Good afternoon,

The Octy is currently parked outside my house with nowhere to go! I have a 52 REG Octavia 1.9TDI Elegance. Had a few issues lately with the car seeming to lock after I got out without even locking it myself. Also had a bit more trouble starting it. Anyway, on Tuesday I drove to work and the air con and radio started turning itself off and also the traction control, ABS and air bag lights came on the dash only to to go off and then reappear. Same happened on the way home. Went to drive the car in the evening and the air con was playing up again and then the lights started dimming so I turned back, Car started chugging to a halt just outside the house! Phew! Suspected the battery so charged it up overnight, Car started fine last night. However, when restrting the battery symbol came on for a while and I had to rev quite a bit to get rid of it which hasn't happened before. Local garage checked bettery yesterday and said it was absolutely perfect. Am suspecting that I have a problem with the alternator and just don't trust the car at the moment to drive in conditions where I'll need lights etc.

Have ordered a VAG COM lead so hope to do a diagnosic check from my laptop when the lead arrives. Are there fault codes that hint to problems with alternators? Am also wondering if there is some kind of loose connection/earth problem somewhere!! Any advice/past experience of this would be most welcome!!! Do these diagnostic checks help to get to the bottom of things like this??!!

Sorry for rambling!

Regards,

Gareth

something related to the alternator I would guess. Might be worth checking out the earthing straps, and also the 4 (or so) large fuses mounted in the black box on top of the battery - make sure the bolts are nipped up nice and tight.

Check the voltage regulator, a faulty one can cause all kinds of weird symptoms. If the charging voltage is all over the place when revving then change it asap otherwise some quiet terminal damage can be caused.