Golf IV / Jetta IV :: 1999 Mk4 VR6 - Battery Will Not Charge And Alternator Seems To Be Nonfunctional
Aug 6, 2014
I am having a really curious issue with the charging system on my 1999 Golf VR6. The battery will not charge and the alternator seems to be nonfunctional. While running the voltage at the battery starts normal but drops until the engine dies within 20 minutes. Over the last two days I have replaced the alternator, battery, and the battery grounding cable with no change in behavior. The exciter wire on the alternator is showing 9 volts when the vehicle is running and 0 when it is off. There is 1.6 ohms of resistance between the B+ terminal on the battery and the respective terminal on the alternator. There is 0.3 ohms of resistance between the B- battery terminal and the case of the alternator. My task for tomorrow is to trace the exciter wire back to the cluster and try to troubleshoot it there.
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I am pretty sure that my Denso alternator is shot. My 2010 Corolla S will not start, battery won't hold a charge either. I pop started my vehicle around 10:30am today and drove 30 minute north on the 101. My car appeared to have no issue maintaining power. I rode my bicycle around for about an hour and then tried to start my car. Nothing. Tried to pop start the vehicle twice...still nothing.
The battery has about 40k on it. Car has 121k. So I am guessing it is my alternator.
Like I said the current alternator is made by Denso. I would like to buy a higher quality alternator with maybe a little more cranking amps.
I also am planning on purchasing a Optima battery, should I stick with a yellow top or a redtop. I have some aftermarket audio, only amp is in the Pioneer head-unit (avh p440bt), which is connected to aftermarket 6x9s and components (JL Audio c2-690tx and JL Audio C5-650).
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I recently acquired a 2000 Golf GTI 1.8 20v that came with a few preexisting issues, one of which being that the alternator will not charge the battery. I've checked my voltage while running "starting with a full charge" and it slowly but steadily declines from 12.09 to 11.0 over a 2-3 minute time span. On the dash the battery light is on and never turns off and my radio does not work at all "even with a full charge". I have already replaced my alternator, battery, battery cable, and the two relays in the engine compartment. The relays in the engine compartment were causing a "ghost" amp draw but that has been resolved. I do not have a 109 relay as I have read that this could be the culprit, when I examined the "under-dash" panel I found that my panel does not have one. I have also replaced the 30amp fuses in the engine compartment fuse box and cleaned the grounds.
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Been the proud owner of a '04 Golf for a few years but it hasn't been without its share of hiccups. I recently had my battery die on me. Got the car looked at and apparently the alternator was the culprit, ie, it wasn't functioning and re-charging the battery. Swapped out the OEM for a rebuilt Bosch 120A (my car is a 2.0GL, so it's supposed to be 90a default, but I looked online and saw that I could use the 120). Even put in a new battery as the old one was past its prime. Now the new alternator (which was not fun to install) isn't working either. I had a different mechanic look at it and they said that while the auto shop gave me the right part number, that apparently VWs are hinky with aftermarket parts and I'd have to take it to a VW dealer for a diagnostic? Makes no sense as I've seen tons of people online who've used aftermarket alternators with no problem.
So now the car essentially is dead in the water. Battery light comes on when the car is started and I'm not tempted to not drive the car anywhere out of fear that the new battery will die in mid-traffic. I've checked the grounds, pulley, etc, everything looks fine and connected proper. What could be going on?
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I have a 2000 VW Golf 2.slow. I have done some research from other threads but I'm wondering if mine is a simpler fix then testing all the wiring. After taking the car to Auto-Zone and having my battery and alternator tested they said the alternator was the problem. I had to wait a day to get paid to buy the alternator so I had them charge the battery. After I put the battery back in and started her up I got a flashing e-brake light, ABS light and no A/C. My A/C clutch compressor isn't kicking in either. I checked my brake fluid and it's fine as well.
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Seems that on my GTI S w/lighting the inner headlamps are completely nonfunctional. Just a tiny marker light in the center with headlamps turned on. Even the inner 'hockey stick' LED tube is dark. My MK5 R32 also had non-working inner lights, but I stumbled upon a post that allowed the inner halogens to turn on with my high beams. I don't remember what I did, but it didn't require VAGCOM or hardware changes.
