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RAC and Garage diagnosis not quite the same
I had an issue with my car, a VW golf. I had a flat battery, I got a jump start and it was Ok for a couple of days and then it was dead again, and wouldn’t even jump start.
I had to call the RAC who diagnosed a fault on the battery and a problem on the alternator (an open diode for the technical minded). It’s still under warranty, the VW garage did their check and found a fault with the battery, but no problem with the alternator.
They have replaced the battery under warranty but I still have a concern about the alternator. The garage say that their test equipment is more effective than the RAC test that picked up the alternator issue.
A couple of things, if the alternator is going to cause issue, does anyone know how long those might take to manifest themselves, or is that "how long is a piece of string".
The garage said they could check the alternator at the next service, unfortunately that service will be when the car is outside the warranty.
I’m thinking of getting another test done on the alternator to see if it does have an issue. As a person who travels alone a lot, I am concerned that it’s going to let me down again.
Any thoughts?
I had to call the RAC who diagnosed a fault on the battery and a problem on the alternator (an open diode for the technical minded). It’s still under warranty, the VW garage did their check and found a fault with the battery, but no problem with the alternator.
They have replaced the battery under warranty but I still have a concern about the alternator. The garage say that their test equipment is more effective than the RAC test that picked up the alternator issue.
A couple of things, if the alternator is going to cause issue, does anyone know how long those might take to manifest themselves, or is that "how long is a piece of string".
The garage said they could check the alternator at the next service, unfortunately that service will be when the car is outside the warranty.
I’m thinking of getting another test done on the alternator to see if it does have an issue. As a person who travels alone a lot, I am concerned that it’s going to let me down again.
Any thoughts?
0
Comments
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Borrow a voltmeter/multimeter and measure across the terminals with the engine running. If the alternator is charging OK, the voltage will be at least 13.5v but not more than 14.5v. If the voltage is around 12v then you have a faulty alternator.0
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If there's an open diode then the regulation will be sub-optimal. A digital multimeter (set to DC voltage measurement) may not show this very well (albeit the measured average DC voltage would probably be lower than normal) ... an analogue (dial) voltmeter would show a pulsing measurement, which would back-up the assessment of a blown diode.0
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