dysolve Posted April 15, 2006 Report Share Posted April 15, 2006 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, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolla__Boy Posted April 15, 2006 Report Share Posted April 15, 2006 Could be the altenator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trev Posted April 15, 2006 Report Share Posted April 15, 2006 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolla__Boy Posted April 15, 2006 Report Share Posted April 15, 2006 Could be the altenator earthing out inside itself is what I meant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trev Posted April 15, 2006 Report Share Posted April 15, 2006 good possibility, is the alternator making any noise?, i would be taking my belt off and seeing how the car starts then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted April 15, 2006 Report Share Posted April 15, 2006 (edited) 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, 2006 by AE35 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dysolve Posted April 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2006 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?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trev Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 Well your alternator sounds fine. is this the 1st time its had any trouble electrically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pozman Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 electronics in cars are a pain in the ass, they can be soo hard to fix!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love ke70 Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 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: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fayt Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dysolve Posted April 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 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... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolla__Boy Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love ke70 Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trev Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 (edited) 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, 2006 by Trev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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