# VW Golf 2.3 V5 Battery light

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/vw-golf-2-3-v5-battery-light/173609>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** volkswagen\
**Created:** [December 26, 2020, 2:10am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/vw-golf-2-3-v5-battery-light/173609 "2020-12-26T02:10:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![stavabu1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@stavabu1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/stavabu1)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2020, 2:10am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/vw-golf-2-3-v5-battery-light/173609/1 "2020-12-26T02:10:05Z")

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Been having the battery light on my dash for a year. So I did some measuring today. Before I started the engine, I measured 12.9 volts. But when the engine was running it went to 12.1-2 volts which is low, but after a single blip on the gas it went up to 14.5 volts and stayed there. Could this be the regulator or the alternator?

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**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2020, 4:19am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/vw-golf-2-3-v5-battery-light/173609/2 "2020-12-26T04:19:10Z")

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How old is the serpentine belt?

Tester

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**Author:** ![stavabu1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@stavabu1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/stavabu1)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2020, 10:09am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/vw-golf-2-3-v5-battery-light/173609/3 "2020-12-26T10:09:09Z")

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I’m not sure

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**Author:** ![stavabu1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@stavabu1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/stavabu1)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/vw-golf-2-3-v5-battery-light/173609/4 "2020-12-26T23:29:53Z")

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Do people replace serpentine belts? Its there and it spins the system 😄

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**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2020, 11:41pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/vw-golf-2-3-v5-battery-light/173609/5 "2020-12-26T23:41:10Z")

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> [@stavabu1](#):
>
> Do people replace serpentine belts?

Yes.

When they know it’s worn.

[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRznjS03eoQ)

Tester