I am driving a 1989 jetta turbo diesel. Last June new alternator was put in, as well as alt, a/c, and pw/s belt. Bought the car april last year, and was told that the timing belt had just been done.
A few weeks ago my car started acting like it was having alternator problems. While driving my heater fan and lights would power up and down, and the car felt like it was surging. As well, at random, the Tach would dip below 1Krpm, i'd hear a short squeal, and the tach would pop back up.
Because the alternator is new, went out and got a new regulator fo it. And the alt and pw/s belts were tightened (but not a/c, too hard to get too). The lights and fan surging has stopped but the squealing has gotten worse. From the short squeal and tach drop, the time it would drop got longer and longer.
Now, this is what it has been doing. I start my car, let it warm up, tach will be at just above 1k, and my batt light stays on, until i give it a bit of juice, light goes out, and the tach drops below 1k. I pull out of my drive way, and the squeal will start, go away when i shift, and then come back. The squealing will follow me for about 2 blocks, or until i can 'hear' my engine rev up to about 3k's. Sometimes when i turn a corner, the squeal will come back again for another block or two. When i'm driving around town, the tach will stay down, but on a recent 20 min drive, the tach randomly started working again. The squeal is there everytime i park, shut off my vehicle, and restart. While i am driving, the tach is always down, wether there is squealing or not.
A few weeks ago before i put the new regulator in, we tested the voltage drop across the battery, as it says to in the repair manual, and it the results showed that my alt was charging my battery properly. But this week i have noticed that my car is needing a little bit more juice for it to start. As well yesterday i was at school, and accidentaly left my lights on for a couple hours, which in the past hasn't made a difference, but this time i couldn't start my car, so i think that my battery isn't charging properly.
my questions are: because we didn't tighten the a/c belt along with the others, is that making a difference? Is my alternator faulty, and should i warrantee it? if not these, what else could it be?? thanks