Battery Voltage??

[Jules73]

Hi Guys. I am now the owner of a 2000 A4 1.8 SE. Yey! Couple of questions for you ..

The in-car volt meter is reading 14.5-15 whilst I'm driving along. Are these things accurate? Is this the norm?

For the first 5 minutes of driving I have the Air Bag light warning light on. It filckers on/off a lot before going off for good. Any ideas what might be causing this?

Cheers
Jules.

[mbu10]

well not 100% sure for the A4 but all cars that i have ever had using standard alternators inc A4 then
charge a battery at 14 ish volts
it does not start over charging till about 15 and a bit volts (which i once had on a car)
but 14 as i said is ok
quite normal
ok stop talking now
thanks

oh just as a addition when engine turned off with NOTHING on (lights fans etc) it should sit about 12-12.3 ish

[ini]

Yep, as Mbu10 states, the voltage is good.

Your airbag warning light staying on for longer than usual may indicate that 1 or more airbags have been disabled.

It should not flicker when going out though?

Try disconnecting the battery, waiting at least half an hour then carefully checking the connectors in the floor, under the little flap beneath the front seat, they can become loose. (remember to write down radio code first if needed)

[Jules73]

Hey Cheers. I'll check that. I had the alternator checked at the battery place, all is well there.

[Shelley]

Hi Jules,

I have issues with my airbag warning light on my 98 A4...

I was looking in the manual and it says that if the airbag light comes on when the ignition is turned on, it will remain on for 4 seconds - if it then flashes for 15 seconds and then goes out then it means the passenger airbag system has been disconnected.

Although I guess flickering and flashing are two different things but just thought I would mention it in case it was any help to you...

Shell

[Jules73]

Hi Shell, Thanks, I read that as well. However, this is different I think. It flickers on/off for about 5/10 minutes (or until the car is warmed up) then goes out completely. I guess a connector is loose until it expands under heat??

I couldn't find any flaps under the front seats for airbag connectors, only connectors straight into the seats.

Jules.

[Shelley]

Hey Jules - I thought as much but just thought I would throw it out there...

From what I have read on the net it seems the seat connectors are the most common reasons for the warning light.

I just spoke to a local garage who has the fault code reader so he is going to hook mine up and clear the code and then see if it comes back on.

Hope you get is sorted out

[labarnes]

You can buy a hand-held reader off of ebay for £30 which will allow you read your fault codes and clear them yourself, or you can buy a VAG-COM cable off of ebay for £10 and download the VAG-COM v409.1 software and do it yourself using VAG-COM...

It all depends upon how much your local garage is going to charge you.

[paul b]

You can buy a hand-held reader off of ebay for £30 which will allow you read your fault codes and clear them yourself, or you can buy a VAG-COM cable off of ebay for £10 and download the VAG-COM v409.1 software and do it yourself using VAG-COM...

It all depends upon how much your local garage is going to charge you.

Or you can get in touch with eshrules enterprises, a member of this forum.

Besides, with regards to the seat airbag connection thingys, I had a Vauxhall Vectra and once I hoovered the interior, the next time I drove it I had an airbag warning light on!
Luckily there was no fault, I just reset it using Opel-Tech and all was well again.

Paul