Hi,
just thought I would share me experiences of what I now know to be a long running charging isssue. My 2002 3.2s gets mainly weekend use like many others but it has always avoided those common non crank starting issues that seam to be posted here often, along with advice on trickle chargers.
However some 18 months ago I stated it to drive the 25 miles to work on a week day for a change, having got to the office the gate house I switch off to open the gate only to find that once back in the car the battery would not even turn the engine over. The RAC were called and I made a few calls to local outlets re a new Bosch battery as I new it was the original unit, the RAC confirmed it was the battery and the charging was fine, they pick up the new Bosch Silverline battery for me and fitted it.
Anyway 18 months passed with no problems but with very little use approximate 3k. When I started to notice that maybe was it was just a little slower turning over in the morning but as it always started fine I put this down to needing a good run. With that in mind I took it for longer run, on the way back I started getting message on the dash ie psm and abs but no battery light, so pulled over thinking a restart may clear the faults down, fatal mistake, as soon as I tried to restart I had that flat battery feeling again. Car was jump started and I drove the final ten minutes home with out event with me thinking it nuts be charging ok. Late the same day I checked the charging and all checked out fine approximate 14 volts and stable, so put this down to a faulty battery as before, the supplier changed it without hesitation.
A month or two later and again I started to get that low battery feeling again. Being an ex Technician many years back I decided to at least try and diagnose what was going on, so out came the volt meter etc. After a few checks what became apparent was that if you check the alternator charging voltage after starting all was fine but if you left the meter on for 10 or 15 minutes the voltage would very very slowly drop until it was not charging at all.
A bit of web research later and I had had the shock of the price of a new alternator replacement cost,even a euro carparts exchange unit was £400 with a £150 surcharge. During this research I had found post about Audi and VW technicians finding similar very slow drops in charging voltage.one or two had had some success changing the charging regulator for approx £35, a bit more research and I found that a few US Boxster owners had had the same issue and had source regulators from various US auto electrical agents to cure. My trouble was in the UK I was really struggling to find anyone to supple a regulator and was even considering approaching Audi as it turns out the alternator is the same as the units on TT models. I then had a stroke of luck and found woodauto.com who have a brilliant website for this sort of thing, a quick phone call later and a regulators was on order, it arrived next day. Now removing the alternator is at first glance not and easy task but after a bit of research and effort it was out and the regulators changed and the unit refitted. The moment of truth with my volt meter at the ready and even after half an hour the charging was nice and high and stable. So with a bit of effort and a lot of research my £500 is still in my pocket (not including fitting charges which would have has a 100 or two hundred pounds) I can't praise wood auto who have been trading in Huddersfield for 80 years enough. I would advise any other owners who are having starting charging issue to have there charging output tested for at least half an hour or at least a retest after this time without switching the engine off.
Regards mic
just thought I would share me experiences of what I now know to be a long running charging isssue. My 2002 3.2s gets mainly weekend use like many others but it has always avoided those common non crank starting issues that seam to be posted here often, along with advice on trickle chargers.
However some 18 months ago I stated it to drive the 25 miles to work on a week day for a change, having got to the office the gate house I switch off to open the gate only to find that once back in the car the battery would not even turn the engine over. The RAC were called and I made a few calls to local outlets re a new Bosch battery as I new it was the original unit, the RAC confirmed it was the battery and the charging was fine, they pick up the new Bosch Silverline battery for me and fitted it.
Anyway 18 months passed with no problems but with very little use approximate 3k. When I started to notice that maybe was it was just a little slower turning over in the morning but as it always started fine I put this down to needing a good run. With that in mind I took it for longer run, on the way back I started getting message on the dash ie psm and abs but no battery light, so pulled over thinking a restart may clear the faults down, fatal mistake, as soon as I tried to restart I had that flat battery feeling again. Car was jump started and I drove the final ten minutes home with out event with me thinking it nuts be charging ok. Late the same day I checked the charging and all checked out fine approximate 14 volts and stable, so put this down to a faulty battery as before, the supplier changed it without hesitation.
A month or two later and again I started to get that low battery feeling again. Being an ex Technician many years back I decided to at least try and diagnose what was going on, so out came the volt meter etc. After a few checks what became apparent was that if you check the alternator charging voltage after starting all was fine but if you left the meter on for 10 or 15 minutes the voltage would very very slowly drop until it was not charging at all.
A bit of web research later and I had had the shock of the price of a new alternator replacement cost,even a euro carparts exchange unit was £400 with a £150 surcharge. During this research I had found post about Audi and VW technicians finding similar very slow drops in charging voltage.one or two had had some success changing the charging regulator for approx £35, a bit more research and I found that a few US Boxster owners had had the same issue and had source regulators from various US auto electrical agents to cure. My trouble was in the UK I was really struggling to find anyone to supple a regulator and was even considering approaching Audi as it turns out the alternator is the same as the units on TT models. I then had a stroke of luck and found woodauto.com who have a brilliant website for this sort of thing, a quick phone call later and a regulators was on order, it arrived next day. Now removing the alternator is at first glance not and easy task but after a bit of research and effort it was out and the regulators changed and the unit refitted. The moment of truth with my volt meter at the ready and even after half an hour the charging was nice and high and stable. So with a bit of effort and a lot of research my £500 is still in my pocket (not including fitting charges which would have has a 100 or two hundred pounds) I can't praise wood auto who have been trading in Huddersfield for 80 years enough. I would advise any other owners who are having starting charging issue to have there charging output tested for at least half an hour or at least a retest after this time without switching the engine off.
Regards mic
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