sorry i know its about a VW, but...its my new winter car...and today i was driving to the mall, and the heater, and stereo started to lose power and shut down, then eventually the whole car shut down (electrical).....and wouldn't start

so obviously my alternator must have gone right? but the battery light never came on. i know it works, because it lights up when i put the ignition to "on"...isn't the battery light supposed to come on when the alternator fails?

sorry bout the question but u guys can forgive me right?

 

well, i don't have an answer. but i am glad that it's not just rx-7's have have crappy luck like that. ha ha ha

 

It's volkswagen.

 

ya well i was typing in a hurry...i don't spend time making sure that my posts related to my gay *** winter car is spelled correctly. check all my other posts. haha

 

Verify that ALL electrical wires to the alternator are good, tight and dry. Give them a good pull to verify that they haven't rusted through.

Unfortunately, you were running off just the battery, so you probably killed it by draining it. Try to recharge it as soon as possible and it should last you the winter.

If ALL the wires are good, remove the alternator and take it to your local auto parts store for free testing.

This happened to me and the mechanic tried to sell me a whole new altenator but he didn't have it in stock. So he recharged my battery and I managed a 90 minute drive back home. I then had a local garage find and replace the wire. The battery eventually died within 6 months.

 

excellent answer! i never really thought of the wires going bad. the car is an '87 so this is very possible. thanks again

nick

 

well, if anyone cares anyways...an update

it was the belt. great, right? not really

i told the mechanic to simply "diagnose" the problem, and came back 3 hours later...he tells me the car is ready and hands me a bill for $95. $55 for labour, and $20 something for a belt. he figured i'd be happy as a pig in ****...well not really, i mean I COULD HAVE CHANGED THE BELT MYSELF!!

oh well, at least it wasn't something worse

nick

 

Next time open the hood???

 

don't think a belt would be hard to miss... no?

 

the belt wasn't making any noise at all, and it was intact when i looked at it. im not THAT stupid. oh well

 

What year/type was it?

 

87 jetta gl

 

Oh I had the exact same one. Man I loved that thing!

 

Y would the bill be 95 dollars when the bill totaled 75?, and I have a 2001 VW Jetta and its a piece of **** also. Good luck with that thing

 

Oh well. Had I gotten to the thread earlier my reply would have been:

"My Shadow did the same thing.. stuff slowly dying off. Definitely means some kind of alt problem. Check the wiring of the alt, clean your battery terminals, and check the belt for the alt. You can also probably bring the battery and alt to get tested at a local shop if you can't find anything else wrong, they'll usually do it for free if you take the parts out yourself."

Anyhoo, you fixed it, so at least next time you know that it's better to spend some time freezing your *** off and diagnosing than to trust it to stupid mechanics... grrr.. I only have *one* I trust, and he doesn't treat me like an idiot.

Jon

 

man i just wanted the guy to diagnose the problem...i guess he thought i'd be happy with the bill.

$55 plus $20 was just a guess, plus tax (15%) came to $95.

funny thing is i gave him 5 20's, and he gave me $15 change. haha. i left the shop ASAP...

AND!!! lol tody i opened the hood to adjust the clutch, and found that the mechanic forgot a HUGE pry bar under there. i guess it was an early christmas present to me!!

so really the job was $85, minus a $20 pry bar = $55. and the belt would have cost about $30 anyways!!! so really it really wasn't all that bad....

too bad i can't say the same for my previous winter car, the 1991 honda civic, and the 2 '86 honda crx's, i bought in the meantime trying to find the perfect winter car....spent a total of $2000 in the last 2 months, and now have 4 cars.....3 are for sale!!!

nick

 

Now please learn how to post in the correct forum. Next time try here:
https://www.rx7club.com/automotive-news-lounge-22/

 

ya i know, i just thought i'd rather share with all the people im gettin' to know around the 1st gen. forum. good bunch of people here, i don't get the same vibes from the other forums.

i'll never talk about stupid volkswagens again

can't wait for my new 1st gen

nick

 

Hey Nick, I was just messin with ya...Good luck with everything!