New golf, same problem

well had my new golf from mk1jim since saturday and seem to have ended up with a similar problem i had with the 1st one and the battery doesnt seem to be charging properly and no idea what to put it down to yet, any suggestions please?


edit:

sorry kind of in the wrong bit of forum and the problem with the last one was the wiper motor staying on i think and draining power but pretty sure its not that on this un.

can someone run me through a couple alternator checks please, would try searching again but took me ages last time and in a bit of a rush as i've gotta be up at 5 for work.

Same radio? Wired to permanant live by any chance?

Radio does stay on with ignition off but pretty sure it wasn't that as I had the facia off when trying it again

even with the facia off the radio is still using power as mine is wired on permanent live and drains the battery if left for more than a few days.

Surely the radio draining power would be insignificant considering the battery died from the engine being off for a maximum of 5-10 mins straight after a 30-45 minute drive? This is why I'm thinking it's alternator related just annoying it's absolutely pouring down outside and don't fancy fiddlig with it now

have you fitted a different radio ?   have you done anything to the car at all ?   
 while i have had it the car always drove 100%   the only thing i can think of , like i suggested in your pm,  was sometimes the fan belt did squeel a little . have you checked the belt ?  also check how tight it is .  i wouldn't have thought it is anything major , change your belt and re-tension it .

not changed a thing mate all i've been able to do is pop the roofrack into the garage to sort the wood out and gave it a quick wash sunday apart from that all i've done is drive it. once this rain stops gonna get out with a torch and check things with the multimeter.

and the ciggie lighter doesnt work which meant no sat nav getting home lol  

i'd try  fan belt .  cig lighter , never used , non -smoker

check your battery terminals, if not tied properly, they do tend to give issues....had that on my car, also...if the fan belt is squeeling, the tension may be too loose....the radio should be able to run for 30 mis without starting the engine to regain battery life....what does your voltage meter read on the vdo if you still have....also check your earth connection

checked the alternator just before and at idle it sits at about 12 volts but give it a rev and up to about 13.5 should it be more than this? and i know its suppose to give that at idle but if its working when the cars going surely that counts. not checked the radio yet but cant see it sucking power in 5/10 mins

You can't check an alternator by measuring voltage only a load bench will do  :wink:

Put it this way, are you measuring battery voltage, or alternator voltage, both are connected to the same point, as one is across the other and unless you have a very poor conductor between them you're technically measuring the same thing.

So any reading you get is dependant on what voltage the battery is putting out  

Anyway you already know you have a battery draining problem and you'd be suprised what current some radios will draw when off.

How long exactly are you leaving it? The only way to really check it without a load bench is to seperate alternator and battery. Do you have an ammeter to measure the current draw from the battery?

get your battery checked out at kwikfit, probably knackered.

any news ??  thinking what could be draining battery that quick ?  unless battery dead but i can't understand it was always 100% .  maybe cigerette lighter , or heater for starting ??  that light had stayed on a little longer lateley but i presumed it was because it was colder , maybe ?  let me know how you get on …

Sounds to me like the classic symptoms of a cell in the battery failing due to the cooler weather.

I've swapped the battery and although it hasn't drained that 1 yet there's still something, I've got a feeling it could be te lights drawing a fair bit of power. Put the multimeter across the battery with lights on and it dropped by about 1v did same with radio at full and no change. Just been on a long drive too, drove up to Leeds from n wales (about 2 hours) went there in daylight and was fine radio on loudish all the way and started up fine after stopping there. Just come back in the dark got off the motorway and radio cut out for few secs then back on then off. Stopped at home and same happening with lights on turned them off and it stayed on for ages no problem. Any ideas?

You need to get an ammeter to see what sort of current draw is present when everythings turned off.

the battery knackered, get a new one.

if the batteries knackered why's it draining 2 completely different ones.
i'm gonna swap the alternator off the other car onto this one and see if that works then nice shiny new alternator for the gti.

I have the very same problem with mine, Its just not charging properly.
Bump Starting it virtually every time at the moment. I've got a brand new battery, Ive secured all wiring and checked for breaks in wiring, Ive cleaned up the earth several times and added an extra strap to the srtut tower and a small one from the head. I can only think its the alternator but I'm reluctant to fork out in case its not. If I conquer it i'l be sure to let you know.