How frustrating!

D

DJ 190

A2OC Donor
Well, I don't have an A2 anymore, but my Partner does! It's a 1.4 l petrol. We were out in it on Friday and when returning, the red "battery" light came on. Occasionally it would go off, briefly but come on again. The lights got dimmer and then the power-steering started to fail, but we did make it back home. I charged the battery overnight but next day the battery warning light was still on. The alternator belt was fine and the alternator was rotating. The plug onto the alternator was firmly in place. I surmised that it was simply an alternator problem and so I was going to see if "Clackers" (Andy) might have an alternator for sale but I didn't do that immediately. I'm then informed that it's been taken out of my hands and my Lady has booked it into a nearby garage to be done on Monday! "They said that they'll do it on the Monday" she said. "No way" I replied ...."They'll be charging you for a new alternator and a few £££'s labour" No amount of persuasion would get her to change her mind. (I'd shown her where the alternator was positioned and how accessible it was) I can't tell you how frustrating that was because I KNOW how easy it would have been to put this right! So Monday comes and goes .... no progress with the car. Tuesday, ditto! Today, 16:30 hrs, shes informed that they've STARTED it, but have had to remove the bumper!!! REALLY???? I told that "It's MY car and it's MY money" but I just hate to see her exploited over something which I know I could have sorted out! Taken to an extreme, it's like a garage tells a customer that they had to take the engine out of the car to change the oil! Incidentally, could it have been something as simple as worn carbon brushes costing pennies? Are they a separate Audi part?
I'd appreciate the clubs input regarding what I've had to say .... Is there ANY justification in removing that front bumper to do this job? Am I correct in thinking that this is a pretty straightforward task? Was I correct in thinking that it might only require some some worn parts of the alternator to be replaced and not the complete unit? I'm looking forward to reading your comments .....

David
 
Evening David,

I cannot speak on behalf of the club but as an individual, I did replace the alternator on my old commuter (2003 1.4 BBY). It was a straight forward task from memory which certainly didn't require me to remove the bumper. Again this is from memory, take the slack up on the auxiliary belt and remove it then unbolt the alternator. Its was a few years ago but quite sure it really was that simple, the preparatory tasks were to of course disconnect the battery I think but again this is from memory but sure it is good practice to do so. I'm sure others who are way more mechanical minded will add comment soon enough.

Cannot assist with possible repair parts or procedures though. I simply sent my failed alternator away and got a shiny refurbished one in return from a company in the West Midlands.

Workshop manual guide.

Kind regards,

Tom
 
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2work said:
Evening David,

I cannot speak on behalf of the club but as an individual, I did replace the alternator on my old commuter (2003 1.4 BBY). It was a straight forward task from memory which certainly didn't require me to remove the bumper. Again this is from memory, take the slack up on the auxiliary belt and remove it then unbolt the alternator. Its was a few years ago but quite sure it really was that simple, the preparatory tasks were to of course disconnect the battery I think but again this is from memory but sure it is good practice to do so. I'm sure others who are way more mechanical minded will add comment soon enough.

Cannot assist with possible repair parts or procedures though. I simply sent my failed alternator away and got a shiny refurbished one in return from a company in the West Midlands.

Workshop manual guide.

Kind regards,

Tom
Click to expand...
You are 100% correct Tom, I have changed 3 there is no point in removing the bumper at all, just the black plastic drain cup above headlight & oil filler housing to get the alternator out of the car.
 
Could there also be a corroded earth in the mixture as part of the problem?

It's also plausible that they needed to take the bumper (and most of the rest of the front off) off for access to the alternator because on an A2 the bonnet is permanently fixed and not intended for the use of amateurs. (!)

Best of luck!
 
Almost certainly what is/was required is a new regulator unit for the alternator, which includes new brushes. About £30. Easy to change with a few basic tools. Does the garage know what they are doing?

RAB
 
Robin_Cox said:
Could there also be a corroded earth in the mixture as part of the problem?

It's also plausible that they needed to take the bumper (and most of the rest of the front off) off for access to the alternator because on an A2 the bonnet is permanently fixed and not intended for the use of amateurs. (!)

Best of luck!
Click to expand...
Bonnet permanently fixed???
 
All the best of luck, let us know the outcome of the realtionship and the the grage work of course...feel your pain.
 
Removing the front bumper would give no better access than with it in situ. If they felt that they needed to remove the front panel to remove the alternator then they really shouldn’t be working on cars.
 
The phone rang .... I overhear that the car is ready and repaired. I don't know the cost and probably will not be told. All I heard was thanks being given for its repair, so maybe it wasn't an exorbitant amount? It's just the frustration of it being taken completely out of my hands! Oh well, lets just move on and "keep the peace" I do miss this fine club, that's for sure ... A future purchase of an A2? Well it would be a really superb PETROL A2 with a unique interior. Full votex kit .... THEN I'd convert it to run on LPG (I've just finished the conversion of my Mercedes SLK to run on that fuel) OR maybe an electric conversion? Incidentally, examples of the vehicle that I purchased as a replacement for the A2, a Dacia Sandero Bi-fuel,are currently being sold used with 2-5,000 miles on the clock for over £3000 more than the new price! Yes, that's true and it has been in the press a few weeks ago. (Just look on Ebay or Autotrader) Amazing! Without doubt, this is the best Forum that I've ever been part of. Thanks, Guys and Gals!

David
 
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Brennybear said:
Bonnet permanently fixed???
Click to expand...
Haven't you noticed this foible of our cars?

Only specialist Aluminium repair centres can open the bonnet - they use a tool a bit like a key from a Frey Bentos can that doubles up for manual opening of the OSS. Just remember before you try to do this you also need to code the CanBus to the CCCU by holding the Recirculation, Windscreen defrost and the petrol flap emergency release together for ten seconds, whereupon the display changes and you get access to a secret mode with all of the functionality you normally only get with a full garage master copy of VCDS available at your fingertips in the climate control system. This is also a quick way to adapt the throttle body on Tdi models, but doesn't work for everyone.
 
Sometimes when you see just how badly things are bodged I wish the bonnet really was sealed. Remember the A2 was sold at a financial loss to Audi so the more money they gained after the sale was to their advantage and dealer servicing is a very profitable way to do it.
 
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