Over a month ago I got the "Consumer Electronics Shutting Down" message while turning to the right and merging in our 2004 V10. The message was on for less than 3 seconds and because I had the steering wheel turned I caught only a part of the text. I had read about the message on the forums here so I knew what it said.
I had the presence of mind to glance at the voltmeter and saw the needle holding at 14 Volts as usual. During the remaining drive home it stayed on 14, that is until I stopped at the mailbox to grab the mail. At idle, the voltmeter began to drop.
I watched this same behavior over the next couple of weeks and eventually as it got colder here, the needle hung around 13V-14V even while accelerating until the car got warmed up and then it seemed to stay at 14. At stop signs it sometimes would drop and other times held a solid 14V.
We first replaced the rear battery (it's the starting battery) and there seemed to be a slight improvement for a week or so. Then, back to the fluctuating voltmeter. We replaced the front battery (the accessories battery) and again, a slight improvement for a week or so.
The last straw was one evening where I stopped at a store for maybe 10 minutes on my way home from work and then started the 'Egg up again. It started fine and I had headlights, running lights, but I had no dash lights, the gauges read nothing and also no turn signals or other consumer electronics.
I drove carefully to the local Fleet Farm shut the car off. I started it on and off up a couple of times and still no movement from the gauges. I sat and waited for Dick to arrive 15 minutes later around 7:30 PM. We decided to limp 5 miles to the local VW dealer (Schmelz Countryside VW) where we bought the car new. I called ahead and they had a rental car ready for me and the service writer was willing to wait for us to arrive. When I started the car back up everything worked fine but we decided to take it to the service department any ways as something was clearly not right. I dropped it off and grabbed the rental car and went home.
The next day, the service writer called and said they had tested the car and everything checked out OK. I said "no way,. there is something wrong" I asked the service writer to grab the keys and simply sit in the drivers seat, turn on all the electric consumers, start up the car, and watch the volt meter. I told him it will go to 14 and then at idle, it will creep down to the point at which the consumer message will appear.
He did as I asked and brought the tech out with him and sure enough, right on cue, the car did exactly what I said it would do. That was enough for them to agree there was a problem and dig a bit deeper.
At some point they called the VW service tech line and were told that the generator/alternator had probably failed. The extended warranty folks were called and agreed to cover the repair and 5 days of a rental car.
By this time I was 4 days into the rental car and the new generator would not be in their possession until a week later. I was somewhat disappointed that it took what felt like a unusually long time to diagnose the problem and get the warranty folks involved, but resigned myself to the situation and started to figure out the ride-to-work logistics. The book time on the repair was 6 hours once the part arrived.
I turned the rental car in the next morning but decided to have a word with the service manager to voice my concern about the diagnosis time and 5 day rental car limit. He apologized for the situation and offered to cover the rental car until the repair was completed. Wow! now that's great service (and the reason we continue to go back to Schmelz).
As it turned out, the anticipated one week without the 'Egg turned into three due to Christmas and New Years holidays, miscellaneous parts snafus, and the tech struggling to get the car put back together again. I was kept appraised of the situation almost daily and I picked up the car exactly 3 weeks later. I chatted with the tech that did the work and he showed me the part that he believed had really failed (not the generator, but the generator clutch) but he ended up installing a new generator and clutch per the VW tech line advice.
The 'Egg is back to it's old self, a solid 14V at all speeds. I'm out $100 deductible for the extended warranty deductible. The total bill for the repair was a bit over $2100 plus whatever the rental car was for three weeks. As an aside, because the repair included removing the fuel filter housing, I gave the tech the new VW fuel filters I had been planning to swap out myself, and he put them in for me. Very nice!
I'd like to give a public kudos to all the folks in the service department at Schmelz for their service and hard work. Thanks to Duane the service writer and Jim the tech especially.
Nancy
I had the presence of mind to glance at the voltmeter and saw the needle holding at 14 Volts as usual. During the remaining drive home it stayed on 14, that is until I stopped at the mailbox to grab the mail. At idle, the voltmeter began to drop.
I watched this same behavior over the next couple of weeks and eventually as it got colder here, the needle hung around 13V-14V even while accelerating until the car got warmed up and then it seemed to stay at 14. At stop signs it sometimes would drop and other times held a solid 14V.
We first replaced the rear battery (it's the starting battery) and there seemed to be a slight improvement for a week or so. Then, back to the fluctuating voltmeter. We replaced the front battery (the accessories battery) and again, a slight improvement for a week or so.
The last straw was one evening where I stopped at a store for maybe 10 minutes on my way home from work and then started the 'Egg up again. It started fine and I had headlights, running lights, but I had no dash lights, the gauges read nothing and also no turn signals or other consumer electronics.
I drove carefully to the local Fleet Farm shut the car off. I started it on and off up a couple of times and still no movement from the gauges. I sat and waited for Dick to arrive 15 minutes later around 7:30 PM. We decided to limp 5 miles to the local VW dealer (Schmelz Countryside VW) where we bought the car new. I called ahead and they had a rental car ready for me and the service writer was willing to wait for us to arrive. When I started the car back up everything worked fine but we decided to take it to the service department any ways as something was clearly not right. I dropped it off and grabbed the rental car and went home.
The next day, the service writer called and said they had tested the car and everything checked out OK. I said "no way,. there is something wrong" I asked the service writer to grab the keys and simply sit in the drivers seat, turn on all the electric consumers, start up the car, and watch the volt meter. I told him it will go to 14 and then at idle, it will creep down to the point at which the consumer message will appear.
He did as I asked and brought the tech out with him and sure enough, right on cue, the car did exactly what I said it would do. That was enough for them to agree there was a problem and dig a bit deeper.
At some point they called the VW service tech line and were told that the generator/alternator had probably failed. The extended warranty folks were called and agreed to cover the repair and 5 days of a rental car.
By this time I was 4 days into the rental car and the new generator would not be in their possession until a week later. I was somewhat disappointed that it took what felt like a unusually long time to diagnose the problem and get the warranty folks involved, but resigned myself to the situation and started to figure out the ride-to-work logistics. The book time on the repair was 6 hours once the part arrived.
I turned the rental car in the next morning but decided to have a word with the service manager to voice my concern about the diagnosis time and 5 day rental car limit. He apologized for the situation and offered to cover the rental car until the repair was completed. Wow! now that's great service (and the reason we continue to go back to Schmelz).
As it turned out, the anticipated one week without the 'Egg turned into three due to Christmas and New Years holidays, miscellaneous parts snafus, and the tech struggling to get the car put back together again. I was kept appraised of the situation almost daily and I picked up the car exactly 3 weeks later. I chatted with the tech that did the work and he showed me the part that he believed had really failed (not the generator, but the generator clutch) but he ended up installing a new generator and clutch per the VW tech line advice.
The 'Egg is back to it's old self, a solid 14V at all speeds. I'm out $100 deductible for the extended warranty deductible. The total bill for the repair was a bit over $2100 plus whatever the rental car was for three weeks. As an aside, because the repair included removing the fuel filter housing, I gave the tech the new VW fuel filters I had been planning to swap out myself, and he put them in for me. Very nice!
I'd like to give a public kudos to all the folks in the service department at Schmelz for their service and hard work. Thanks to Duane the service writer and Jim the tech especially.
Nancy
