alternator or battery

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jacksun1987
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alternator or battery

Post by jacksun1987 »

I was driving in the fog the battery light came on. Mu lights where dimming wiper going slow. Had to turn my heater off to keep the lights on.
It was well bad.
The battery light keeps comming on and off. But it still starts up first time.
What could it be?

THANKS
PAUL JACKSON
1991 h reg 1.7tzd hatch in black 159.000 miles had
1992 k reg 1.7 txd hatch in red 179. 000 miles had
Renaul laguna exspessin 02 plate 1.8 16v 75 k had
cosa 1.2 brezze 150 k had
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docchevron
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Post by docchevron »

points towards the alternator, but check the leads to it are secure first, but it's more likely to be the rectifyer pack on it's way out.
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Post by mds141 »

Paul i would also check your earthing points battery earth strap attaches to gearbox housing IIRC.
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jacksun1987
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Post by jacksun1987 »

Took it out for a quick drive. It took 5 minites to rise up mabye longer.
The battery light came on when i left it standing for a bit and had things on in the car. Started up with out the battery light on though. But te warning hydorolic light stayed on for ages.
My grandad said could be a faulty earth connection. Have to get it tested. Ill have a look tomo.
PAUL JACKSON
1991 h reg 1.7tzd hatch in black 159.000 miles had
1992 k reg 1.7 txd hatch in red 179. 000 miles had
Renaul laguna exspessin 02 plate 1.8 16v 75 k had
cosa 1.2 brezze 150 k had
406 glx 1.9 td 170k s reg white got
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rayfenwick
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Post by rayfenwick »

Slipping belt...?
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jacksun1987
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Post by jacksun1987 »

I had the belt checked. They said it was ok. I do hope i get a job soon. Then i can come down to te next bx meeting and sort it out. Or if i have enough redundancy money. Take it to bob wildings or bullwinkles. And give them the keys tell them to sort it.
PAUL JACKSON
1991 h reg 1.7tzd hatch in black 159.000 miles had
1992 k reg 1.7 txd hatch in red 179. 000 miles had
Renaul laguna exspessin 02 plate 1.8 16v 75 k had
cosa 1.2 brezze 150 k had
406 glx 1.9 td 170k s reg white got
KevR
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Post by KevR »

jacksun1987 wrote:And give them the keys tell them to sort it.
To be honest mate, you'd be better off learning to sort it yourself. It's not rocket science to check all the connections and won't cost anything at all to do it yourself. If that doesn't cure it, borrow a voltmeter off someone and it'll be easy enough to check the alternator output as well, then at least you'll know if it's that or the battery.
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Post by kiwi »

This sounds like a simple job to me as well.

You say the belt is not slipping! How often have we heard that line and been told that only to find the belt is slipping because it is in need of replacement.

Adjusting the belts on the BXs are fiddly and annoying to get the knack of and if your not checking them correctly your going to get low battery charge warnings and slow Hydraulic rise.

Given you said
It took 5 minites to rise up mabye longer.
The battery light came on when i left it standing for a bit and had things on in the car. Started up with out the battery light on though. But te warning hydorolic light stayed on for ages.
This is where I would be seriously looking at being the culprits as being poorly adjusted belts.

Very easy to steer to to the Earthing faults, battery etc and overlook the obvious.
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Post by rayfenwick »

kiwi wrote:This sounds like a simple job to me as well.

You say the belt is not slipping! How often have we heard that line and been told that only to find the belt is slipping because it is in need of replacement.

Adjusting the belts on the BXs are fiddly and annoying to get the knack of and if your not checking them correctly your going to get low battery charge warnings and slow Hydraulic rise.

Given you said
It took 5 minites to rise up mabye longer.
The battery light came on when i left it standing for a bit and had things on in the car. Started up with out the battery light on though. But te warning hydorolic light stayed on for ages.
This is where I would be seriously looking at being the culprits as being poorly adjusted belts.

