April 15, 200620 yr comment_112665 Hi all, Wondering if you can help my wife, she is the proud owner of an old VP 3.8L wagon, and tonight driving home all of the electricals failed, starting with the dash dimming out, headlights dying and dash gauges reading lower than they should, then the car sputtered for a second and died. The car starts but stalls shortly afterwards. Any suggestions?? Thanks, Report
April 15, 200620 yr comment_112671 It sounds like alternator but then if it was the alternator the car would of drained the battery and wouldnt of restarted, you can run a car off a battery without the alternator but it will drain the battery quickly especially with the lights on. i had this happen. Report
April 15, 200620 yr comment_112674 Could be the altenator earthing out inside itself is what I meant. Report
April 15, 200620 yr comment_112676 good possibility, is the alternator making any noise?, i would be taking my belt off and seeing how the car starts then. Report
April 15, 200620 yr comment_112680 Plug under the coil packs sometime's get's dirty. My brother-in-law had that problem. Worth checking to make sure its tight. Other problem is the coil-packs can die in the arse. Edited April 16, 200620 yr by AE35 Report
April 15, 200620 yr Author comment_112708 i stuck my meter on the battery this morning and it read 11.80v then i started the car a nd it was running fine, i then checked the meter again and it was reading 14.8v at idle I ran the car for 10 or so min's and turned it off and rechecked the battery and it read 12.4v any ideas?? Report
April 16, 200620 yr comment_112738 Well your alternator sounds fine. is this the 1st time its had any trouble electrically. Report
April 16, 200620 yr comment_112781 electronics in cars are a pain in the ass, they can be soo hard to fix!! Report
April 16, 200620 yr comment_112786 electronics in cars are a pain in the ass, they can be soo hard to fix!! theres a handy response :lolcry: have a good check through everything, check all your earths :lolcry: Report
April 16, 200620 yr comment_112798 just take it to a place that deals with car electronics and let them figure it out, it will cost more but it'll save a whole lot of messin around Report
April 18, 200620 yr Author comment_113113 My wife now tells me the altenator light has been coming on for a while now but then it will turn off again, I am starting to think a bad conection, I also found her power steering pump was leaking like a .......... and the fluid is all over the motor maybe I will just fix the pump, clean the engine bay and replace the belt on the front of the motor ( it has power steering fluid all over it) it could have just been slipping and I know if your altenator in a dunnydore stops charging the car will turn off... Report
April 18, 200620 yr comment_113120 i stuck my meter on the battery this morning and it read 11.80v then i started the car a nd it was running fine, i then checked the meter again and it was reading 14.8v at idle I ran the car for 10 or so min's and turned it off and rechecked the battery and it read 12.4v any ideas?? No your altenator is not fine...the regulator is stuffed, it should never charge at more than 14.5 volts as this is very bad for the battery, and if the alt light has been coming on, the voltage has also been dropping too low, which is also an indicator that the regulator is stuffed. The battery voltage at stand still has very little to do with anything, unless it's standing voltage is 10 or less, obviously the battery voltage will read higher after it has just had charge pumping into it. Take the car to an auto elec, and buy a new altenator, or just a regulator and fit it, I am pretty sure that will fix it. Report
April 18, 200620 yr comment_113133 No your altenator is not fine...the regulator is stuffed, it should never charge at more than 14.5 volts as this is very bad for the battery, and if the alt light has been coming on, the voltage has also been dropping too low, which is also an indicator that the regulator is stuffed. The battery voltage at stand still has very little to do with anything, unless it's standing voltage is 10 or less, obviously the battery voltage will read higher after it has just had charge pumping into it. Take the car to an auto elec, and buy a new altenator, or just a regulator and fit it, I am pretty sure that will fix it. i beg to differ. ke70 alternators are regulated at 14.8 and many new cars the alternator is regulated at 15.1 14.8 is a good charging voltage Report
April 18, 200620 yr comment_113135 Yes indeed, i don't mean to sound like i have worked everywhere but i did work experience at booval auto electrics and i know how an alternator works AND YOU CAN run a car without the alternator going until the battery dies. Edited April 18, 200620 yr by Trev Report
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