georgem Posted June 20, 2005 Report Posted June 20, 2005 today when the wife took the car out (sharan 1.9 tdi 110 carat 1998) she said that none of the instruments were working on her outward journey (5 miles).when she got back in the car the speedo, rev counter, airbag lights etc were going crazy, flicking on and off etc.when i come home and got in the car all seemed ok apart from the airbag light staying on. on further investigation the car shows no battery light at all, starts up revving at 850 rpm for about 10 seconds, rising to 1050 rpm and idling there. the airbag light stays on.the battery shows 12.25 volts when switched off and then shows 12.11 when the car is running, also when you switch off the alternator sounds like it is still spinning internally for about 10 seconds.i know this points to alternator failure, but my question is, would this account for the airbag light staying on, and why is there no battery light at all, wouldn't it light up if it wasn't charging?thanks george Quote
Ivor_E_Tower Posted June 20, 2005 Report Posted June 20, 2005 Duff alternators can cause strange things to happen - find a good auto electricians soon and get the car (battery, alternator etc) checked out. Quote
Masked Marauder Posted June 20, 2005 Report Posted June 20, 2005 i know this points to alternator failure, but my question is, would this account for the airbag light staying on, and why is there no battery light at all, wouldn't it light up if it wasn't charging?thanks george The airbag light will light and stay on if the battery voltage is too low. Once the battery voltage is up it will go off, the fault will be loggged in the software. There has been people with sudden charging faults before and they turned out to be a faulty connector in the main junction box near the battery. But if I were you I would be looking at earthing points. Quote
Andrew T Posted June 21, 2005 Report Posted June 21, 2005 I've had similar problems but not identical. Didn't lose the instruments. Battery light came on at startup, but went out with the engine running. Quote
georgem Posted June 21, 2005 Author Report Posted June 21, 2005 got a new alternator fitted today, this has solved the idling speed being too high, the charging voltage is now a healthy 14.50 volts across the battery terminals and the car is running perfectly again.the only remaining problem is the airbag light staying on, will this need resetting by a vw dealer Quote
johnb80 Posted June 22, 2005 Report Posted June 22, 2005 today when the wife took the car out (sharan 1.9 tdi 110 carat 1998) she said that none of the instruments were working on her outward journey (5 miles).when she got back in the car the speedo, rev counter, airbag lights etc were going crazy, flicking on and off etc.when i come home and got in the car all seemed ok apart from the airbag light staying on. on further investigation the car shows no battery light at all, starts up revving at 850 rpm for about 10 seconds, rising to 1050 rpm and idling there. the airbag light stays on.the battery shows 12.25 volts when switched off and then shows 12.11 when the car is running, also when you switch off the alternator sounds like it is still spinning internally for about 10 seconds.i know this points to alternator failure, but my question is, would this account for the airbag light staying on, and why is there no battery light at all, wouldn't it light up if it wasn't charging?thanks george Check the bulb in the battery charge indicator. The bulb is part of the circuit that starts the charging process. Another quick test is to rev the engine to the red line momentarily this usually will kick start the charging process and it will then continue until the next time you switch off. Try the rev test first and measure the battery voltage after to see if it's charging if it does then you have a duff bulb / wiring / or possibly the alternator control unit. Regards - JB Quote
seatkid Posted June 22, 2005 Report Posted June 22, 2005 ???? he fixed it john :) ....pay attention.... ;) Quote
johnb80 Posted June 22, 2005 Report Posted June 22, 2005 Sorry Seatkid, missed that one, full my self impotence Quote
Masked Marauder Posted June 22, 2005 Report Posted June 22, 2005 the only remaining problem is the airbag light staying on, will this need resetting by a vw dealer Or someone with VAG-COM. If you say where you are located someone may offer their help. Quote
georgem Posted June 23, 2005 Author Report Posted June 23, 2005 im in liverpool m8, and thanks to everyone who has helped so far. Quote
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