Hi, I have a 1.6 petrol. For some time I am having certain problems with the car which seem to be related to charging issues. Random lights appear on the clock (i.e. instrument panel/dash insert). These lights keep on coming on. Some times headlights would go dim, the CD player start flickering. I have since changed the alternator and battery. Now i have been told that that the clock is faulty as the battery light never came on when i switched the engine on. They think that fault may have also wrecked the previous alternator.
Any idea if faulty clock can have an impact on the alternator - the symptoms which i mentioned above what could be the reason of those.
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If the battery light in the dash doesn't light work, then the alternator will not turn on and start charging. I don't see how a problem with the bulb or instrument panel can cause the alternator to fail, but electrical systems can do weird things, so without personally looking at this car, I can't make that determination.
Was the alternator diagnosed and replaced by the same person who is now saying there is a problem with the clock?
older volkswagens used to have similar symptoms because the ignition switch contacts were bad. it would be turning on lights that would normally turn on when you first put in your key, the radio & blower motor can have similar problems. if you have a lot of keys on your keychain try taking them off to see if the problem gets better or wiggle your key to when it happens to see if anything changes. if it helps then you found the problem if not then you may want to see if it is a computer issue.
