UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi, new on here, hope you can help, have trawled some pages, but would appreciate some ideas. 1.2 Polo on 05 plate but a 9N. 44k. Bought it in March, recently developed multiple problems. Had new coils fitted and a leaking pipe letting too much air into fuel, running lean. OK, its 10 years old.

However, now the Alternator light flickers on and off, but only after about 5 miles of driving. Garage I've used for 20 years said "ignore it, unless it gets worse, you're still getting enough charge". They said the earths were ok. OK, I can put up with that.

Now the power steering has since started to fail after about 10 miles driving. Its fine again when car used next day, until another 10 miles done. My question is, "is this related to the alternator problem?"

I'm happy to replace the alternator if it solves both problems, but not happy to replace alternator plus power steering plus coils etc already done. Starting to add up.

So, do you think a failing alternator would cause pas problems? Thanks in advance.

I think that you need a bit more help than "leave it until it gets worse" - winter is on its way and it will get worse then I'd reckon.

One thing to consider, the power steering is electo-hydraulic - that means that it uses an electric motor to power the hydraulic power steering pump and that pump uses a serious amount of power (electrical power), so when the power supply is low or gets low, the power steering will get inhibited to allow the car's vital systems to continue running.

So, do you have a multimeter, if so, measure the battery voltage etc at engine idle, switch on cabin fan + headlights and see if the voltage level is maintained at over 12.5V if not the alternator or its wiring has a problem. Also measure voltage, under these conditions between the alternator frame and the battery earth - it should be nearly or at 0V.

Next, check the wiring at the connectors under the gearbox/engine junction as these wires do get broken or in your case "heading that way".

If all that looks okay, remove battery and fully charge it and monitor it for a day while it is still out of the car to see if it maintains its charge - if it can not, it is faulty.

Thanks for the reply. Since discovered the problem to be the pioneer radio is fitted and the k-line