Hey. 2000 A6 2.7T. I am waiting on my Bentley manual, but I thought I would get some opinions. My volt gauge is reading at the 3/4 mark consistently. Is this too out of normal? Does anyone know if it's the alternator or could it be the voltage regulator? Can you replace the alternator's internal voltage regulator? A DIY write-up would be good guidance if anyone has one. Thanks.

 

3/4 is normal. Look at the markings on the gauge. The needle should be right around 14 volts. This is normal.

Bob

 

Thanks. A little weight off my shoulders.

 

mines is at 3/4 but the battery light is on ????

 

Take it to Autozone and have them do a "free" charging system and battery check. Don't be surprised if they tell you the battery needs to be replaced, since they sell batteries. Caveat emptor.

When I bought my daughter's 2003 A4 3.0 it had not been run much (the prior owner wanted to keep the miles down) and the battery was "dead". Autozone diagnosed a bad battery. My indie shop also checked it and declared the battery fine -- that was last August -- and it has started with no problem since.

 

Did they say bad battery or dead battery? There is a difference.

A bad battery can't be charged or will not hold a charge. A dead battery dosen't have a charge because all the little electrons went someplace else.

Never take an uncharged battery to be tested. Charge it and then do the test.
If you leave the battery with them - most AZ's will charge it for a few hours and then test it.



GIDAVE - if the voltmeter on your dash says you have 14 volts and you are getting a red light saying you have a battery problem, You might have a bad ground wire between the motor and frame. Don't assume it is OK by seeing if it is tight. Remove both ends, clean the surfaces and reattach it. -- As Auditech79 said he has found that a large number of electrical problems on older Audis are due to a poor ground.