Jetta Alternator and Battery Keep Dumping

[EddieMontag]

This one is pretty frustrating. Started with the battery being dead upon trying to start the vehicle.

I replaced both the Alternator after some initial testing. Got it from Schucks.

Connections all looked good, no corrosion. Started up and voltage was only about 12 - 12.5. After one trip by my Daughter, it was dead again.

Replaced Battery. This time it ran for about a week before it happened again. Doing some more testing, it seemed that the alternator would be charging intermittently (sometimes 13.8V and then sometimes nothing). Tried all types of different loads while running (fans, radio, lights, etc) to see if it made any difference. Nothing definitive. Seemd to be the luck of the draw after startup as to whether it would be charging or not.

After about three more dead battery stints, I finally took it to the shop.

They claimed the alternator was bad, so they replaced it. The new one went bad while it was still in the shop. They also said there was a parasitic drain associated with the trunk latch which connects to the alarm. This is currently disconnected.

They finally put a Bosch alternator in it. It dropped out as they were backing it out of the bay to return it to me.

Then magically, the next day they said it was fixed, they had found a "cracked" wire that was shorting the alternator out.

One week on the road, and we are at ground zero, my daughter was driving it and it basically died of electrical shutdown as the battery drained while it was being driven.

Its back at the shop, not sure I trust these guys though. Help?

Eddie