| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 975.1 | Don't try stripping an alternator unless you know what you're doing! | BRIANH::NAYLOR | Purring on all 12 cylinders | Mon Mar 05 1990 12:26 | 21 |
| First of all, removing and stripping an alternator is not a job for the amateur.
You can have a garage put a clamp-meter on for you (probably for free) to
check it's pumping current correctly. Usual problem is that during winter we
use a lot more electrical load and the alternator may fail, but it's unusual.
In the old days, dynamos were a lot less reliable and gave MUCH less current!
1.Have the alrenator current checked at a garage.
2. With the ignition OFF, remove the + lead from the battery and as it comes
away, see if there's any sign of a spark - indicating a leakage to something.
It may just be the clock, but you never know! If you get a big spark, say
something that seems as big as from a spark plug, then you've definitely got
a leakage problem.
3.CLEAN EVERYTHING! If you have any corrosion on the electrics between the
alternator terminals and the battery, it will not work to full efficiency and
will eventually stop altogether. If you wife's car has basically "sat" for
the last 5 years, there may be some hidden corrosion on the terminals that
should be cleaned off.
Brian
|
| 975.2 | Check the earth | IOSG::MITCHELL | Elaine | Mon Mar 05 1990 13:18 | 6 |
|
Pay special attention to the earthing straps and contacts. The symptoms
from a bad earth make the battry appear to be flat when it is perfectly
ok.
Elaine
|
| 975.3 | | ANNECY::MATTHEWS | M+M Enterprises. Thats the CATCH | Mon Mar 05 1990 13:34 | 7 |
| Is the battery going flat, or is it ust that it won't turn the engine
over long enough to get it to start ??? I had a similar problem with
an old Fiesta which was cured by replacing the battery with a higher
power one. The original battery would only turn the engine over for
a very short time on cold mornings, evern when in good condition.
Mark
|
| 975.4 | | VANILA::LINCOLN | The sun has got his hat on | Mon Mar 05 1990 15:15 | 15 |
| Basically there are two possibilities -
1. Something is discharging the battery.
2. It's not being charged.
You'll need a test meter to find out, by measuring the current
with ign off (should be minute), and with engine running (should
charge).
As the last reply stated, if it's just a question of starting it
could just be an expired battery, sounds as if it's 6 years old
so it wouldn't be surprising, but I'd check first.
-John
|
| 975.5 | The simple check... | UKCSSE::RDAVIES | Live long and prosper | Mon Mar 05 1990 15:20 | 6 |
| Or ... go to the lucas service centre and have a charge-check. I did
when my wife's Visa started doing this. Turned out there was a short
circuit cell in the (11 month old) battery. Went back to one-stop who
supplied the battery, and got a replacement.
Richard
|
| 975.6 | Possible current leak | VANDAL::BROWNM | | Mon Mar 05 1990 16:37 | 6 |
| My Dad had a similar problem in his Toyota Corolla. He measured the current
leaking and found it was about 30mA. He cleaned the alternator around the
terminals and the leakage was eliminated. Don't expect a zero current by-the-way
as most radios and of course the clock taks a small current.
Mike.
|
| 975.7 | Thanks....but the solution was rough!! | KERNEL::LOANE | Once upon a time in a TU45! | Tue Mar 06 1990 14:52 | 11 |
| Well, thanks for all the input/suggestions. I checked out the
leakage current, and there was a massive 4mA....not exactly
crippling for a 200 Ah Battery (or whatever it is). So, I thought
that I'd better bring the car in to Halfords to see if they would
check for a bad cell. That's the good news.
I parked the car at work...2 hours later, our building is gutted by
fire, and my wife's car is a burnt-out hulk. That's the last time
she'll let me try and mend anything for her!!.
Chris
|