Wierd Noise & Battery Light Flashing - Help!!

[NeilMcK]

I seem to be having no luck with this car.

I fixed the door seals and am getting the car dried out, but driving today another problem has cropped up...

I was driving along the road and the battery light started to flash. I had the stereo, and the headlights on and the air con compressor switched off.

I turned everything off and after about 30 seconds it stopped.

About 5 mins further on it did it again, and then stopped, and it didn't recur.

When I got home I got my meter out to check the voltage - no probs, 14v with the engine running.

The belt is also fine.

Howver, I did notice a weird noise coming from around the fan belt area, a kind of squeaking/rattling noise, the lights dimmed and the light flashed.

It seems like something is being loaded up and causing the belt to slip, so I'm now in 2 horror scenario's.

1: It's the alternator bearing about to sieze,

or, even worse..

2: It's the air-con compressor about to go tit's up.

I've got a long journey on Tuesday and I know my local garage won;t be able to look at it before then, so my question is, has anyone had this problem, and will it be OK. If it is the compressor, do they sieze, or just stop working?

Thanks for any advice.

Neil.

 

[gerry.tissot]

Something similar happened to me 2 days ago. While leaving my parking garage at work the battery light started flashing. A rattling noise was also coming from the engine bay. It was too dark for me to see what it was. After I got on the highway, the noise would subside and the battery light was no longer flashing. When I got home my steering was also making a straining noise.

I brought it to VW and turns out that the tensioner on the alternator's pulley broke. So the vibration I was hearing is the pulley itself rattling and knocking against the power steering pump. Because of the knocking on the pump, my power steering fluid overflowed out of the reservoir's cap, hence the straining of the steering. The battery light flashing under idle was that there wasn't enough tension on the pulley to turn the alternator and maintain charge (whereas under highway speeds the pulley would catch enough tension to charge).

Bring it to VW if it is still under warranty. They will replace the tensioner and/or pulley, check to ensure your alternator is still charging and refill any fluids you may have lost because of this failure. I recommend you ask them to check the serpentine belt itself as well. If it is warn, ask them to replace it. You will save on the labor as they have to remove it to get to the pulley and tensioner. The belt will cost you about 55$ CND (maybe 20 Euros).

Hope this helps you or someone who had a similar problem.

Cheers,

Gerry.Tissot

 

[NeilMcK]

Hi Gerry,

Thanks for the input.

I did work out the problem. The serpentine belt was worn - getting it replaced at next service, and they're £21 here for an original, but will get them to check the tensioner and pulleys as well.

The car had a fix, and the garage didn't tighten the nuts on the battery properly...........

Useless gits.