switch it on until the alternator kicks in (or in my case... doesn't).

Got to be honest... while this is probably the longest I've ever owned a particular car, there's been more problems / faults with this than pretty much every other car I've ever owned! In fact all the faults from my numerous other cars added together probably would not add up to the list of faults on the SEAT! and considering I've been driving some 30 years + that's quite a few other cars.

Interestingly enough, the only other real "problem" car, was another VAG product, a mk4 16v Golf Gti. Hey... maybe I've just been unluckily.

Role on Thursday....