Just spent the last 2 hours trying to get my car home after it randomly broke down. All seemed fine until the power steering cut out and the ABS & TCS lights came on on the dash. The car then cut out.

The car wouldn't start after that (wouldn't even turn over) but was ok once jump started, although the voltage across the battery was only about 11.5v so it looks like the alternator isn't charging.

When I checked the instrument panel, the 'battery' light isn't lit, so is this likely to be a knackered alternator or a blown bulb stopping the alternator charging the battery? :confused::confused:

Anyone know how much a new alternator will set me back and the best place to get one?

have you checked to make sure your auxilary drive belt hasn't come off or broken

didn't think about that, I'll have to have a look in the morning...

While i'm trying to price up an alternator, does anyone know the part number for an alternator for an 02 TDI???

there are loads of different types depending what equipment level you have. but they aint cheap! will be much cheaper to get a re-con unit from a local motor factors

the auxilary drive belt looks fine so I think it might be the alternator. Will the alternator from an SDI be ok as I've been offered an alternator for

As Tom says there are lots of different types which are generally goverened by output. Your current one should have a part number on it.

the alternator from a sdi will fit but it may have the wrong wiring harness connectors on depending on what make it is, iirc they wil either be a bosch, valeo or hitachi unit, if you give us the part number of your original one, and the one you want to fit, i should be able to give you some idea if it will fit.

get the battery checked as this could of just died , they do that these days without warning

D'oh, just replaced the alternator and it hasn't made any difference:banghead:.

When I've put a current to the alternator though its started charging so it looks like it may be a loose connection or the bulb in the instrument cluster has blown.

Anybody got an idea of where I should look first? Can you replace the dash bulbs easily? I fear not...

with a charged battery and the engine ticking over the voltage across the battery should be about 14 volts

the voltage should drop to 12 volts quite quickley after the engine is switched off

if you have the 14 volts on tick over it sounds like it isn't the alternator so look into the battery or just as important the battery connections, if you have white fur around them clean it all off with a wire brush (be carefully you don't want sparks all over the place) and make sure the connections are tight

try to get another battery off of a car that starts as yours may be dodgy

good luck!

ahh got it sorted.

After much searching on the forums I found an old thread with details about a wire breaking and problems with alternator not charging. Found the wire on my car and it was broken. a bit of bodging and all is well again.

So the only thing to sort out now is the spare alternator. Anyone need an alternator...?

Which wire was busted mate ? as im reckoning ours probably isn't great !

Have a look at this thread.

It's explained there much better than I could...

Hope this helps.