Ibiza Mk4 Heavy Steering and now wont start

[Nutkin]

Wife was driving our mk4 home and the steering has gone heavy all of a sudden and dashboard has lit up like a Christmas tree.

Airbag light, red triangle, traction control.

she managed to get it home but now it will not restart.

Any pointers, my first thoughts are aux belt and alternator but after that I am stumped.

 

[cupra.al]

i would say belt too unless its the alternator load signal wire broken.
edit i dont think the wire has the same symptoms http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=209472&highlight=alternator+load+signal+wire

 

[Nutkin]

Well come home with multimeter in hand and only 11.85V on the battery, turn it on and still 11.85V but im not sure what kind of load the car needs to fire up the alternator?


Do I need to be at a certain rev range etc?

 

[Crumpyz]

Hey man, if the battery is below the normal no load voltage 12.5 say around 12 or below the voltage regulator tells the alternator to charge even on idle. And should then read around 14V when the alternator is charging. So I would have thought with your car on idle and nothing else on, your multimeter should read around 14.

Think you defo have an alternator problem, like the load signal wire or you have a battery fatality

Hope you find the problem dude, let us know how it goes

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[attila_tdi]

Is it a 6 dial cluster? There's a cable that leads up to the alternator which commonly breaks off causing the alternator bot to reach 14V until u go over 2000rpl.

If this is broken u will gradually drain and kill ur battery. The power steering is electric and is the first thing to go given the load it experiences.

Search on here for broken alternator cable.

 

[cupra.al]

i may have been right then follow the link in my first post.

 

[Nutkin]

Its a PD100 1.9, will the wires be in the same place as access under the car is a pain in the arse for a heffer like me. I am gonna have a look tonight and see if the battery symbol comes on.

It would make sense of why her battery dropped so low and flicked the power steering off then came back again when she panicked. Plus she hardly ever drives over 2000rpm....

 

[krussel]

The steering normally goes first once the battery is not retaining a charge. Could be a dead cell.

If you search there is stuff about the alternator wires and a fix

Unless the battery is less than a few yrs old I would consider changing it anyway.

 

[PvdH]

Isn't it a defective instrument cluster. Common problem they have is the soldering cracking

 

[Nutkin]

Gonna go have a look at the wires now, its not the cluster imo, as everything is fine and starts just peachy, but still no alternator kicking in which is typical of the issue raised by apr.

 

[Nutkin]

Alternator kicks in over 2k rpm so looks like definitely load sensor , just to find some ramps to get under the car now !

 

[Nutkin]

Got Underneath it finally and bingo 2 snapped wires. Keep an eye out for the missing battery light guys !

removed the connector and re terminated it with some longer wire and soldered it in