Hi. car has 160K Miles but had been a great car… until @ 3 weeks ago! Started having some ignition problems - car would start and stall, but If I was able to get it in gear all good. Problem has been happening on/off; most frequently after the car was stopped for a while -overnight or sitting at work garage all day. Took it to mechanic 1st time, he told me something was draining battery… asked me to double check make sure the lights were not staying on etc… Lights and radio all off…problem still substisting one/off. About 10 days ago left it with him to test… said he could not find any drain and after letting it sit out 3 days it had no problem starting it. Today, had again some starting problems but the real bad news is that while driving I started losing power… pushed accelerator but car slowed down and stopped!
Tried to start, battery light would come up but car die… after 20 mins started again… at least I got home! Any insight? Alternator? But I turned the car on several hours later, and it started fine… no lights dimmed… it is however making a high pitched noise, it appears from the front of the car… and come to think about it, it has been making that noise on/off for a while… months? - especially when it is hot outside… Any ideas… all help welcome!
Alternators often die a little bit at a time, as most have three seperate generators of A/C and accompanying diodes to convert the electricity to D/C. You can get away with an alternator running with two windings (generators) or several dead diodes, depending on your accessory usage, such as air conditioning (the draw is from the fan) and headlights, etc.
I think this your problem, a weak alternator.
The fact that the car started for your mechanic after three days is irrelevant. The car was not in use, and it is summer. It is easier to start a cold car in warm weather.
I doubt the battery is your problem. I believe you have a failing alternator, which is just barely doing the job, most of the time.
The high-pitched noise is hopefully but not necessarily coming from the alternator, which I do recommend replacing. If you do replace the alternator and still hear the noise, you may be on the verge of needing to a different part. But do the alternator and ask again if the noise persists.
One after thought, get a second opinion. Your mechanic should have performed a simple test to determine your alternator’s output. I don’t understand the value of leaving the car sitting for three days to see if it will start at the end of this “test”. It started for you after twenty minutes after you broke down because the battery had cooled down after twenty minutes, and heat = resistance in an electrical system. Have the battery and alternator tested by someone who knows what they are doing. I am almost certain you have bad alternator, but you should make sure before spending the money replacing it.
Hello,
thank you very, very much for your quick reply. I am priting your message and when I call to the mechanic being very specific about my Qs and as to whether he performed the test or not; as you stated, it seems a basic way to eliminate that possibility. Since you seem to be so knowledgeabkle… can I ask you a few more general Qs regarding WVs in general? They may seem silly, but I will take my chances! Here they are:
-
If it is the alternator… any idea of how much that replacement should cost, more or less?
-
Are WV truly so peculiar that they needs a specialized mechanic? This gentleman is a general one… I used to go to one specialized in WV but the operation got big and fancy and with so many rotating middle managers, I felt like I was being jerked around with more work than required done…
-
I know I need to start thinking about replacing the car, but just having looked at car prices… ykes! Is there any way to figure out financially when you are investing in a car money pit vs. spending, but less than monthly payments?
-
Last - at least for this set! -As the WV GTI seem to have “shrunk” since I bought mine, I have been looking at Wv Tiguan… any thoughts? Any other brand with similar style you may recommend?
Sorry for the many Qs, but though I speak several languages “car-talk” is not one of them!!! : )