hosacans

Hi all,

I am having the same problem with my 01 2.8 quattro. i am sure it isnt the battery because i put in a new one last month, thinking that would solve the problem. I had the car jump started last night and thought the battery would charge if i let the car run for a while, but engine end up stalling because the battery was completely drained. i dont believe the belts are broken because the cooling fan was still working.

Judging from the pics radhaz posted, i dont think i have the technical skills nor the tools for a major fix like this.

Can someone provide a gauge to how much the fix will cost in a indie garage/stealership? part cost and how many hours of labor... any recommendations to a mechanic in the NYC/Brooklyn area?

much thanks

sqplus

If your battery was completely drained you'll need to pull it and fully recharge it before replacing the alternator. A dealership would be in the are of 1200-1500 depending on how many hours labor they charge. The part itself from Audi is $600-800 depending on the model. I would suspect an indie using aftermarket(Bosch or Valeo) would run you $500-700.

All in all replacing the alternator itself isn't all that complicated but you do have to put the lock carrier in service position(pull of the front end) just to get to it.

I would estimate it took me 3.5-4 hours to replace mine, not really a beginner job but still do able. There are numerous posts about pulling the front end off the car and there are a few pics here in the post about the alternator specifically. I've got a few pics as well I can post if needed, they're not great but may help.

radhaz

My alternator was $355.90 from Eastern Imports. It is a genuine Bosch re-manufactured part. There is a $60 core charge.

You can see the threaded part that draws in as the top bolt is tightened. This is what made it a bear to pull out.

radhaz

Alt is in, charging system reads over 14 volts, car shifts like usual. No leaks so far, and no left over parts.
I don't think I could have done it without this site. Guess I'll click on a few ads~

sqplus

Congrats! Glad everything is working again, and no extra parts is a bonus!

radhaz

Thanks for your encouragement, sqplus. It really helped me tackle this job.
Next jobs are torn CV boot (again),trans fluid change and roof antenna replacement.
Now that I've done it, the service position isn't nearly so scary a thought. I have all the tools I need to get there now, plus experience~
The big pain still is getting the car high enough in the air to do the trans fluid. I'll figure that one out too.
I did have some weirdness tho. When I first started the car to let it warm up (bumper off still)the coolant temp and oil temp gauges didn't move. After a restart, the coolant gauge worked, but the oil temp worked. Put the bumper back on, drove it, and both gauges worked. These cars are strange sometimes.

Tonytomasi

I was able to remove the alt from the bottom, by moving the intercooler out of the way, and pulling the hose off, other than the tight confines everything came out pretty easily, and i gotta do it again because the system is not registering anything on the load tester, when its running, new alt, new batt, cleared codes with vag, nothing, so i either fried the new Chinese **** alternator or i have a different issue.... no service position, i didnt even touch the front of the car.

SloopJohnB@mac.com

Zombie threads….

Nialist

Outstanding Reply of the Day Award!!!!!

jcman

LOL!