Charging issue after removing battery and negative lead

[Ean Austral]

Gday All,

I removed the battery today and in the course of doing it I dropped a nut down behind the fuse box . I ended up removing the negative lead for ease to get to it , I retreived the nut and put things back together and after starting the car up my battery light now stay's on and the battery is NOT charging. I checked that all was tight and still no luck.


I ended up putting on my spare alternator and I still have the same issue. I have a separate lead from my alternator and there is no charge either before the inline fuse or after it.I find it hard to believe I have 2 dead alternators , especially when the one that was on the car has only done 10,000ks

I can only assume I have left a earth lead off or something when I have removed the negative lead from behind the fuse box or something silly like that OR when I have had the magnet down in the spaghetti junction behind the fuse box I have damaged something. I looked at the 5amp fuse in the fuse box in the engine bay and it seemed ok , but changed it anyway , I still have the same issue.


Does anyone know if there are any other things I should be looking for .


Cheers Ean

[letherm]

Gday All,

I removed the battery today and in the course of doing it I dropped a nut down behind the fuse box . I ended up removing the negative lead for ease to get to it , I retreived the nut and put things back together and after starting the car up my battery light now stay's on and the battery is NOT charging. I checked that all was tight and still no luck.


I ended up putting on my spare alternator and I still have the same issue. I have a separate lead from my alternator and there is no charge either before the inline fuse or after it.I find it hard to believe I have 2 dead alternators , especially when the one that was on the car has only done 10,000ks

I can only assume I have left a earth lead off or something when I have removed the negative lead from behind the fuse box or something silly like that OR when I have had the magnet down in the spaghetti junction behind the fuse box I have damaged something. I looked at the 5amp fuse in the fuse box in the engine bay and it seemed ok , but changed it anyway , I still have the same issue.


Does anyone know if there are any other things I should be looking for .


Cheers Ean

Hi Ean.

This thread talks about a reset being needed after a change of battery. Might be something to look at for trouble shooting.

Computer Reset after Battery Change (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/l319-discovery-3-and-4-a/206847-computer-reset-after-battery-change.html)

Martin

[Ean Austral]

Hi Ean.

This thread talks about a reset being needed after a change of battery. Might be something to look at for trouble shooting.

Computer Reset after Battery Change (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/l319-discovery-3-and-4-a/206847-computer-reset-after-battery-change.html)

Martin

I am not charging at all , seems to be a different problem than what I read in the thread you posted.

Thanks anyway.

Cheers Ean

[LRD414]

Could be different on yours but on mine (MY14) the BMS module on the negative lead appears quite delicate and has a small cable that looks like an earth coming off it. Perhaps this got left off during reinstall or something got damaged. Can you confirm the battery is healthy thus eliminating that as the issue? If the battery is actually healthy and the alternator is too then my guess is something has happened to the BMS.

Scott

[Ean Austral]

Could be different on yours but on mine (MY14) the BMS module on the negative lead appears quite delicate and has a small cable that looks like an earth coming off it. Perhaps this got left off during reinstall or something got damaged. Can you confirm the battery is healthy thus eliminating that as the issue? If the battery is actually healthy and the alternator is too then my guess is something has happened to the BMS.

Scott

Gday Scott,

Where is the small BMS wire you speak of ? is it actually on the negative lead or does it fit onto the earth stud behind the fuse box. This is the sort of thing I think could be the issue. I am confident that all was ok with the original alternator , but just to see I changed it and the exact same thing. The battery has good charge and started the car no problems at all, but the multimeter is showing no charge at all coming from the alternator wire at the battery.

I am sure it is something simple like that but this all happened at 4.30 pm so I didn't have to much daylight left to try to much.

Cheers Ean

[DiscoJeffster]

I believe both these circled small wires relate to the BMS. Both are small and fragile and have been known to be damaged. It might be something to explore.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/06/157.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/06/158.jpg

[LRD414]

That first photo is the positive cable isn't it? The small cable circled in the second photo where you can see G14 on the battery is the one I meant as being small and delicate. I don't know about behind the fuse box, that's a dark crevice I haven't had to access so far.

Scott

[DiscoJeffster]

That first photo is the positive cable isn't it? The small cable circled in the second photo where you can see G14 on the battery is the one I meant as being small and delicate. I don't know about behind the fuse box, that's a dark crevice I haven't had to access so far.

Scott
124807
Both wires are related to the BMS as you can work out when you review the wiring diagram above. Wire colours NU and UN (Brown Blue, Blue Brown) on both positive and negative terminals.

[Ean Austral]

The D3 must be different as I don't see any of that stuff on either terminal. I will have to check that there are no wires behind the fuse box that do the same job. Looking at the D3 wire diagram the only thing I can see is the field wire to the 5amp fuse in the fuse box.

Cheers Ean

[Ean Austral]

The car is showing fault code P0626 open circuit to battery .

cheers Ean

[DiscoJeffster]

Can I suggest you remove the battery and take a good look in the area for any trapped wires that might have been damaged during the removal and insertion? Trapped wires etc?
Also start checking more fuses I guess.

[Ean Austral]

Gday All,

Problem solved - When I made up the separate alternator cable I must have not crimped 1of the lugs correctly and when I undone it off the battery the lug had come off the cable but because it was covered in heat shrink it wasn't visible. I wasn't convinced it could be 2 alternators so I started from scratch and checked things from the battery back and when I disconnected it from the inline fuse it was obvious something wasn't right. Cut the heat shrink off and PRESTO problem found.


Atleast I got some more practice at changing alternators and know my spare does still work.

Thanks for the replies.



Cheers Ean

[Oztourer]

In my business that's called a maintenance induced failure!! Luckily for you Operations and Maintenance are the same group.:Rolling: Good find.

[Ean Austral]

In my business that's called a maintenance induced failure!! Luckily for you Operations and Maintenance are the same group.:Rolling: Good find.

We are not so fancy in my business , it's just said that you ****ed up [bigwhistle]

Cheers Ean

[Pedro_The_Swift]

actually, in a roundabout way, you did some great preventative maintenance!!
much better you found that bad crimp in the driveway than in Uppercumbuctawest... [bigwhistle][bigrolf][biggrin]

[Ean Austral]

actually, in a roundabout way, you did some great preventative maintenance!!
much better you found that bad crimp in the driveway than in Uppercumbuctawest... [bigwhistle][bigrolf][biggrin]

morning Pedro,

that is exactly how I look at it . It did last a couple of years , a trip thru the Kimberley's as well so it wasn't a total stuff up on my behalf .

cheers Ean