Me Battery Warnin Lights Come On!

I wer drivin to work this mornin, when I noticed me battery warning light flick on fer a second then it went off... Then it flicked on AGEN... Then went off... Then finally it came on and stayed on. I pulled over to the side o the road to check me belt was ok. Everything looked to be in order. The alternator is less than a year old.. I guess it could be this, but i'm hopeing its not. The temp guage which has been going spacky for a while, went off when the red light came on and is now not working at all. The fuel guage however is working fine. Is this just coincidence or a clue to wots happened?? Any one got any suggestions of things I shud be lookin for? Thank **** I bought a Pug the other day. At least I cun still get about while I sort me latest problem..

loose/broken wire on the back of the alt ?

wire chafing and shorting somewhere? Check the bit of the loom that the temp guage runs through, 'cos these two wires are run together.

Thank you guys. I dunno if its related, but I thort I kept hearin a crackley noise behind the dash the last few days. I can't hear it now. Mebbe summat has shortid isself out.

Could be one of the brushes in the control unit gone "the brush pack", where the regulator and diodes are in the back of the alternator. Some are held in with two screws and then you pull them out, usually one brush has died but you replace the lot.

HybridGirl said:

Thank you guys. I dunno if its related, but I thort I kept hearin a crackley noise behind the dash the last few days. I can't hear it now. Mebbe summat has shortid isself out.

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sounds like a good place to start looking - drop the dash panel and have a sniff around

Ok. Have dropped the dash panel out. Can't see nothin that looks like it shud'nt. Dropped the alternater out, checked fer lose wires. Nothin. Gonna just go check me battery..

Battery looks as it shud.. Well, both wires are still connected.

Deffo not enough voltage somewhere. Have you checked earth bonding points and engine earth strap?

Take5 said:

Deffo not enough voltage somewhere. Have you checked earth bonding points and engine earth strap?

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Thing is, it starts ok, and theres a volt meter on the dash which is still showin 14 volts when I turn on the ignition.

Take5 said:

Have you checked earth bonding points and engine earth strap?

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quick way to test this is to use one leg of your jumps leads to connect between the battery -ve and the chassis at various points

I dint answer the question ffs... No I haven't, I'll go check the earth now!

Sean said:

quick way to test this is to use one leg of your jumps leads to connect between the battery -ve and the chassis at various points

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Wots s'pose to happen when I do tha?

hopefully whatever isnt working will work - proving that it's a broken -ve connection somewhere - then you'd have the arse of a job to find where it's broken

easier to just fit a new wire connecting -ve to the chassis

thats if it does do anything

yer dunt think that maybe if its good enough fer everything else(i.e. the alt)to work then it ill be good enough fer the alt warning light to work

slob said:

yer dunt think that maybe if its good enough fer everything else(i.e. the alt)to work then it ill be good enough fer the alt warning light to work

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The battery has 2.2 volts per cell and equates to about 14 volts fully serviceable battery.

As I said before look at the brushes in the alternator money is on one of them is fooked, look at the slip rings one for each brush one might be burnt with a make and break condition.

HybridGirl said:

Thing is, it starts ok, and theres a volt meter on the dash which is still showin 14 volts when I turn on the ignition.

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you can't rely on that, best with a proper meter across the battery, start the vehicle up and watch the voltage rise with the rise in engine revs, then turn everything on, lights, heater etc and load the system, and it should hold that voltage.

To do this test properly you are best to drain the battery down a bit with your lights, etc on and the meter attached, engine off, when it has dropped below 13 volts off yer go

And finally make sure the voltage does not go way up, 14 volts is a fully charged battery, and 14.5 volts is normal charging rate, but 16 and so on is another indicator that the regulator is fooked, stuck on.

It probably has nothing to do with this problem, but if a cell in the battery was dead, the regulator senses low voltage and keeps charging untill the battery boils dry since it cant reach optimum regulator voltage.

The warning light is connected to the brush side of the regulator, it earths through the two of them.

david451 said:

The battery has 2.2 volts per cell and equates to about 14 volts fully serviceable battery.

.

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only if yer have a 6.36 cell battery, which dint matter a **** as it int a bad erff between chassis and battery

Well me battery warnin light went off on me way to work this mornin... cos the bulb blew...! Anyways.. Parked up at work, when I went to get back in me landy a few hours later, I noticed the oil light was on. I thort fer a minit i'd somehow left the ignition on when I'd taken the key out but I hadn't. When I turned the ignition on it went off but as soon as I turn the ignition off it comes back on. I'm guessing this indicates its not a problem with me alternater.. But thank you David for your replies. I'll check out the battery voltage anyway.

Check the wiring to your starter motor