Battery warning light permanently on

U

unipower

Member
This morning, after second start of the day, the battery warning light on the dash stayed on. No history of problems with this (no intermittent indications).
Checked Poly-V belt still in place & tight; connections to alternator OK, battery eye Green.
Checked battery voltage engine off=12.5V; drops to 12.1-12.2V with engine running at speed (2500rpm). Leads to conclusion that charging circuit not functioning.
Presumably alternator itself or voltage regulator on the back of it is at fault.
I can book the vehicle in to local Audi (Kent); or try an independent for fault code diagnosis(Vehicle does not have DIS).
Is the diagnostic system likely to tell me more?
I could remove the alternator and do a simple brush check.
Vehicle (1.6FSi) has done 50 000 miles and is 5 years old.
Anyone have any experience/insights on this problem, please?
 
Alternator problems are pretty rare, but do occur and obviously, it looks like you have encountered one.

A scan would possibly determine if the alternator or regulator was at fault but the best bet would be to swap out the components - do be careful though - I almost welded a socket to the engine casing once on my A2!

Cheers,

Mike
 
Just to give feedback and close-out on this:-
Problem was in the alternator.
Didn't find out whether it was windings/brushes/regulator.
Replaced & car now OK.
One note of warning: if the battery voltage does get too low, all manner of warnings display (ABS, Power Steering...) and in the end the steering power assistance is lost. Luckily I was only 200 metres from home!
I was caught out by this because my battery charger had an intermittent mains lead fault so I wasn't consistently re-charging the battery.
 
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