My brother's 2003 VW Golf (150,000 miles+) is having charging problems that do not have obvious solutions to us amateurs:
History:
- Left lights on a couple of times at work, requiring a jump.
- Sat outside on cold weekend, wouldn't start on Monday until charged up with battery charger.
- Had a flat tire and left flashers on for a couple of hours. Car wouldn't start, Tires plus said "2 battery cells are bad".
- Went to Walmart because battery was under warranty. They said "battery needed charge but is fine - get the alternator checked"
- He's been charging it every night after 1 hour of commuting.
- Autozone said battery is drained, but alternator is putting out 13.7 volts, slightly below the 13.8-14.5 range but they think alternator is okay.
Is this something that has a common solution for this model or does it require a real technician to ferret out?
History:
- Left lights on a couple of times at work, requiring a jump.
- Sat outside on cold weekend, wouldn't start on Monday until charged up with battery charger.
- Had a flat tire and left flashers on for a couple of hours. Car wouldn't start, Tires plus said "2 battery cells are bad".
- Went to Walmart because battery was under warranty. They said "battery needed charge but is fine - get the alternator checked"
- He's been charging it every night after 1 hour of commuting.
- Autozone said battery is drained, but alternator is putting out 13.7 volts, slightly below the 13.8-14.5 range but they think alternator is okay.
Is this something that has a common solution for this model or does it require a real technician to ferret out?