Looney2uner
Well-known member
My 2001 Jetta TDI with 420K Km was draining the battery completely overnight, even with a charger on it showing approx. 3A going into the battery. I bought a $60 DC clamp milliammeter from eBay (model SE02, which died after a week, but showed a 5A drain while it worked). Pulling all the fuses did not stop the drain. I now suspected the alternator diodes (booster cables were reversed when jumping another car, d'oh!)
It dawned on me (at dawn) that a 5A drain equates to 60 Watts of heating going on somewhere. This morning, cold engine, warm alternator = problem located.
An all new 120A unit with new clutch pulley installed (from eBay seller california_alternator_starter, $144) will be going into my favorite car ever.
It dawned on me (at dawn) that a 5A drain equates to 60 Watts of heating going on somewhere. This morning, cold engine, warm alternator = problem located.
An all new 120A unit with new clutch pulley installed (from eBay seller california_alternator_starter, $144) will be going into my favorite car ever.