Hello everyone, like I said I have a 2006 Volkswagen Beetle. Over the last week we just replaced my battery and my alternator. Original problem: burning smell, coming from under the hood. Smelled as if it was overheating radiator. Pulled into nearest gas station and looked under the hood and saw smoke billowing around the battery. I let it sit for about 30 minutes and then drove to the nearest AutoZone. The employee looked at the battery and there was battery acid underneath the battery and underneath the cap. We replaced the battery and then did a test on the alternator. The alternator showed that it was not any good and that it was the voltage regulator causing the problem. We replaced the alternator and then drove it back to AutoZone to test it again. Came up with the test came back showing the same result, however while we were waiting for one of the guys to come out, my boyfriend looked at a case that was above the battery with approximately 6 wires going into it and one wire coming out of it and going into the positive terminal. One of the wires had burned up inside the case. We connected that wire correctly and that solved the problem. The meter that they use at AutoZone read the problem as being a faulty regulator when all it was was a disconnected wire. In other words the alternator was replaced when it didn't need to be so definitely if you think there's something wrong with your alternator check these wires first!