Hi Guys,
My car stopped and won't start yesterday, CAA came and checked, said that it is my alternator. I towed it to VW for check telling them that CAA said it could be caused by a bad alternator, so they did a diagnostic and came back saying there alternator needs to replace and battery as well because battery has a bad cell in it.
Since the repair cost for the alternator is so high, I replaced the battery first so I can drive home and think about it. I'm confused because the Battery Light never came on when driving (It lights before I start my car, then goes off).
Do you think it is the alternator? Shouldn't the battery light comes on if it fails? I assume that if the charging system is normal, the charging light won't come on, and it will come on when battery is not charging right?
When I start the car, I measured the voltage to be around 13.15v, and keeps on dropping by 0.01 every few second. (On the new battery now). If I drive it on the highway for about 20 min and come back, park my car, leave the engine on with lights on, measuring the voltage will read about 11.90v.
Today I try again, when I first start my car, the reading is around 13.35v and drops as I explained until it falls to around 12.3 If I turn off the engine and start it again, it will read 13.13v and drops.
Does it indicate alternator problem or it's because the new battery doesn't need constant charging?
Thanks
Calvin.
My car stopped and won't start yesterday, CAA came and checked, said that it is my alternator. I towed it to VW for check telling them that CAA said it could be caused by a bad alternator, so they did a diagnostic and came back saying there alternator needs to replace and battery as well because battery has a bad cell in it.
Since the repair cost for the alternator is so high, I replaced the battery first so I can drive home and think about it. I'm confused because the Battery Light never came on when driving (It lights before I start my car, then goes off).
Do you think it is the alternator? Shouldn't the battery light comes on if it fails? I assume that if the charging system is normal, the charging light won't come on, and it will come on when battery is not charging right?
When I start the car, I measured the voltage to be around 13.15v, and keeps on dropping by 0.01 every few second. (On the new battery now). If I drive it on the highway for about 20 min and come back, park my car, leave the engine on with lights on, measuring the voltage will read about 11.90v.
Today I try again, when I first start my car, the reading is around 13.35v and drops as I explained until it falls to around 12.3 If I turn off the engine and start it again, it will read 13.13v and drops.
Does it indicate alternator problem or it's because the new battery doesn't need constant charging?
Thanks
Calvin.