Alternator gone! Experiences?

[mrmule]

So I gather 'spirited driving' is the term, and I was taking the Basildon turn off on the A13 and hacked it around the 1st exit lane off the round about and... BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! Oh crap I thought, please dont let it be the 'box, please please please....

I was stuck in gear but weirdly had power. So I limped to the nearest carpark, and called Grizz. Cheers again Grizz. Off and on, and all working fine. However voltmeter reading about 11.5V (should be 14.1 I think), plus battery light is on. Grizz said either the belt has come off the alternator or the alternator itself has gone. The way to tell is whether one still has power steering, which I did. Alternator I guess.

Quick call the Audi dealer (mates with the manager ), alternator for cost, 170 plus the VAT. Getting it fitted on Monday.

Apparently quite unheard of. Experiences?

[grizz]

I've only fitted 2 in the last 2 years. !!

[turbonutter68]

Failure seems quite common at 70-80K. £170 is cheap as I paid about £260 plus VAT.Plus fitting of course.Not far short of £600 in total.

[mrmule]

friends in the right places 50 quid to fit...

[el_ringo]

My car had one replaced just before I bought it in May 06 (53 plate)

[ecain63]

Yup. £550 - £600 to fit and make sure they don't upset the coolant hoses while they do it. Mine was a very expensive repair in the end!! Intercooler, hoses, alternator, etc = £2k +.

[mrmule]

Yup. £550 - £600 to fit and make sure they don't upset the coolant hoses while they do it. Mine was a very expensive repair in the end!! Intercooler, hoses, alternator, etc = £2k +.

warrenty?

[ecain63]

Yeah, they paid up with no questions asked. I only had to fork out for the hoses and fluids. Warranty Direct!

[mrmule]

??? I just dont know what to do about a warrenty. some say it aint worth the paper its written on unless its audi, and audi want thousands. wheres the trade off? i called audi in guildford yesterday querying a cam belt change on my 6, and he told me about a warrenty which is sort of in between... info is in the post, but sounded much more reasonable at about 900 for 3 years subject to health check etc. will have to see exactly what it covers.

[ecain63]

Yeah, make sure you check it with a fine toothed comb. They usually say, 'if its a part named in the book then we cover it'. Which means the part actually has to be named in the book.

[jd_hants]

Yep my battery light came on in the outside lane of the M25 followed 20 seconds later my blackpool illuminations followed 5 seconds later by engine stopping. Luckily only trundling along!!! Police had to stop traffic with rolling roadblock whilst got car over 4 lanes and a slipway. Then AA man came and said it was alternator. Then had to wait for AA relay. Got home 5 hours after breaking down!!!! Cost at Audi £697 inc VAT!!!!!!!

[mrmule]

Well fortunately I had enough juice to limp home, until (literally outside my house) everything just completely died. Back to warrenty, I'm gonna post another thread about it shortly post conversation with Audi...

[hollans09]

I had the same issue with loss of power under acceleration followed by warning lights and battery light. Recovered to Audi who initially diagnosed battery fault (£320) and then just as I was due to pick it up they claimed alternator needed changing (£1000)!

[mrmule]

I had the same issue with loss of power under acceleration followed by warning lights and battery light. Recovered to Audi who initially diagnosed battery fault (£320) and then just as I was due to pick it up they claimed alternator needed changing (£1000)!

Bloody hell mate. I'm slowly beginning to loath Audi for exploiting the undiscerning..

[mrmule]

I've only fitted 2 in the last 2 years. !!

Grizz, thanks again for the pointers this evening. Youre a top bloke.

When is good to come up for the work then next week?