SEAT Toledo - Strange Electrical Problem 1.6 TDI

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Tue 5 Feb 2019 09:41
SEAT Toledo - Strange Electrical Problem 1.6 TDI - Chiller

Hi, for the past few weeks, my car has developed a strange power issue which I can't figure out.

The car is serviced annually, currently has around 55k on the clock and had a new battery around 6 months ago as the old one simply gave up and refused to charge.

The problem...

The car will start fine but while the engine is running (it can be under load or idling) I can hear a "click" sound and at the same time, all the electrics loose power for a split second and very shortly afterwards, if the engine is idling, the rpm will drop by around 200 again, just for a split second.

This will happen repeatedly throughout a 15-20min journey. (I rarely ever do much more so I can't say if it would go away on a longer trip.)

I have run a diagnostic on my car with Carista and among other fault codes (which we will ignore as they were to do with the air vent positioning motors) I got this one: vag fault code 01314

This code seems to have lots of different meanings and reasons and nothing I have found quite matches my described faults and I am wondering if it's a symptom and not a cause?

I really hope someone can help as it appears to be getting worse since this morning, even the radio was cutting out which hasn't happened before.

Thanks.

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Tue 5 Feb 2019 20:51
SEAT Toledo - Strange Electrical Problem 1.6 TDI - Oli rag
Have you checked the earth lead where it bolts to the body/ engine to see whether it’s loose or corroded?
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Tue 5 Feb 2019 21:37
SEAT Toledo - Strange Electrical Problem 1.6 TDI - elekie&a/c doctor

Tricky one. If the radio is also cutting out ,this could be a power or earth supply problem. Might be an idea to check the alternator charge rate. May be overcharging. Don't think your fault code is related to your problem. Could be the test equipt. ;wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/01314 .Could even be a faulty injector.

Edited by elekie&a/c doctor on 05/02/2019 at 21:38

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Mon 11 Feb 2019 00:36
SEAT Toledo - Strange Electrical Problem 1.6 TDI - 3uga

The error you found might be from the drop of power and not the real problem.
I recomend you get the alternator checked out as this might be the problem. Had sort of the same problem on my car and all electrical went dead even if the engine was runnig wich suprised me since it was a common rail engine that worked without electrical power. Battery was shorted out and the same clinking noise was heard berfore all went dead. Noise had to do with charging regulator

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