first major problem since ownership

[RS6JJL]

Well three months ago i go to start the car from my house and get nothing, it tries to start but its dead, volts are way down, car is stuck on the driveway

I call out AA, they get it going by jumping the battery, she lives battery charges once driven all seems ok

Next day i book it in at a VAG specialist they spend all day testing the battery and alternator, they can't see anything wrong with it battery holding charge, nothing wrong starts first time every time

Tonight its on the drive way again i go to move it totally dead, not even central locking light flashes

I've checked through the paperwork new battery and last year new alternator at unit 20

i know the alternator is prone to failure on these cars, but really after a year?

[JCviggen]

If the alternator would be the issue you should've noticed that before you turned it off last time (you would've gotten MIL + Battery light on the dash)

When the alternator craps out you'd still be able to start the car just fine...and drive it, until the batt runs out. If it's really dead now then the battery is dead. Why or how is another question but you really can't miss it when the alternator gives up.

[RS6JJL]

just checked the battery, it still has charge, its water under the wipers thats got built up to much rain! im stuck with a dead car that needs to be towed

[chunky79]

You will have a dead drivetrain if you tow the car. Is your battery under the bonnet then?
When you say the battery has charge, have you just done a quick test with a multimeter or done a voltage drop test? You could be showing around 12v but have very low ampage.

[Shoppinit]

I have batteries go harikari less than a year after I bought them. Swap the battery with another one to see if that's the problem.

Was it a new alternator or a recon one?

[mavada]

i got it twice since the new Varta battery, battery light came up...its fine now for weeks...
Annoying thing is i keep looking at the volt gauge instead of the speedo...

[RS6JJL]

thanks for help guys, its getting trailered away tomorrow, no battery is in the boot its showing half charge and good voltage, i drained loads of water from and around the coolant bottle and along the scuttle area, loads with a dish cloth (half a bucket) and sucked up yet more water with a pipe, I couldn't see any drainage holes around that area, is the box top left the ecu box, checked inside all dry

as i don't have use of another car,hopefully its something simple, i have drained all the water that was built up, speaking to my mechanic friend he thinks it could be a bad earth, unlikey to be water build up, but i really don't know, its stuck in park so going to be a mission to move it tomorrow have to get trolleys under all four wheels

[mik15]

there is a drainage hole but it gets stuffed with debris....that could be your problem because you have some wires going from the battery to the starter in there and if they were under water this is what might've happened...

[RS6JJL]

wow look at the state of that, i would not be surprised if mine is the same tbh

is that underneath the black box in the left corner? where can i find that? please help anyone!

[mik15]

not sure how it is for the RHD cars in UK, but i am pretty sure is the same, it is located somewhere under the cooling liquid tank...

[RS6JJL]

Just thought i would do an update here be warned people check your drains!

Yes its underneath the coolant bottle, the battery terminal from the boot, it was full up to the brim with water down there, both drains were blocked, the positive lead from the battery had snapped off, hense the dead car!! i managed to get the cable reattached, and drained out a full buckets worth of rain water!! after reconnecting it started first time!

its in the garage now for the drains to be fully unblocked, new battery terminal fitted new fuses etc, and the cable sorted out!

so glad i found it!

[mik15]

glad you sorted out, a routine check from now on will also help avoiding this from happening again in the future! Did you fix it yourself or you went to the dealer?

[RS6JJL]

Took it to a garage who replaced the terminal section totally and rewired the cable

thanks for posting this saved the day, the terminal is found underneath the coolant bottle not that black box for anyone looking for it

[chunky79]

So this is the place you can jump start the car then if you can't get in the boot. First time i have seen the pic, good work.

[swannny]

I was just thinking the same thing! Just realised I didn't put the car on a battery conditioner, when I go to start it in feb/march time, I may have to use this picture!

Bams story still makes me chuckle about trying to get into the boot to jump the car!!