I have a 2000 Audi a4 1.8T and my alternator seems to be dead or dying.. batter light is on and using a volt meter I have 11.9 with car off and 11.7 with the car on.. also tried the discontect + while car is running.. car died.. so yeah prob alternator.

Step two is buying a replacement.

I'm using http://car-part.com/index.htmto find a used one. here is where I come to you for help. since my car is the ATW engine is the alternator diff than other years of the 1.8T? is there a good reason to go to 120 amps over the 90??

 

The only reason I can see for getting the 120 watt is if you have a nice system that draws alot of power, other than that, just get an alternator for a 1.8T, one part number I found was F4000-127687

 

Charge your battery fully and check it then. Removing the + will always kill modern cars. Check the voltage from the + terminal on the alternator and ground to the casing. If that's higher than what you read at the battery there's a problem with the terminal or the cable.

 

my alternator went bad and i had to idea which brand and amperage to get. the easiest way to figure it out is to take out the alternator. since u have a 1.8. it should be right in front of u. jsut move sum tubes around. wut i did to figure out the amperage is i looked at the packages on ma car and said to maself, it feels like a 120 amp. the 2 diff amps have 2 diff pulley size so u'll kno if u have the right one or not. and make sure that the places the bolts go match up. i think u have 4 diff pulleys to choose from. there's the valeo or bosch and 90 or 120 amp. good luck

 

Can I get to the + on the alternator easyly.. I looked a little and it didn't look like there was a place to connect the volt meter..

 

So is changing the alternator something that a guy with little car experience but very technical in general would be able to do?? the belts are the only thing that scare me.. is the tensioner easy to deal with? anyone know of a guide online?? thanks for any help.