I'm new to the forums, but you've provided answers in the past, so I thought this was the best place to come. I don't know too much about cars, but I know that I have put more money into fixing my 1996 A4 than I paid for it. I haven't even owned it a year, and here's some of what's been fixed/replaced:

Rear differentials (sorry if spelling is wrong, again, not a car person)
transmission
timing belt
front suspension
EGR valve
lower engine splash shield (the dealer duct taped that on - nice.)

Last month a spring broke loose somewhere around the rear passenger tire and that was banging along. Got that fixed. Now the Voltometer is giving me issues.

It has read, since I got the car in Nov. 2007, at 12 consistently. As of y'day it now is at 14+ consistently. It was just like that when I woke up to go to work. Is this bad? The manual only talks about what to do if the voltmeter reads below 12. The car sounds louder and it's off a bit when driving. It's probably not all that noticible to most, but I'm very touchy with this car since it's been a major financial burden.

Any thoughts? The engine oil temp gauge is also broken, but my dealer said that's not a huge deal as long as the light doesn't go on for the coolant. I have nothing left to give to this car. I just want to make sure I'm not damaging it if I drive it.

Thanks!

 

Should read ~12 with key in on/acc position and ~14 with engine running.

 

Yeah, around 13.8 is probably the most average reading while the engine is running.

 

If it continues going up again for some reason, will that hurt anything? If it gets to 16, etc. Maybe at that point it's just a bad voltmeter.

Thanks...

 

Well the car is supposed to charge at 13.8 like nm3210 said. If it goes above 14 yes I would have it checked out. You say it was always at 12? That could have been a problem then that for some reason isnt now.