Popped to the post office this morning and on setting off back, the alternator light started flashing. Then I felt the steering go stiff, and the power steering light come on. Then the radio went off, and it started to warn of a brake failure. All within about 400 yards of driving. I managed to nurse it to my favourite independent garage, luckly it was nearby. They say that the either the alternator has gone or the belt snapped / slipped, hopefully Ill get an update later today. Im thinking belt fail as it happened so suddenly?

 

Im on 105000 miles. It seems a bit early for either frankly.

Edited 11 January, 201610 yr by ExPassat

Garage called - belts are all fine, but the alternator is only giving out 7 volts when it should be 14. They say £300 to replace, does that should right?

An alternator can die quickly. At least I've experienced that with an Audi. At first it started flashing ABS and ESP warnings and after some while I stopped to see if nothing is wrong with the brake system. Then I wasn't able to start the car at all. After towing to the garage they found out that alternator had died. Everything happened in a ~80-100 km road section. Everything was fine before that.

 

According to 105000 miles - I had my cambelt changed at ~155k km and service guy suggested to change the alternator belt as well because it was in a bad shape.

Interesting. At least its nothing catastrophic. Luckily I keep a savings account for car maintenance stuff. Guess how much is in it - £300!

Either alternator is dead itself or brushes need to be replaced. I guess that in the second case everything shouldn't have happened that fast (I'm not 100% sure about that).

But if it's about brushes then it should be much cheaper (note: in this case everything depends on the honesty of service guys).

Thanks, but given the age and mileage of the car I'd rather replace the whole alternator while ive got the money!

Brand new alternators are around £200, reconditioned alternators can be had for around £100.

 

an hour or so removing and fitting the new one gets you to £300 assuming the part is brand new.

 

I too would advise changing the auxiliary belt too, it needs to come off to change the alternator and costs only a few pounds more.

Ok, apparently they've changed the alternator and the battery too as it failed test after charging. Ill find out more after I pick it up wednesday.

Hmm, I hope it wasn't just the battery to start with!

I would be asking for the old alternator to be re-fitted once a new battery is on, just to be doubly sure.

The alternator on my 2006 Octavia 1.9 gave up the ghost at 43,500 miles and six years old .

I had driven 200 miles across to the West Coast of Scotland ( near Skye ) the previous evening in the rain (lights ,wipers, heater in use ) with the caravan.

Next morning when I set off to the shops the engine sounded as if the alternator belt was noisy but when it didn’t quieten down  after half a mile I lifted the bonnet to check and was confronted by the smell of hot insulation and the alternator roasting hot. Needless to say no Valeo alternators were available locally so I removed the fan belt (to stop the alternator from overheating) , charged up the battery on the caravan charger and set off for home . As it was a sunny day all the electricals were switched off and I tried to minimise application of brakes (two sets of brake lights !) although the electric power steering probably used quite a lot of power.

After 100 miles I swapped the battery with the one from the caravan and this took me to within half a mile of home before the dashboard lit up like a chistmas tree accompanied by a variety of bleeps and buzzers. I just managed to turn into the village and coasted the last few yards  to my house with the engine dead.

A visit to the local car breaker at Aberdeen provided a replacement for £72 and this is still ok 3+ yrs later .

ExPassat , your £ 300 seems a bit steep to an Aberdonian like me but I hope your problem has been solved

Im picking it up this morning as I got back late last night. I know it sounds a bit steep but Id rather not take any chances. I know I can trust these guys as they have such great reputation locally they are always busy but they make an extra effort for me because I need to be on the road. Plus theyve done tyre changes, diagnostics etc for me for free before now.

 

Briskodian, thanks for your story, It sounds like 6 years is about normal then as thats what my car is coming up on!

The alternator on my 2006 Octavia 1.9 gave up the ghost at 43,500 miles and six years old .

I had driven 200 miles across to the West Coast of Scotland ( near Skye ) the previous evening in the rain (lights ,wipers, heater in use ) with the caravan.

Next morning when I set off to the shops the engine sounded as if the alternator belt was noisy but when it didn’t quieten down  after half a mile I lifted the bonnet to check and was confronted by the smell of hot insulation and the alternator roasting hot. Needless to say no Valeo alternators were available locally so I removed the fan belt (to stop the alternator from overheating) , charged up the battery on the caravan charger and set off for home . As it was a sunny day all the electricals were switched off and I tried to minimise application of brakes (two sets of brake lights !) although the electric power steering probably used quite a lot of power.

After 100 miles I swapped the battery with the one from the caravan and this took me to within half a mile of home before the dashboard lit up like a chistmas tree accompanied by a variety of bleeps and buzzers. I just managed to turn into the village and coasted the last few yards  to my house with the engine dead.

A visit to the local car breaker at Aberdeen provided a replacement for £72 and this is still ok 3+ yrs later .

ExPassat , your £ 300 seems a bit steep to an Aberdonian like me but I hope your problem has been solved

 

Good effort! :clap:

 

I reckon you'd have got home if you'd taken the brake bulbs out of the car :p

All works a treat, no problems. Id even go as far as to say the electrics seem a little better - the heater and air con come up to speed much quicker unless i'm mistaken. They even fixed the drivers door seal for free, which was falling off and I was going to buy a part for. All in all Im happy. :clap: