Crickets under the hood...now a battery warning light - help

W

WPB TDI FRED

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 2, 2006
Location
SOUTH FLORIDA
TDI
03 JETTA - Stick
Greeting to all:
This is a wonderful forum, but I regret that my first post has to do with a problem that I now have with my 03 Jetta TDI which I purchased two months ago.
For several days I’ve noticed a "cricket" type of noise under the hood when idling. It got progressively worse over the course of several days. Yesterday, the noise got to be more "coarse" as I was just driving the car around town. I popped the hood (again) to see if I could eyeball the problem as I was suspecting that the serpentine belt was slipping (it was kinda making that type of noise). Well, the noise was not getting better (while idling and now, to some extent, while driving). I turned the motor "off". As I restarted the engine, I heard a sudden "pop" and the "coarse" noise disappeared (the engine started sounding "normal" again), BUT the battery warning light started blinking, and then it has remained "ON" to date. And I still hearing "crickets" under the hood. Presently, the battery warning light is constantly "ON". I have since started smelling ( I think) a strange type of odor (like a burning-type of odor), but it is very subtle that you really have to tune your nose to it.
Out of necessity, I’ve driven the car to the grocery story since the battery light has come "on", and to a few short errands, but I’m trying to keep the driving to a minimum. I called the local VW dealer here and they said they could not see the car until next Thursday. The car has 44,500 now, so it is still within the scope of service under the warranty (unless they will try to cheat me out of it).

Any suggestions as to the cause of the problem would be helpful.
:confused:
Thanks
 
Last edited:
jasonTDI

jasonTDI

TDI GURU Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Location
Oregon, WI
TDI
20' RAM 3500 CCLB dually HO/Aisan. 2019 Cherokee 2.0T
I concur. Alternator. Fix it NOW or the timing belt could be in jeopardy when the serpentine breaks.
 
TornadoRed

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
mmalluck said:
Most definatly your alternator. Sounds like the carbon brushes came apart.
Click to expand...
It sounds more like the bearings are shot in the one-way pulley on the alternator. It happened to mine at about 74k miles... But I didn't detect any unusual smells.

If it is the one-way pulley, I wouldn't trust it to last til your Thursday appointment. I drove less than 100 miles before I got mine replaced. When I got the old parts back, there were a lot of small busted pieces.
 
W

WPB TDI FRED

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 2, 2006
Location
SOUTH FLORIDA
TDI
03 JETTA - Stick
Well, my first thought was the alternator, and I haven't ruled it out yet.

HOWEVER, when I was eyeballing under the hood, I noticed that the pulley that keeps the tention on the serpentine belt was "bouncing" in a rather unusual fashion. Since hearing the "pop", that pulley stays rather steady, but I can still hear the little chirping noises. I still could not isolate the problem.

Assuming it is a pulley/ballbearing issue, I still don't know how THAT would effect the battery warning light to come ON on the dash. I put the battery charger for a couple of hours today just to keep the battery from going flat on me.

I am still going to call tomorrow to see if I can get an earlier appointment.

I appreciate all the input.
 
TornadoRed

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
WPB TDI FRED said:
Well, my first thought was the alternator, and I haven't ruled it out yet.

HOWEVER, when I was eyeballing under the hood, I noticed that the pulley that keeps the tention on the serpentine belt was "bouncing" in a rather unusual fashion. Since hearing the "pop", that pulley stays rather steady, but I can still hear the little chirping noises. I still could not isolate the problem.

Assuming it is a pulley/ballbearing issue, I still don't know how THAT would effect the battery warning light to come ON on the dash.
Click to expand...
If the bearing in that pulley is failing, it's putting additional strain on the serpentine belt. And it sounds like the tensioner is doing what it's supposed to do.

Your alternator may still be charging, intermittently, but the BATTERY light is on for a reason. In my case, it came on even before I heard the chirping.
 
W

WPB TDI FRED

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 2, 2006
Location
SOUTH FLORIDA
TDI
03 JETTA - Stick
Well guys, THANKS TO ALL for great replies and good suggestions, but TORNADO RED gets the A+ .... However, all others still get an "A".

Here is the final update:
Today I took the Jetta to the dealer early in the morning, and they found that the culprit was: "Alternator pulley broken. Verified complaint. Performed diag found broken alternator pulley." (part # 44535) Home run Tornado.

I proceeded to change the serpentine belt (which I was planning to change early this summer anyway), and went ahead with an oil and filter change (which never hurts). When I returned to the dealer mid afternoon to wait for the job to be finish, the service tech tells me that the battery was rather weak due to the alternator not charging it for a while (due to the pulley). They went ahead and gave me a brand new battery. Bingo Bango !! Total OTD damage: $86.96

Overall, I was pleased :)
 
TornadoRed

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
It wasn't a lucky guess. It had happened to me, plus I've read enough posts from others who had the same problem. Those alternator pulleys are problematic -- you're just lucky yours failed during the warranty period.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top