2007 VW Rabbit Alternator/Battery issue

Asked by aapontyn May 23, 2016 at 08:39 PM about the 2007 Volkswagen Rabbit 2-Door

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Manual 2007 VW Rabbit- replaced the alternator
about three months ago. Worked fine. The battery
died (my fault, damn Alaskan summer nights)
jumped it, worked fine. A week later, hubby did the
same. Jumped, fine, but struggled. Did the usual
long drive at high speed deal to charge it all back
up, but it keeps sporadically dying at odd points. I
drove it today and it started slow but came on, then
after parking it half an hour later for five min, it was
dead.
When the ignition is turned, it clicks rapidly and the
dash flickers.
Have I fried the battery? Is that possible? Or is this
a dreaded electrical problem?

Appreciate any help y'all have.

3 Answers

41,815

I need to copy so I can just paste this! Battery 12.6 volts? have it load tested based on CCA-amps over 60 months OLD buy a new battery if the battery is Ok check the charging system Alternator output (engine idling) at battery terminals 13.4-14.8 volts Ok all connections clean and tight, IF Ok run a voltage drop test on the starter circuit... check all ground connections ..Electrical problems are not more of a hassle than two flat tires in Alaska! just watch out for the WHITES ...(bears) Regards

2 people found this helpful.
610

if you fried the battery it would not even work no matter what. Seems like you might have a bad alternator even though it was recently replaced. Go back and have the mechanic who did the work check it. When you re driving you are no longer using the battery, you are running off the alternator. But it seems that the alternator id not strong enough to keep the car running and recharging your battery at the same time.

1 people found this helpful.
50

I was working on a Jetta they were having problems with the battery charging system and where the connection from the alternator runs over to the battery there's a terminal block right above the battery and there was a loose connection on the bolt the nut it was actually shorting out it almost start a fire had to replace that terminal block so it's just a loose connection coming just off the battery into a terminal block that first terminal block check all the connections on that

1 people found this helpful.

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