Thread: Alternator Or Battery...........

Originally Posted by jerryd

Travelling home from work tonight the headlights on the county started flickering, this steadily got worse and after 15 minutes or so the battery warning light came on The needle on the voltage gauge plummeted into the minus side of charge and within a few minutes my headlights were like candles.

I managed to get home and yes the battery was very flat, I checked the belts which are fine so could it be the battery or the alternator ?? Is there an easy way to check or do I need to get the vehicle to a garage and have it checked out ??

Going through my service records, the alternator was reconditioned in '98

Sounds like the alternator packed it in, but check it with a multimeter. Put the battery on charge overnight and see if it charges up. Hit it with a load tester if you have one. Also check for loose wiring around the alternator. The charge light should have come on if the alternator wasn't charging.

Originally Posted by jerryd

Travelling home from work tonight the headlights on the county started flickering, this steadily got worse and after 15 minutes or so the battery warning light came on The needle on the voltage gauge plummeted into the minus side of charge and within a few minutes my headlights were like candles.

I managed to get home and yes the battery was very flat, I checked the belts which are fine so could it be the battery or the alternator ?? Is there an easy way to check or do I need to get the vehicle to a garage and have it checked out ??

Going through my service records, the alternator was reconditioned in '98

kiss principle for me,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

start simple,,,,,

charge battery,,,,if it does,nt hold charge assuming its not dry as a chip then a cell is prob dead.

,,if it holds charge,then u can assume problem is else where. check voltage on battery whilst vehicle running (no acc on )at least 1500rpm,,,,,,meter should register somewhere in the vicinity of 13.5 -14 v,if lower than this u may have alt issues.

be sure to check the simple things first ,before u throw money or dive into engine bay,,,,,,,,,,such as batt terminals /are they spotless takes very little crap to affect the integrity of the connection ...alt connections etc etc ........

sure they,ll be a sparky on here that can set you straight,,,,,,goodluck.

I'll check all the above in daylight tomorrow, I meant the "charge light" came on not the battery light !! I topped the battery up a couple of weeks back and terminals were clean and tight.

Just my luck it will be the alternator there goes my new springs and shocks again

Originally Posted by jerryd

I'll check all the above in daylight tomorrow, I meant the "charge light" came on not the battery light !! I topped the battery up a couple of weeks back and terminals were clean and tight.

Just my luck it will be the alternator there goes my new springs and shocks again

If you have a charger, whack it on overnight and see what happens!!!

Sounds like your battery is getting old if it couldn't hold enough charge to run the car for 1/2 hour. It may survive but maybe not well. I would be inclined to suspect worn out brushes in the alternator, 12 years is plenty to do that. May be cheap to fix if there's nothing else wrong with it.

Could be a short somewhere in the headlight wiring if they were flickering before the alternator light came on. If the battery charges up, start it and test the alternator to see if it's charging and if all is good turn the lights on and see what happens.

The symptoms suggest, as others indicate, that the alternator is not charging. But test if possible by charging the battery. If it charges and holds a charge, then the problem is elsewhere - the battery could have caused the light dimming and ultimately the alternator to cut out if it had an internal short so that the voltage was less than about 9v even when charging, but I would expect it to show signs of overheating in this case. Much more likely is that the alternator had not been charging properly for some time and it just gradually went flat - if the alternator was charging just enough to keep the alternator light on, the charge could have been inadequate for some time.

First thing after the battery I would look at is the fan belt tension - a loose belt (and it does not have to be very loose) will reduce charge to a trickle, particularly if it is raining. Failing that, unless there is loose or damaged wiring, it is probably either the brushes or a diode on the alternator. Alternators are repairable, although whether it is cheaper depends on both the cost of a replacement and the labour costs of the repairer. Of course, the problem with repairs is they usually put the vehicle off the road for a few days.

John

If after all these checks it is the alternator, am I correct in assuming that I will need the Isuzu item ?? Mine has the 4BE1 engine fitted.

I'll put the battery out of the territory in it tomorrow am and see what happens, then take it from there. Seems lots of little problems happening lately, it's becoming a bit like a puma