Car cut out. but then fine (I hope)

[MattGuest]

I have a 2012 1.2 Polo.

This morning, as I started my journey to work I noticed my wipers were working very slowly across the screen, almost stuttering across the glass. They were still on from yesterday evening due to the remnants of the storm.
Anyway, I turned them off. As I got the the junction at the end of my street I noticed the red battery light was lit. I pulled away, turning left, and the car almost immediately stuttered and cut out leaving me half in and half out of the junction. I waited a few moments and started the engine again, the rev counter went a bit wobbly, so I added some revs, and pulled over safely. No battery light was illuminated. I left the car to settle a few minutes and pulled away fine, making the rest of the journey without issue. Does anybody have any clues why this may have happened? I'm keen to not have this happen again tomorrow. TIA

[iichel]

Sounds like an alternator issue. You could have it checked at a garage. Given the intermittent nature of the symptoms, it could be anything from a dying alternator to simply bad luck.

I don't think a 1.2 75bhp has a Lin operated alternator so some databus issue can be ruled out.

Some things you could do yourself is to check the voltage of the alternator / battery with a running engine and with the engine switched off. This way you could have an indication whether any of them is in bad shape. And check the fuses on top of the battery for cracks or corrosion.

[MattGuest]

Thank you. I will try all of those things. I will try to borrow a multitester to check voltage (if that's what i need?)

[stuartrendall]

I have had a similar issues in the past where the car battery would intermittently just cut the power and be stuck in traffic, sometimes moving. I found the problem was just a loose terminal on the battery so could be worth checking and maybe tightening as a precautionary check.

[MattGuest]

I'll check the connections later. It's so weird that after it cut out it was fine!