Today after a short 2 mile journey i realised that my engine management light was illuminated. After realising this and the fact that i would be travelling near to my local dealer i decided to proceed with my journey but take it steady. After about a couple more miles the Traction control light illuminated along with the airbag and whatever other lights are on the dash. I then suddenly realised the speedo needle and rev counter were also stuck in position. Two seconds later i lost power and decided to pull over. The engine was still idling but had a serious lack of power. I turned the car off for 30 seconds and turned it over again and it was as if the battery was flat. This surely cant be the case as its only just had a new one. Due to the fact i live 30 miles from a dealer i had to have my vehicle recovered to my local garage instead. The guy who called out reckons its probably the alternator but why all the lights and lack of power? Could this be the case? I have not heard anything from the garage as yet and was wondering if anyone else has had the same problems.

Just been experiencing the same problems.

In my case, Battery light, followed by ABS and traction control light folloed by airbag light. Climate control system off and engine sounding really noisey at low revs.

I think my alternator is FUBAR'd. I have charged my battery overnight for the last two nights but the symptoms re-appear after only a few minutes driving. I parked up yesterday and the car failed to start. So It's almost certainly battery related.

Booked into the local VAG specialist next wednesday.

Did you find the solution?

I got mine fixed recently and yes it was the alternator. I had the battery replaced 6 months previous. This little encounter cost me just short of £400 :eek:as the fuse box on top of the battery melted as well. Alternator and fuse box and new belt came in at about £395. The fuse box on the battery has the fuses for the ABS hence the full dash illumination. This appears to be quite a common problem as i had researced a few VW forums prior to this and others had encounterd the same problems. Hope this helps.

I had similar symptoms from mine (except no lack of power on a diesel) when the alternator failed.

When all the warnings lights illuminate it is usually the alternator diode pack that has failed. The diodes prevent the current from flowing back towards the alternator.

You might find the following link useful for testing these common electrical problems, some stuff is specific to the multimetre in question but most can be checked with a standard one.

http://assets.fluke.com/appnotes/automotive/beatbook.pdf