electricity problems...

[dabill]

in a nut shell, battery wont charge, or wont hold its charge!

left the lights on during the day yesterday, and had to get the jump leads out to get her going.

had to do it a further 3 times, even after a 15 min drive, and leaving her to stand for 10 mins running...

recently had a second hand altenator on as the old ones bearings had died and didnt seem to be charging the car, but now im thinking it might be the battery...

left it standing this morning in the works car park(after having to jump it off my dads to get here) and after about half an hour came back to it, idleing like a pig. it started up, but sounded like it was struggling.

its a new starter motor so its not that.

suggestions? think im gonna get a new battery either way, but might get the altenator checked on my way home, providing the car starts...

[jt gti]

take it to an auto spares shop, they will test battery for free.
that way you will know for sure.

[mattkh]

in a nut shell, battery wont charge, or wont hold its charge!suggestions? think im gonna get a new battery either way, but might get the altenator checked on my way home, providing the car starts...

Hi
Put the battery on a slow charge for 30 hours

[dabill]

just come back from kwik fit, the guy there (who co-incidently i knew from school) reckons battery is fine, its the altenator...which is a bummer!

so off to see my Dan at ECP to get it tested by them witha  propper peice of kit to make sure, then if it is, gonna just shell out and get a spanking new one.

[Dolly]

test it with proper kit? multilmetre, not running 10-12v dependant on charge, running typically 13-14v ... it thats ok id turn the car off remove the earth cable from the battery and make the link using multimetre in amps . looking for no more than .02 of an amp id guess...

i had a battery drain on mine, was the radio as someone had removed the ignition feed to it and gone straight from the permanent live.

[richandhazel]

If you have a multimeter handy you can stick it on the voltage range and measure the voltage with the car running. You should be getting around 13 to 14 volts. If the voltage continues to drop after starting, especially with lights on, then there is a problem with the charging, although it may just be the brushes or something cheaper than a new alternator.

[richandhazel]

Sorry Dolly, we must have been writing at the same time. Glad we're in agreement though

[kittie]

maybe the alternator is faulty?

I had a new battery the other week then it went flat.

I thought the alternator was faulty but then I realised I'd actually left the interior light on (tinted windows + external lighting at home makes this quite easy to do in my defense!) and felt like a right plonker... 

[dabill]

on the multi-meter at kwik fit it was saying just over 12v when running, which dropped to about 12v with lights on i think...

what amp altenator will my 1.8 digi have, tis the H-reg...

cheers

[richandhazel]

Ok a charging problem. Next step is to remove the brush/diode pack and check the brush length. Just two screw to remove it and considerably cheaper than a new alternator if thats all it turns out to be.