Alternator not charging solution - Polo 9n

Chat about your 9n Polo (inc GT and Fun)
User avatar
drewbar
Silver Member
Posts: 278
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2006 12:10 pm
Location: Milton Keynes

Alternator not charging solution - Polo 9n

Post by drewbar »

Right going on from another thread about alternators not charging and using the info I've gathered from there I've managed to sort my own problem.

The fault that was given on both my vag-com check and Matt-59's was as follows:

17911 - Load Signal from Alternator Term. DF: Implausible Signal
P1503 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent

This is also often accompanied by a host of other low voltage faults on most systems.

The symtoms of the fault that I experienced were:

-The Pas steering would remain heavy once the car was started for a breif moment until the engine was revved up.
-On a trip down the motorway at night with all the consumers on, I lost the power to the cd player, followed by all the error lights coming on the dash, then loss of Pas, then the headlights etc all went out. Once revved up past 3thousand rpm the alternator began to charge again, I turned the engine off then on and then continued on as useal with no further problems.
-On a trip home from work one evening I lost power steering when entering my street, I turned the engine off then the car would not start again as the battery was flat.

Using the infomation provided by RUM4MO I tracked the problem down to the yellow signal wire under the car. There is a connector with 2 wires going into it, its infront of the gearbox and basically directly below the battery in the engine bay. On inspection both wires into the connector had snapped.

Image

On my car the wiring had already been repaired once in the past which is why you see a blue wire instead of a yellow wire. The plug had snapped off flush with the wiring which leaves you with a bit of a problem regarding repair.

Image

I was dead set on reusing the old plug as my car doesnt have an undertray and the plug is in a very vunrable place for water ingress so its pretty essential for the reliability of the repair that the plug is water tight. On the contrary you could just use spade terminals, but the reliability of the repair is compromised.

Using some old connectors we had lying around our workshop I salvaged a pair of terminals out of them. I had to remove the old terminals from inside the vw plug by carefully removing the locking slide out of the plug, then pushing them out using a pick or a small screw driver. I pushed the new terminals into the vw plug and reassembled the locking clip into the connector. I was then left with my new plug!! I think that you can buy these terminals from maplins new or definately online.

Image

I then stripped the wiring on the car and using crimp heat and seal connectors I attacted my new plug onto the engine loom. I used these connectors again to prevent water ingress into the connection and hopefully meaning this should be a reliable repair. Alternatively you can just sold these connections and insulate with black tape but seeing as I had the pro way of doing it I did so.

Image

I then taped up the wiring and slid it all back inside its protective sheafing. I dont know whether the sheafing was fitted as standard but its worth getting some if yours is missing. All done and plugged back in!

Image

Not the greatest pictures in the world I know but its better than poking around without a clue. Best thing about my repair. I cost me nothing but a bit of time :D

I hope this of use to some guys on here, If not I enjoyed writing it lol. Feel free to ask any questions as I may have left bits out or made things not prefect to understand. Obviously if you dont know what your doing, I'd advise you get someone who does to take care of it for you.
sylvester
Getting There!
Posts: 93
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 12:46 am

Post by sylvester »

The repair parts should be available from vw, failing that, the repair wiring can be bought from here as long as you know the connector type and size, the heat seal drewbar used from here or you can solder the wires and use this type of heatshrink which seals the joint. :D

Don't use these scotchlocs :twisted:
RUM4MO
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 5859
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:12 pm
Drives: B8 S4 & 6R/6C1 1.2TSI 110
Location: Mid Lothian

Post by RUM4MO »

Good man turning facts into reality! That is what forums are about. One point about sourcing "bits", (most of) all the connectors that VAG use have their p/n on them and so can be ordered via VW etc - and seem to be cheap. The only problem is for us DIYers is trying to find the right plug or socket pins. I don't think that even after you have worked out the connectors circuit referance that you can use that to specify the pins - it would be quite handy if we could. When my VW garage chopped one of my disc pad wear indicator leads (and hid it under insulating tape and disabled the wear check function!!!), I removed the pins and used the very short stubs of wire to slice in some new wire - even when the wire is chopped level with the connector's back shell there is about 1/4" of wire there - problem is that its usually badly corroded so using new pins is always going to be the proper fix. I found with the brake wear connector that you still had to depress the pin locking tang after sliding the locking bar across - so maybe its a belt and braces way of retaining these pins in their backshells. Think that I will need to take a look at this now that some pictures have been taken - just so that I'm prepared if/when I need to sort it!
K.I.T.T.
Platinum Member
Posts: 1037
Joined: Mon Dec 24, 2007 2:55 pm
Drives: Bicycle
Location: Europe

Post by K.I.T.T. »

Drewbar (sorry, don't know your name :oops: ), in order to access this wire / connector, do you need to get under the car or can you do it by just removing the battery? One issue I've noticed at night with the headlights on is that when idling and the door is open (eg. when dropping someone off), if I turn the steering wheel, the headlights and interiror light dim slightly. Not checked if it does it when I rev it though. It may well be a related problem...

Thanks,
Ash :)
RUM4MO
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 5859
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:12 pm
Drives: B8 S4 & 6R/6C1 1.2TSI 110
Location: Mid Lothian

Post by RUM4MO »

K.I.T.T. wrote:Drewbar (sorry, don't know your name :oops: ), in order to access this wire / connector, do you need to get under the car or can you do it by just removing the battery? One issue I've noticed at night with the headlights on is that when idling and the door is open (eg. when dropping someone off), if I turn the steering wheel, the headlights and interiror light dim slightly. Not checked if it does it when I rev it though. It may well be a related problem...