Very easy to steer to to the Earthing faults, battery etc and overlook the obvious.
Exactly what I thought, but I'm used to being ignored ;)
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1979 Citroën CX 2.4 EI Cmatic Prestige (slowly being restored)

1992 Alfa Romeo 164 Lusso 3.0 v6 12v Manual (on the to-do list)

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Post by kiwi »

rayfenwick wrote:Exactly what I thought, but I'm used to being ignored ;)
ROFL I was not ignoring you either I was backing you up because it sounded the best advice so far. :lol:
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Post by rayfenwick »

Thanks Kiwi :)

It's no secret I'm not so good with the mechanical stuff of cars. I understand the theories fair enough, but for health reasons I'm not much use at the heavy practical stuff.

My bit of Sherlock Holmes reasoning goes like this: the only thing that connects the hydraulic system and the electrical system is the belt. Until that's been ruled out by proper investigation, a belt fault is more likely than separate electrical and hydraulic faults that happen to manifest themselves at exactly the same time...

Of course it might not be the belt, but a methodical process of elimination from the ground up has to be the most sensible way.

When I bought my BX it was fine on the journey from Richards, but next day squealed like a banshee whenever the regulator kicked in. I feared a collapsed bearing or some such in the pump, or an associated pulley on something else. Turned out to be.... slack belt.

Paul - if you can get your car sorted by spending 5 mins with a spanner, it's a lot better than handing over money, dropping your trousers and asking someone to sort it for you... :)
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1979 Citroën CX 2.4 EI Cmatic Prestige (slowly being restored)

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Post by mat_fenwick »

rayfenwick wrote:My bit of Sherlock Holmes reasoning goes like this: the only thing that connects the hydraulic system and the electrical system is the belt.
Not on the diesels...sorry to spoil your logical deduction!

I think that spending a few quid on a multimeter (as already mentioned) would go a long way to pinpointing the electrical problem.
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jacksun1987
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Post by jacksun1987 »

I think i have done it. I had a gander at the battety and i saw this lead with a black clip on it. I then saw the small retangle box thing. It had 3 leads on it 2 on one side and 1 on another. So i got the leed plug it back in. Tured evrything on in the car. The lights went out on the dashboared. Nothing. The widscreen wiper was faster.


And before has i was comming down the drive with only the fan on. The battery light was on.
Last edited by jacksun1987 on Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
PAUL JACKSON
1991 h reg 1.7tzd hatch in black 159.000 miles had
1992 k reg 1.7 txd hatch in red 179. 000 miles had
Renaul laguna exspessin 02 plate 1.8 16v 75 k had
cosa 1.2 brezze 150 k had
406 glx 1.9 td 170k s reg white got
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rayfenwick
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Post by rayfenwick »

mat_fenwick wrote: Not on the diesels...sorry to spoil your logical deduction!
I'll stfu then :)
mat_fenwick wrote: I think that spending a few quid on a multimeter (as already mentioned) would go a long way to pinpointing the electrical problem.
Agreed. Useless for the hydraulics though ;)
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The Fleet (most recent first):
2000 Citroën XM 3.0 24V V6 Exclusive Auto (pre-MOT)
1997 Citroën XM 2.0 TCT Exclusive Auto (for sale)
1979 Citroën CX 2.4 EI Cmatic Prestige (slowly being restored)

1992 Alfa Romeo 164 Lusso 3.0 v6 12v Manual (on the to-do list)

www.citroencarclub.co.uk
jacksun1987
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Post by jacksun1987 »

tempted to unplug it then see what happerns. If it does the same things as before. lol
PAUL JACKSON
1991 h reg 1.7tzd hatch in black 159.000 miles had
1992 k reg 1.7 txd hatch in red 179. 000 miles had
Renaul laguna exspessin 02 plate 1.8 16v 75 k had
cosa 1.2 brezze 150 k had
406 glx 1.9 td 170k s reg white got
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