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I can charge it off someone else battery and it will start and drive, but by the next morning it's dead again. Truck charges fine while truck runs so I don't think it's the alternator. 1999 4.2L V6 ....
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I have a 2006 Ford F250 Superduty 4x4 6.0L Diesel with an alternator/battery problem. We have charged the batteries (had them tested at auto zone), and replaced the alternator and still cannot get the batteries to keep a charge. I'm not talking a slow drain, with the ignition switch on for less than a minute it drains about 4 amps and the truck dies. We also noticed a trouble code "TBC fault" and discovered that was to do with the trailer brakes. Disconnected the trailer brake system (have been noticing a "check trailer" warning occasionally recently). What could be causing such a massive drain on the batteries?
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Short version is that my battery is not staying charged. I drive the car daily and am not having any serious issues except for having to put a charger on overnight about once a month or so since this past winter. The current battery (Optima red top) has never gone dead and has been more reliable than the original, it just cranks progressively slower each time I start the car until the day comes that I decide to put the charger on again.
All the lights flicker and dim when driving at night, and have been like that for a few years. When it began, I had the charging system checked three separate times. Once at the dealership who told me everything was fine, once at an Advance Auto who said all was well except for there being an above normal load on the battery with the engine/all accessories off , and once at an alternator/electric motor specialist who said all was well except that the alternator was not capable of generating enough to keep the battery charged long term. They said if I ever got stuck in traffic and sat at idle with the ac/stereo on for an extended period that I shouldn't shut it off since I may not have enough power to crank it again . At first I thought they were going to suggest that I have them repair/rebuild/upgrade it somehow, but they really had no interest in doing so.
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So the charge wire (wire held on by 10mm nut) on the alternator accidentally touched the body of the alternator and it sparked. My idiot-self forgot to disconnect the negative from the battery. I hooked everything back up and now my car doesn't start.
It doesn't crank and it doesn't even make a buzzing noise or anything. The radio doesn't work, the power windows don't work. The power locks DO work, the dome light, headlights, and footwell lights also work and my amps do receive power.
There are some burn marks on my alternator from where the charge wire touched, but could that affect how the car doesn't even crank? Does the alternator have anything to do with starting the car?
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98 Ranger 4.0..4WD ex CabXLT Automatic..started the engine yesterday and my charge light came on and stayed on. Checked the guage and it showed no charging and then slowly began to charge and the light went out. If I rev the engine above 2,000RPM's the charge needle starts to drop but if I keep RPM's below 2,000 charging is okay. Is this the sign of a failing alternator? The belt only has about 20,000 miles on it and tension seems oksy
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I came out from work this afternoon to a dead battery in my '99 Taurus. I saw nothing left turned on. I got a jump and went to Autozone two miles away. By that time there was enough charge to restart the car. My battery checked good, but they said the car had a 4-1/2 amp draw when it was shut off. The alternator still put out over 60 amps when reved up. That's good. Can a bad alternator on a modern car run the battery down? I know the old ones did sometimes, but I thought they "fixed" that aspect of them several years ago.
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I had a battery light come on and saw the alt wasnt charging my battery. So, I replaced the alt with a rebuilt hitachi. Well it was charging at 14.10 and thought all was well til I went out this weekend and was stranded. Tested the alt with my voltmeter and sometimes its 14 and sometimes the battery drops below 12. I charged the battery up overnight and its holding a good charge. I REALLY dont wanna drop this alternator out again so is there anything else I should check? Im getting the battery tested anyway.
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I am having a charging system issue. The alternator is making barley over 12 volts. With KOEO the battery light on the instrument cluster does not come on. I have already replaced both batteries and the alternator -before i noticed the battery light is not coming on.
