Battery light on, car dies, then is fine????

cody

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2001
Location
MO
Just like the title says. 06 Jetta 95K original owners. Zero mods and problems. About 15 miles from home my wife said the battery light came on and the car died. She pulled over, started the car up, no light, no problems, runs fine all the way home. Has anyone ever heard of this? Any ideas? Thank you, cody
 

iamstuffed

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Location
San Francisco, CA
TDI
2005 Golf GLS TDI Blue Anthracite
cody said:
Just like the title says. 06 Jetta 95K original owners. Zero mods and problems. About 15 miles from home my wife said the battery light came on and the car died. She pulled over, started the car up, no light, no problems, runs fine all the way home. Has anyone ever heard of this? Any ideas? Thank you, cody
Alternator pulley?
 

40X40

Experienced
Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Location
Kansas City area, MO
TDI
2013 Passat SEL Premium
Usually the order of occurrence is the engine dies and the light comes on. (because the engine died.)

I would be looking into 'why the engine dies' rather than 'why the light comes on'.
JMHO, and I have been wrong before....

Bill
 

DPM

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 16, 2001
Location
Newtownards, N. Ireland
TDI
2019 Rav4 AWD Hybrid, Citroen C4 BlueHDI
If it restarted again, that implies the battery is still being charged. I'd go with a dodgy ignition switch or loose connection between it and the battery.
 

cody

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2001
Location
MO
Thanks for the ideas. 300 miles later and everything still normal. I know things don't fix themselves so keep driving and see.
 

dzcad90

Rolex & gin
Joined
Mar 15, 1999
Location
Joliet, IL USA
TDI
Jetta - 97 (RIP), '03 (Sold), '09
iamstuffed said:
Alternator pulley?
x2.

Any weird noises from the accessory belt area? My alternator rebuilder says the VW/Bosch alternators are good for about 150K before a rebuild, or at least a diode/brush pack refresh. He states that the clutch pulleys are good for about 75K before problems begin to surface.

If no noises, I'd be more inclined to agree with ignition switch issues. Anytime car is on and alternator is not making voltage, battery light will be on.
 
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