Rich Posted November 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 Then another geo Be easy now the camber kit is off! I doubt it will be this year anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 Poxy car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 Was expecting it mate...... I'm only pulling your chain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 Was expecting it mate...... I'm only pulling your chain I'm not angry cos of that it's cos the flaming car is dead!!! Started driving home from work and the lights on the dash were going mental, lost the rev counter, wipers very slow etc. Got home turned it off and it wouldn't restart Didn't even turn over so I thought it was the starter motor, rocked the car back and forth in gear and still nothing. Went indoors and came out half an hour later and got it started but as soon as you switch anything on it started again. Seems to be pointing to the alternator now but usually the battery light comes on if it is as I've had to replace it before. Got the battery on charge now and will try tomorrow after work to see what it's reading under load if I can get it started. So I'm gonna have to get a new one of those by the looks of it. Amazing that I'm stripping bits off and thinking of selling I start getting problems or accidents happen like with the dog! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randominbread Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 Sorry to hear that your having car problems. My megane decided it wanted to kill a coil pack on saturday, it just died at a set of traffic lights. A quick fix though! And there's Tony going on about how fascinating electricity is in another thread - Shocking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 Sorry to hear that your having car problems. My megane decided it wanted to kill a coil pack on saturday, it just died at a set of traffic lights. A quick fix though! And there's Tony going on about how fascinating electricity is in another thread - Shocking That time of year mate, must be the cold!! Yeah it's Tony fault, jinxed me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 I've gotta drive my missus brothers Pug 106 to work tomorrow...it has no power steering, sounds like tractor (1.5. diesel) and has wheels that are too big for it so handles like crap!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randominbread Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 I used to drive an old MK 1 golf that didn't have power steering, that had awesome steering feed back you could instantly tell you were pushing things! Don't know why people want massive wheels - cookie cutters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 I used to drive an old MK 1 golf that didn't have power steering, that had awesome steering feed back you could instantly tell you were pushing things! Don't know why people want massive wheels - cookie cutters My first 2 cars didn't have it but the last time I drove one was over 8 years ago now. It was tramlining alot when I drove the car back to mine but it's only got 15" wheels on. Problem is they're 195 wide and the rears rub on the arches, but I only got a taster of it, the drive to work in the morning will be exciting!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 Barb's get off the pot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonybarber Posted November 17, 2010 Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 I've got a multi meter here you can borrow Rich you really want to be taking a reading off the back of the alternator rather than the battery as a properly nackered batt can give you bad charge readings, at least you will know for sure then before you buy an alternator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 I've got a multi meter here you can borrow Rich you really want to be taking a reading off the back of the alternator rather than the battery as a properly nackered batt can give you bad charge readings, at least you will know for sure then before you buy an alternator. I've got a standard multi meter, would yours be the same as mine? How do you check the alternator with one then and do you need the battery connected? I'm fairly certain I bought the battery before last winter so I think it's a good'un! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randominbread Posted November 17, 2010 Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 Disconnect the battery and measure the voltage. set the multimeter to volts D.C. should see a reading of at least 12V. leave the multimeter connected for 3 minutes and monitor the voltage. What do you get? Reconnect the battery to the car, leave the ignition off, and once again check the voltage over 3 minutes. should once again see a reading of at least 12V. There may be a very small drop in voltage over time, i.e start at 12.7V then 12.65. What do you get? Start the engine and once again measure and monitor the voltage across the battery. If you got say 12.7V engine off you should see a reading of at least 13.7V. i.e at least 1 Volt more. What do you get? I'm off to the gym now, post up your results and I'll help where I can. Richie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 Cheers mate At work until 6pm so it won't be until tonight or even tomorrow now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randominbread Posted November 17, 2010 Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 No worries Rich, post up the results when you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 This is what my multimeter looks like and I have it in the position it's set to in the photo. Last night it was reading 12V but after charging it, it was reading 15.5V when I got home from work and just tried again and it's 13.1V...so what does this mean? I've not been able to look at the alternator tonight as it's raining. I need to get this sorted by Monday as I won't have a car to use then so I'm tempted to get an alternator on ebay as they're alot cheaper than the motorfactors, if I ordered this one now hopefully I'd have it for the weekend. But then I could be wasting money if it's not that!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randominbread Posted November 17, 2010 Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 Rich, go and disconnect both leads off the battery and measure the voltage across the terminals and monitor it for 3 minutes. This is to check whether the battery is serviceable. 13.1V is a good sign but you do need to monitor it for voltage drop over time. Set the multimeter to 20V range to get a more accurate reading. Post up the initial reading and the reading after 2-3 minutes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 Rich, go and disconnect both leads off the battery and measure the voltage across the terminals and monitor it for 3 minutes. This is to check whether the battery is serviceable. 13.1V is a good sign but you do need to monitor it for voltage drop over time. Set the multimeter to 20V range to get a more accurate reading. Post up the initial reading and the reading after 2-3 minutes I have the battery next to me so give me 3 minutes, although I did do it for a couple of minutes earlier.... Right the initial reading was 14.51V, it then slowly went up to 15.85V before coming back down and settling at 14.05V... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randominbread Posted November 17, 2010 Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 make sure you leave the multimeter attached to the battery and watch the readings over a couple of minutes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 Results above Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randominbread Posted November 17, 2010 Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 Thats slightly unusual, have you disconnected it from your battery charger? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 Thats slightly unusual, have you disconnected it from your battery charger? I charged it overnight and disconnected it this morning before leaving for work, so that was 7am...it's not been connected to anything since. Just to add it's not a sealed battery so checked all the cells and none of them are dry. Still raining so can't get outside yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randominbread Posted November 17, 2010 Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 Cool, I'm happy that your battery is serviceable if its holding a steady 14.05V. Now we check for a short to earth or an unexpectedly large current draw. Right go and re-connect it to the car and measure the voltage again over 3 minuets. Make sure the engine is off, ignition key out, interior light is off and the radio and any other ancillary equipment. We're looking for the battery to maintain 14V over the 3 mins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 Thanks for your help Richie, that will have to wait until the morning as it's still chucking it down...so if it maintains the 14V that means it's ok? Then start the engine and again monitor for 3 minutes, after this do you do it again with the lights on etc to put the extra load on the alternator? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randominbread Posted November 17, 2010 Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 Yep, with everything off and the battery maintaining 14V then all's good so far.... Start the engine and connect the multimeter across the battery terminals again. should read about 14-15V make sure you rev the engine above idle so that the alternator can reach its operating speed. There's no need to monitor it for 3 minutes this time as we already know the battery is good. If the readings are about 14-15V, then idle the engine and switch on all the lights, radio, rear heated window etc. Should hear the engine labour at idle as the alternator kicks in and provides the current to the various loads. Check the multimeter again and make sure its measuring at least 12V Without wishing you bad luck, I can't see you getting beyond this point without an negative result from all the checks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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