Learnt a few new things about my sedan, including that it has a smart alternator.
BHPian sudhir_vag recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
What’s all fun if things go smoothly all day? So finally after running nearly 27,000 Km in a year and being the best man at my wedding. Superb failed to start all of a sudden yesterday morning. I drive from my in-law’s place (around 70 km), went inside the house for 20 mins and when I cranked it again I was greeted with fireworks lighting in the instrument cluster and resistance from brakes.
Contacted my SA immediately and he found out it was due to the battery issue. And suggested calling RSA. Skoda India has now tied up now with Europ Assistance India for RSA. RSA helpline was pretty helpful and the technician reached my home with jump-start instruments within the stipulated time (90 mins). We were able to jump-start the car. But when after on and jump-starting the car it failed to crank again. We figured the issue to be with the jump start battery and with the help of a local battery dealer the car started all good. Initially, I suspected the issue to be with the Alternator as like conventional cars with a voltmeter plugged in on pressing the accelerator input wasn’t increasing.
Folks at SGA Skoda suggested I can either drive the car or if I am not confident they are happy to send a recovery van. Decided to drive down to the service station at Coimbatore which is around 45 km from my home.
SA and the technician were ready to receive the vehicle. OBD and battery tests were done.
Alternator diagnostics was run and it did not throw any errors. The battery test showed recharge status meaning the battery is not in a good state. And I asked questions about the alternator and I came to know about something called Smart Alternators it was news to me.
The reason why the voltmeter reading is the same is apparently the vehicle is Smart Alternator where charging is controlled by ECU.
It was done to comply with emission norms and the engine is charged on demand and when the foot is let off the accelerator. At that time voltage from the alternator spikes up fast and does a fast charge of the battery. During acceleration the ECU can effectively turn off the alternator, and this means the vehicle has more power as the alternator bears no load on the engine, and on overrun the alternator can be allowed to overcharge as this does not affect vehicle performance.
The battery is being replaced under the warranty and SA has confirmed the vehicle will be handed over today.
The new thing that I figured out in Skoda Service this time once required repairs are found customers get a mail/sms with details of the work and the cost for the same. Only after the customer has approved for the same digitally is work carried out.
Keyword: My experience with Skoda's RSA service after my Superb broke down