alternator issue - advise?

Sesshoumaru

Hi, just looking for some advise from the experts here!

I have a 2000 A6 Avant Quattro Sport 2.5TDI. The alternator went on this car and the mechanic I took it to replaced the alternator for me. The alternator that went in was brand new, but was not an OEM part from Audi as far as I know. A few months later this alternator went again and my mechanic replaced it for me again, at no charge to me. I was told this was also a brand new alternator and not a repair on the previous one.

Today I dropped the car off at my mechanic again as I am convinced the alternator is on the way out again. All the lights inside the car and the dim/head lights all dim and brighten continuously. The flicker is most notable when you start the car first thing in the morning, but persists throughout the day. Last time it went like this, the flickering of the lights gradually got worse and worse until I started hearing various clicking noises from behind the dash each morning as the electronics went crazy. Last time the mechanic also replaced my battery for me as the other one had been damaged by too much voltage being sent to it by the alternator.

This morning my mechanic kept telling me he was going to drop the car to the "alternator guy" and have him look at it. My mechanic started telling me stuff like "the warranty is with the alternator guy" etc. It's fairly obvious he is trying to lay the ground work for me to accept it's nothing to do with him and that I have to deal with the alternator guy who is probably at best only going to offer me another new alternator, I doubt he would cover the cost of installing the alternator.

Can anyone offer me any advise on what could be causing the alternator to go? Is it just a case of a bad batch of alternators? Could my car have some other problem that causes the flicker in the lights to gradually get worse and worse? and ultimately who should be sorting this out for me? I'm not a lawyer, but shouldn't my contract be with the guy who did the work? not his parts supplier? Thanks!

CarMuppet

Without seeing your car, I'd advise you to change your mechanic not alternator for a start.


A good mechanic (esp a car sparkiy) should have this nailed down pretty quick.. again without seeing the car it could be one of the following:

- Wrong alternator fitted by mechanic.
- Loose earth/ground straps (any gearbox/clutch work done on car recently?)
- Damaged wiring loom.
- High resistance / faulty main relay.
- Bad aftermarket wiring performed on car (eg fog lights, stereo, amplifier, phone etc etc).

Out of interest, any performance work done on car like an underdrive pulley etc?

Best of luck,
CM

Sesshoumaru

CarMuppet wrote: »

Without seeing your car, I'd advise you to change your mechanic not alternator for a start.


A good mechanic (esp a car sparkiy) should have this nailed down pretty quick.. again without seeing the car it could be one of the following:

- Wrong alternator fitted by mechanic.
- Loose earth/ground straps (any gearbox/clutch work done on car recently?)
- Damaged wiring loom.
- High resistance / faulty main relay.
- Bad aftermarket wiring performed on car (eg fog lights, stereo, amplifier, phone etc etc).

Out of interest, any performance work done on car like an underdrive pulley etc?

Best of luck,
CM

Thanks for the advise. As far as I know there are no performance modifications done to the car. Just wondering do you have any recommendations for a mechanic in the Dublin area?

CarMuppet

Sesshoumaru wrote: »

Thanks for the advise. As far as I know there are no performance modifications done to the car. Just wondering do you have any recommendations for a mechanic in the Dublin area?

Sorry I'm afraid not, I'm living in Cork at the moment so I can't recommend anyone in Dublin. Hopefully someone here will reply and recommened an Audi indy mechanic for you.

You could try the goldenpages and try a local auto electrician?

Best of luck with your car, hope you get it sorted soon.

Cheers,
Michael

500sel

"Can anyone offer me any advise on what could be causing the alternator to go?"
I wouldn't go blaming your mechanic just yet, a lot of autosparks are selling cheap sh*te alternators that are causing garages alot of grief. Find out what make alternator it is, if it is Bosch valeo or Lucas it would be ASSUMED it is good quality replacement. Perhaps your mechanic is at fault, But if it's his supplier at fault it would be unfair to blame him only.

Sesshoumaru

500sel wrote: »

"Can anyone offer me any advise on what could be causing the alternator to go?"
I wouldn't go blaming your mechanic just yet, a lot of autosparks are selling cheap sh*te alternators that are causing garages alot of grief. Find out what make alternator it is, if it is Bosch valeo or Lucas it would be ASSUMED it is good quality replacement. Perhaps your mechanic is at fault, But if it's his supplier at fault it would be unfair to blame him only.

I'm not blaming the mechanic yet. I got annoyed that the problem was being referred to another person/company that I had never dealt with. That is the part that really annoyed me.

In the end he got the alternator checked for me and looked at it himself as well. He assures me the alternator is putting out a steady current and can't be causing the lights to flicker. I believe him, so I thanked him for checking it out and he didn't charge me any money. So I don't really have any complaint about the mechanics work or his actions. I just felt he had been very cagey about the problem existing at all, possibly because he thought I was going to try and pin the problem on his work.

After talking at length with him, I was satisfied and he gave me a recommendation on a good auto electrician to check out why the lights do flicker. Hopefully I'll get it sorted soon!