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Battery symbol light appeared on dash, After determining battery was good, I removed alternator and took it to have it bench tested at the parts store. It tested bad so I purchased a rebuilt alternator and had it bench tested before I left the store and it tested good. I installed it and it won't charge the battery. Tried a new battery...same thing. I tested the voltage at the battery and it reads 12.3 and the same with engine running. Engine runs until battery is drained. I removed the alternator and took it to a different store and they bench tested it good also!
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After changing my dead alternator and resulting dead battery, I am having what seems to be electrical issues with my 2.8L VR6.
Neither of my keys can unlock or lock the car remotely and when I try to start the car, all the regular lights turn on in the dash, but the engine dosn't make a sound. Inside the car there is no power apart form the gauges, no windows, no AC, no sunroof, nothing. I have checked the fuses, unplugged the battery and plugged it back in, even changed the batteries in my keys to make sure that they weren't out, and nothing works. I have also tried to reprogram both keys and neither of them unlock the doors.
I think that it might have something to do with the anti-theft system, since I didn't touch anything while changing out the alternator.
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My car is a 2.0 AEG manual for reference.
So, my alternator died last night and when I changed it this morning, I fired her up and now when I turn my light switch one click I can see my high beam light illuminated on the dash. If I have the switch on any setting, it's illuminated but no lights are on out front except the dtr lights. Turn signals work fine and so do the brake/tail lights. I checked the fuses for both low/high beams but they were fine. I saw someone mention an ignition switch while I was searching but I'd rather get other opinions whether it is that or not.
Edit: My original test drive the car ran fine minus the headlight issue. But upon driving it through the city when I was coming to a stop at a redlight the battery light came back on and it died. It fired right back up and barely made it across the street to a parking lot before it died again. It'll fire up but won't stay on. On my way to an parts store for charging system check.
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Reprogramming my key for my 1999 mk4 jetta. Recently the battery died on one of my key fobs and the other fob that i have has been dead since i bought the car. i put new batteries in them both now. I have one flip key and the only other key i have is the valet key. How I could re program my fobs?
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My neighbor's kids truck battery drains from full charge to "no start" in 1-2 days. 1999 Ford F-150 w/ 4.6L engine. He has already.....
1) Replaced the Battery.
2) Replaced the GEM module.
3) Replaced the Turn Signal Relay.
He did all this before I looked at it....
I checked the following....
1) Truck off, doors closed, hood open... Amp meter shows 3.6 amp draw. When 1st hooked up, shows 4.2 amps... after a while drops to 3.6.
2) To isolate the draw, we pulled fuses while checking current draw at battery.
a) Under Dash fuse Panel. (Yes, with door closed) We remove fuse #15 "stop lamp switch, speed control, brake shift interlock, ABS, PCM,GEM, RABS test connector". (Really... couldn't be more stuff?)
b)Under the hood is another fuse box (drivers side). We remove Fuse #103. "Junction Block Battery Feed".
3) Found that if we remove the #15 fuse under the dash with the door opens, all interior lights flash on/off at about 1 second intervals... weird.
4) Again, another weird one... with the fuse #15 removed and door closed, the "ABS" indicator and some other indicators and dash lights are staying partially lit... not fully lit.
5) The only "aftermarket" stuff i can see is a dealer installed trailer brake system. Wiring looks professional and disconnecting it does not remove the amperage drain.
I'm hoping that one of you wizards will give me the "slam dunk"... if this happens, it must be that. Can I be so lucky? And, yes. I have my own '06 F-150 that i absolutely love. 6-cyl., manual trans, stripped down without even power door locks... my kinda technology.
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My 2006 F250 has a single alternator and recently the charge light is on intermittently and I have watched output voltage fluctuate between 12.4 to 13.5 ... sometime a .3 volt bounce one way or another for no noticeable reason.
So rather than buy a new alternator, I would like to replace the voltage regulator and put in some new brushes.
What are part numbers that I need to pick up?
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I had a rebuilt alternator installed on Thursday and for the past two days when I start up the car there is a high pitch whine coming from what I believe is the alternator. Do some rebuilt alternators make noise when charging the batter after start-up? The alternator has a 3-year warranty and I'm going back to the shop tomorrow.
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