Thanks,
Ash :)
Yes its an under the car job, and yes the lights dimming is okay - if you have electric windows you'd find that they also do this - all it is is you placing a heavy load on the electrical supply/storage system and is nothing to be concerned about.
User avatar
drewbar
Silver Member
Posts: 278
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2006 12:10 pm
Location: Milton Keynes

Post by drewbar »

Yes mate, Your gona need to get underneath the car, take the undertray off then get stuck in, I was lucking in being able to use the 2 post lift at my work but a couple of axle stands under the front do the same job on your driveway, your going to struggle for room otherwise.

Something that might be worth noting is that mine looks as if for the first repair that it broke further up than it did this time aswell.
User avatar
drewbar
Silver Member
Posts: 278
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2006 12:10 pm
Location: Milton Keynes

Post by drewbar »

Other thing is, I dont know if this affects all engines and vairants but mine is a 1.9tdi sport 100.

Indeed scotchloc's are bad lol

If this is of use can we sticky it or put it into a safe place for further referance?
Veedub9n
Silver Member
Posts: 347
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2008 4:54 pm

Post by Veedub9n »

K.I.T.T. wrote:Drewbar (sorry, don't know your name :oops: ), in order to access this wire / connector, do you need to get under the car or can you do it by just removing the battery? One issue I've noticed at night with the headlights on is that when idling and the door is open (eg. when dropping someone off), if I turn the steering wheel, the headlights and interiror light dim slightly. Not checked if it does it when I rev it though. It may well be a related problem...

Thanks,
Ash :)
My 9n is doing this aswel. But on idle is the interior light is on it flickers with headlights on and off. My CD player goes off sometime on idle if I use the electric windows or turn the wheel.

what you guys rekon it could be??
RUM4MO
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 5859
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:12 pm
Drives: B8 S4 & 6R/6C1 1.2TSI 110
Location: Mid Lothian

Post by RUM4MO »

I think that you should try looking for this plug and socket and check that there are no breaks in the yellow wire as this sounds a bit more serious than the normal slight dipping of headlights etc at idle if you hold up a closed window switch or turn the steering wheel - or check the condition your battery if the yellow wire is okay - battery might have failed or at least now have reduced capacity due to an increase in its internal resistance.
User avatar
drewbar
Silver Member
Posts: 278
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2006 12:10 pm
Location: Milton Keynes

Post by drewbar »

Veedub9n wrote:
K.I.T.T. wrote:Drewbar (sorry, don't know your name :oops: ), in order to access this wire / connector, do you need to get under the car or can you do it by just removing the battery? One issue I've noticed at night with the headlights on is that when idling and the door is open (eg. when dropping someone off), if I turn the steering wheel, the headlights and interiror light dim slightly. Not checked if it does it when I rev it though. It may well be a related problem...

Thanks,
Ash :)
My 9n is doing this aswel. But on idle is the interior light is on it flickers with headlights on and off. My CD player goes off sometime on idle if I use the electric windows or turn the wheel.

what you guys rekon it could be??

If your cd player is being affected Id say theres a good chance that this may be the same problem, sounds like the same sort of symtoms as what one of the guys in seatcupra.net was experiencing, either check it out yourself of ask you garage too mate.

Any questions feel free to ask :D
User avatar
drewbar
Silver Member
Posts: 278
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2006 12:10 pm
Location: Milton Keynes

Re: Alternator not charging solution - Polo 9n

Post by drewbar »

Little bump for a dude on edition with what might be the same problem :)
SimonCorrigan
Bronze Member
Posts: 166
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 1:53 pm
Location: Surrey, UK
Contact:

Re: Alternator not charging solution - Polo 9n

Post by SimonCorrigan »

my car keeps coming up with the same error codes but hasn't caused any problems. looks like a nice easy fix.
AAimson
New
Posts: 44
Joined: Wed May 04, 2011 2:28 pm

Re: Alternator not charging solution - Polo 9n

Post by AAimson »

Might car had the same problem but was sorted after some electrical tape. It was the other wire that had snapped the put it back together. Stopped getting alternator problems and fault codes but now get a short to ground on the steering assist module. Can this be because the wire is corroded and messed up?

No PAS at idle or low speeds.

Cheers Alex.
Jollus
Bronze Member
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Apr 06, 2008 2:07 am

Re: Alternator not charging solution - Polo 9n

Post by Jollus »

I've had this fault within my ECU memory for a month now but no electrical problems at all. K.I.T.T. as you say your lights dim when opening the door or using the steering at idle, thats standard with most cars if I;m honest. Theres nothing wrong if your car does that. Strange how I've got the implausible signal code but no symptoms at all. Car runs perfect.
K.I.T.T.
Platinum Member
Posts: 1037
Joined: Mon Dec 24, 2007 2:55 pm
Drives: Bicycle
Location: Europe

Re: Alternator not charging solution - Polo 9n

Post by K.I.T.T. »

Turned out in the end that my alternator sense wire was indeed broken. Fixed it back it 2009. Re: the dimming of the lights etc, this is normal as stated previously. Jollus, if you've got a multimeter, try starting the car, but don't touch the accelerator. Check the battery voltage. If it's "only" around 12v, your sense wire is probably kaput. The alternator self excites once you rev to around 2.5k RPM - I was driving around asymptomatic for 2 years and only discovered the problem out of chance. A tell-tale sign is when you turn on the ignition (without starting the car), the battery warning lamp will not come on if there's a fault with this wire.

Ash
Post Reply