# ALTERNATOR REPLACEMENT COST!!!!!!!



## 747DRIVER (Jun 11, 2004)

Hi all-Had the unfortunate experience of having my alternator fail on the M25 the other day. Car relayed to my local Audi dealer. The cost to replace including labour is Â£751.05 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They have told me it is a very labour intensive job and they have to remove the manifold etc.
Is this right???


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## NUM_TT (Apr 5, 2004)

Possibly I have just got mine back from several bits of warranty work a squeak in the engine bay was one of the problems and the paperwork at the end said replaced alternator. They had the car 3 days. I think they had to take the front bumper* off? :?

Don't forget the dreaded audi per hour labour charges. 

*Although that may have been because of one of the other things I was having checked, noisy suspension.


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## 300TT (Apr 22, 2007)

747DRIVER said:


> Hi all-Had the unfortunate experience of having my alternator fail on the M25 the other day. Car relayed to my local Audi dealer. The cost to replace including labour is Â£751.05 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> They have told me it is a very labour intensive job and they have to remove the manifold etc.
> Is this right???


lmfao lol they come up with some right shite Â£751.05 , To make it easy you can take the inlet manifold off but even thats only a 10 minute job.i bet i could change one on my drive in 1hr 30 mins.God they really take the piss.W****nks


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## 747DRIVER (Jun 11, 2004)

Having made a few enquiries and spoken to guys who really know their stuff when it comes to TT's, the worse case scenario quote is Â£380 fitted.The alternator itself is Â£270+ vat, so they are not exactly cheap anyway It will cost me an extra Â£50 to have the car transported from the stealer to home where the work can be done. So down to Â£430 total-bit different to Â£751!! That quote is from Harwoods Audi at Five oaks by the way. Makes me mad :evil:


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## NUM_TT (Apr 5, 2004)

Yep in my experience always use Audi for warranty work (replacement car) but never use them for anything else. My previous TT's gearbox packed up (out of warranty) the worst mistake I made was to have it recovered to Audi what I should have done is contacted a specialist gearbox repairer/rebuilder. I won't ever be making that mistake again.


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## 747DRIVER (Jun 11, 2004)

Well-heres a turnup-Stealer just phoned-apparently they quoted me for replacing the alternator on a 3.2 instead-which is more expensive?. So the price has come down now to 2 hrs labour and a total cost inc VAT of Â£420 and they will locate my lost radio code. Funny old thing!!


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## Wak (May 6, 2002)

Could the problem not simply be a regulator on the back of the alternator?


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## gt russell (Nov 27, 2005)

747DRIVER said:


> Hi all-Had the unfortunate experience of having my alternator fail on the M25 the other day. Car relayed to my local Audi dealer. The cost to replace including labour is Â£751.05 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> They have told me it is a very labour intensive job and they have to remove the manifold etc.
> Is this right???


Its a DIY job and take you alternater to a repair centre and it will be the voltage regulator !! mine cost Â£30 and that was a year ago I fitted myself not too hard :wink:


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## 747DRIVER (Jun 11, 2004)

Alternator is apparently seized and damaged beyond repair -I will ask to see it for myself though.


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## 007TT (Mar 20, 2007)

The dealer price still takes the piss, there was a new one on Fleabay for Â£65 + delivery :?


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## TerraMan (Oct 31, 2005)

My regulator died while driving on the motorway a year or so back, well worth checking thats not whats causing the problem....you know stealers, always trying to make a quick buck and all...

I also replaced my alternator some time after this as it was making a god-awful noise. I've never done anything like that before, and I bet I used like 5 or 6 hours in total (yeah, laugh all you want..), but I got there in the end. Worst part was getting the old one OUT as it was bloody stuck, and I mean STUCK! Had to use a hammer on it to get to budge even ever so slightly....

....Cant even begin to describe how happy I was when i got it all together again, and it was working perfectly! It was alot of swearing, and alot of blood along the way - but it only made it even more worth it in the end


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## vwjim (Nov 27, 2011)

gt russell said:


> take you alternater to a repair centre and it will be the voltage regulator !! mine cost Â£30


Do you have any details of who you used?


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## Taylortony (Feb 10, 2012)

Suprised Audi didn't quote to replace the complete engine to be on the safe side, unless it is an exchange item, which I bet at that price it isn't, check the bill and ask for your old one, it is your property, you can as said keep it as a spare and get it sorted. If it had seized surely that would make your belt toast.


