Hi all

My Mk 1 Superb has started to misbehave when it's raining!

Specifically, I'm getting the battery light coming on and sometimes the warning "Alternator Workshop" on the screen.

It recently had a servce and they thought it was just the fan belt needed tightening (I'm not a mechanic but it did sound like it was slipping) but that hasn't cured it.

It only seems to happen when I:

1) drive through a deep puddle, and

2) turn left up an incline within 30sec or so

...which sounds to me like water's getting in somewhere and then sloshing over a bad contact/stripped wire/or something.

Has anyone had something similar? It only seems to happen under the above circumstances - it doesn't do it just when going through a deep puddle.

Any advice/suggestions appreciated - I'm going to get the garage to take a look but was hoping to give them some suggested starting points!

Avoid puddles and turning left uphill?

My alternator failed recently, but that was definitely a deddered alternator.

Could it still be a slipping belt/alternator clutch?

On a serious note, deep puddles really are to be avoided. Sucking water in to your air intake can have disastrous results for your engine.

Gaz

Hi Gaz

Thanks for the reply.

When I say "deep" I don't mean really deep, but enough to cause a bit of a splash...

Yeah I'm thinking it could still be something relatively simple for them to spot, though I was working on the assumption that, say a slipping belt, would happen with just the puddle and not the turn.

Whatever it is I'm hoping it's not too pricey to fix

Do you have belly cover? If not, then get it.

About the alternator. Best thing is to check the voltage, when the problem occurs. Easiest way is to get somebody with VAG-COM and then monitor the voltage during the drive. Cheaper is to run some wires from battery to inside and check it yourself with voltmeter.

If it looks, that there is voltage lost/drop, then probably you need to take your alternator to workshop. VAG alternator have a lot problems with broken alternator anchors (especially Valeo ones). Workshop will check for it and replace worn parts. One more thing could be burnt diode block, but then probably "alternator workshop" light should be on all the time.

In estonia there are a lot alternator repair companies, you just need to find it in your country.

Did you get to the bottom of it? I have the same problems. After a few months, my alternator died for real. I had a new one about 4 weeks ago, but today when I turned I got 'Alternator workshop' and battery light on again. Grrrrr. Tried stopping and starting, and get the big red warning light.

Any ideas (apart from time to scrap)

Thanks