Hey guys,

Not had a problem with my fabia for a while now so not posted much, but now i have a problem.

Sods law that i am trying to sell my beloved fabia (waiting on freedom membership to kick in so i can advertise on here) that something like this goes wrong.

Last night my battery light on my dash came on. The lights on the dash were considerably more dim than before and the wipers were going awfully slow, i couldnt even turn on the heated rear window!!!!

Anyway i am taking it to a garage to see what the problem is later but i tried looking in the archives for any help but there seems to be none on this issue for vrs.

Is there anyone who has had this before? Does it sound like the alternator or the battery? And if it is the either of them does anyone know were to get second hand ones or cheap replacements.

My car started serveral times after the said incident with no "hunting" or laboured starts.

Any help would be much appreciated guys

cheers

nathan

Well, the same happened with mine, battery light came on so automatically thought, alternator as it had a new battery last year!!

So today i went to pick it up and drove it hone with a mate behind in another car just incase it breaks down, drove 25 miles without a problem, pulled into a mates work, checked the voltage across bat with engine running, 13.64v which seems to suggest the alternator is fine, so continued on and went to mates.

I then decided to have a look under the bonnet, all earths seemed a little corroded so i cleaned all of them, and still battery light!!

then i as i drove from my mates to my flat (10 miles) in the dark, i had lights on, the battery light went out. but noticed all the dash lights were dim and when i pulled up and parked, i switched the car off and tried to start again the bloomin battery was dead!! Whilst the car was running it didn't even have power for the indicators, when off, no problem!!

Both side lights weren't working either, then shoogled fuses and one worked, checked the other in the side that works and the bulb is fine...

Bloody fabias is what i say!!

Sounds like the alternator. Simple way to check that it's working properly is to put a multimeter on the battery. With the car switched off the voltage should be around 12V, with the car running it should be around 14V. Lots of threads on here about the alternator (there was one a couple of days ago) so have a search. I think there is a cable that sometimes breaks causing problems - again, have a search and you'll find more information on here.

edit - here's that thread about alternators from the other day; http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/181218-alternator/

Edited 22 November, 201015 yr by JulieD

Julie the one a couple of days ago was by myself, and that wasn't a vrs, so could be a different problem!!

But when one guy suggested a wire near the gearbox, another member pointed out that was a common fault on a vrs so may be worth checking that!!