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## vwjim (Nov 27, 2011)

I'm getting mine tested tomorrow now that I've removed it.

One quick query though. Should the alternator pulley free wheel if spun in one direction (ie not turn the alternator) and drive the alternator if spun in the opposite direction?

Also, is the dipstick tube a main dealer part only, or are there better places to get that from?

thanks.


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi vwjim, you should be able to replace the voltage reg rather than the whole alternator, much much cheaper.
Some alternators have a freewheel pully, so looks as if yours has.
Dipstick tube may be avail at TPS if they will serve the public in your area, but probably not very expensive from Audi.
Hoggy.


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## vwjim (Nov 27, 2011)

Yep, fingers crossed that its just the reg'.

Found a local alternator specialist that can bench test to prove it is the alternator, (and not wiring on the car etc) and then just replace the defective element(s).


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## TT Stu-82 (Mar 26, 2012)

Dipstick tube is less than a fiver from Audi, 10min job to change. There's nothing actually holding them on, just pull the old one off and the new on


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## AdamG (Jun 21, 2012)

747DRIVER said:


> Well-heres a turnup-Stealer just phoned-apparently they quoted me for replacing the alternator on a 3.2 instead-which is more expensive?. So the price has come down now to 2 hrs labour and a total cost inc VAT of Â£420 and they will locate my lost radio code. Funny old thing!!


If you can get hold of one off ebay or similar my mobile mechanic works the Horsham area and charges a very reasonable £35/hour. Good bloke, honest and knows his onions. Only issue is waiting to get into his busy diary!!


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## cr4igj tt (May 9, 2012)

mine was the regulator £19.99 and fitted it myself.... If your gonna take it off to bench test it then you may as well replace it there not expensive...

alternator

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-TT-1-8-T ... 4ab680f40a

regulator- I bought this one and haven't had any issues

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-A6-A-6-A ... 43acae4e7d

dipstick- bought this one and haven't had any issues

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dipstick-Guid ... 27c4a4c2db


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## rustyintegrale (Oct 1, 2006)

My alternator wasn't charging the battery so I had a specialist take a look. It turned out to be the cable from the alternator to the fusebox on top of the battery. The cable was red hot and the nut connecting it was melting the plastic.

He basically cut the cable, inserted a separate fuse box just for the alternator and added a new piece of cable to connect directly to the battery. This sorted the problem and he told me this was a common fault on VAG cars. Might be worth checking that.

It did manage to cause the premature demise of my battery but I replaced that with a Bosch for £60 and the wiring cost me £40.


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## KammyTT (Jun 28, 2006)

Why not get one from a breakers yard at a fraction of the cost?


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## Brendanb86 (Feb 12, 2011)

My alternator went earlier in the year. Thought it might have been the regulator but replaced that and still no joy. Bought a genuine Bosch alternator for £180ish I think and my mate helped me change them over down at his garage.

Moral: Find where you local mechanic drinks, go down to the pub and buy him a beer or two. Become good mates with him and et voila! Free labour!


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## Nick 225TT (Jun 6, 2008)

Not quite free as you have to invest time and money at the pub  
Sound like a good excuse to go to the pub though will see what the wife says [smiley=argue.gif]

Joking aside is it possible for a regulator to over charge th battery as my car has destroyed 2 in as many years :?:

But it shows 14.5 charging rate as per normal or is it just the shite halfrauds battery's :?:


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## vwjim (Nov 27, 2011)

Well I dropped the alternator off this morning on the way to work. I'd barely got to work when they called me to confirm that the reg' was at fault. But also that the pulley bearing / pulley clutch were worn, not to the point of about to fail, but as the car has done 140k and I'm not planning on selling it soon, I decided to have the whole thing refurb'd.

Total cost less than the ebay versions, with all genuine parts and completed already ready for collection in the morning. Think that's pretty good service really.

So hopefully refitted tomorrow, along with a new radiator thermostat, dipstick tube :roll: and the clutch pedal swap I did last weekend. Should be good for a while yet.

Thanks for everyone's helpful comments.


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## Typhhon (Oct 28, 2006)

1.8 ....no instruction to move manifold.....
V6.... remove from underneath....manifold stays where it is..... costs less than 1.8...

So says Elsa...

Sounds like someone telling porkies...


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