This will be fitted with the Golf Vr6 engine. Sadly access to anything on these is a real pain. A good charging voltage should be around 14.2 volts, so certainly could be an alternator fault..You prably could get away with a 120 amp unit ,but it depends on how much kit is fitted to the car. Does it have rear a/c? Have you checked poly vee drive belt condition and battery leads/terminals ?

If your only getting output of 11.9V with engine running then the Alternator is not charging the battery. You should be getting a reading of around 13-14 V with engine running.

Issue could be one of 2 things, either alternator is faulty or the rectifier has gone open circuit. The rectifier is part of the alternator and is normally included with a new alternator, but if its just the rectifier gone then replacing this should be cheaper. Not sure exactly how to test if it's alternator or rectifier but sure someone will be along soon who will know. Basically the alternator produces about 50-80V AC and this is rectified down to about 12V DC.

Might be worth flicking your voltmeter onto AC volts if it's not an auto detect. You should get 0V output, if you are seeing any voltage then Rectifier has gone short circuit.

Edited by Cris_on_the_gas on 17/01/2018 at 14:07

If the original fault was intermittent I would check the tension on the alternator drive belt first.

Could also be a loose connexion in wiring to alternator / battery.

If these all check out ok then wil almost certainly be a faulty alternator.

I've bought lots of things on eBay & never been sold a pup.

If you are supplied a faulty item, it can be returned for a full refund.

info here: www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/index.php?/topic/25753-.../

Sounds like a rright barrel of laughs. Don't buy an RTX one from ECP. If it's the same as a more common model then it might be possible to get an exchange unit. If it's 2.8 specific, then probably best to get it out, and take it to someone to get it rebuilt.

Can a alternator go from working to dead in 3 days?

thanks for the reply. am going to buy a recon alternator from ebay. has anyone any experience of replacing alternator on a mk1 2.8 galaxy/sharan? the link above is for a mk2. i am hoping mk 1 is a little easier.