Wouldn't worry about buying an alternator till you test to make sure it's not charging otherwise your just wasting money.

Serious question here. Where are you going to draw the line and say that's it, the car has broken too many times now, maybe it's time to sell it and buy something with reliability?

^Labor of love. Keep it and enjoy it.

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Bye bye betty blue. Hello F6.

How would I test to make sure it's not charging ?

Probably won't happen....I love it too much and I've got the bike for reliability anyway

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broken wannabe racecar
Wagon daily that has replaced said broken wannabe racecar

Easy way to check the alternator, but needs a $20 multimeter.

Start the car, Open the bonnet, set multimeter to DC Volts, its the volts with the straight line. Put the red on positive on the battery, black on the negative, the other way will only show negative volts, so no problems.

Should be 13.8 volts or so on idle. If its 12.4 the alternator is dead and not charging.

Also check that the plates in the battery are covered in liquid, if not pour enough distilled water in to cover them, not filled to the top.

The alternator doesn't drain a battery, even when its failed, it just doesn't charge. Its all the electrical components that drain the battery, and its not being topped up.

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Race Torque Dyno 399 NM, 248Kw @ 20PSI

Straight roads are for fast cars, twisty roads are for fast drivers. I have or am neither.

http://tttmsp.smugmug.com/

Cat, I'm just a few minutes away and would be able to come out tomorrow and bring a multimeter should you require it.

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2015 Forester XT Premium
2020 VW Tiguan Allspace
teejay: If I wanted a comeback Id wank in front of a fan

Thanks Soksta my brother has one so I should be alright

Thanks for the info, but does the car have to be running to check or just key in the ignition ? because it won't start.

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broken wannabe racecar
Wagon daily that has replaced said broken wannabe racecar

Learn a bit from Soksta, buy a multimeter from DSE, Auto 1 etc, its a handy bit of kit.

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Race Torque Dyno 399 NM, 248Kw @ 20PSI

Straight roads are for fast cars, twisty roads are for fast drivers. I have or am neither.

http://tttmsp.smugmug.com/

A failed alternator will not stop the car from starting as long as there's sufficient power remaining in the battery to turn the engine over.

Get the thing running first.

Do some diagnosis before jumping to a conclusion. Is the fuel pump now running? Is there fuel pressure? Is there power at the coils? etc.

As has been said, if battery is charged enough and its not starting, something else is at play. Need to check if getting fuel, spark etc.

#edit, just saw Dougs post above. Same advice.