Scalleys Dad
Active Member
I hate them more than you could ever know. It’s been a while since I have had to do anything major but out of the blue, after sitting idle for a couple of weeks, my battery died and would not recharge. Not surprised really as it was at least ten years old, even the Halfords life time guarantee receipt had faded away, and everything pointed to it being ‘at fault’. New battery in, hurrah, and I moved her closer to our house, the bane of new regulations on street parking, and we were set for a jolly next day. Next day. Flat as again. After following all the basics we presumed it was a parasitic drain and after using a power pack to start her up the voltmeter pointed towards the alternator. Now I don’t know if you have ever tried getting a alternator out thats been in situ for a very long time literally lying near a drain with the kerb restricting access one way and the idiot who parked too close on the other. When I eventually got the wire connecting plug off the smaller wire was clearly loose and it soon just snapped. I hadn’t seen the charging light on in years as the bulb holder fell out of its housing years ago and is somewhere behind the dash facing the wrong way but it did cross my mind that were this poor connection at fault for the battery drain my luck was running out. However everything pointed to the alternator.
New alternator arrives, on it went and after a supreme effort, blood loss and a few tuts from passing pedestrians we appeared good to go but two miles into a spin round the block she suddenly died. Absolutely nothing from the battery. The power pack started her up first time and we got back, different parking spot facing uphill which was a sod. Everything was checked and tweaked but the battery alone was never going to start her up so we got the fully charged power pack out again but after a few reluctant turns both battery and power pack were dead. My biggest mistake was unplugging the wire connector plug behind the alternator to check everything there as I have spent hours in all manner of contortions trying to get the damn thing back in. In the end I had to undo the alternator fixing bolt and loosen the belt tensioner so that I could get a better angle and actually see what I was trying to do. All the twisting and turning had made a mess of my plug repairs so I put the smaller wire on separately with a spade connector and ‘adapted’ the plug with a dremel saw and both wires are in. Now I have to try and reset the alternator before getting the power pack out. The battery has crept back up to 10.68 but that won’t be enough on its own. I am hoping the earlier failing was down to not pushing the plug in far enough but I am certain the voltmeter showed an increase in volts when she started up.
I have taken the opportunity to do a bit of wiring loom housekeeping and there are several new spade connectors on and bright and shiny terminals dotted about. Getting the alternator secured properly is going to be a ball ache but I’ll brace myself later on today if I can get under with a bit of leg space.
Two things I have learned though. I have had the landie for twenty years or so and scrambling around underneath used to be so much easier and despite being of robust design some of the finer details are getting beyond me as carpel tunnel and old elbow injuries seem to flare up when I’m trying to be nice. Maybe just maybe we might part ways over the summer
……….. if the bloody thing, love her dearly, fires up later
Scalleys Dad
Active Member
I hate them more than you could ever know. It’s been a while since I have had to do anything major but out of the blue, after sitting idle for a couple of weeks, my battery died and would not recharge. Not surprised really as it was at least ten years old, even the Halfords life time guarantee receipt had faded away, and everything pointed to it being ‘at fault’. New battery in, hurrah, and I moved her closer to our house, the bane of new regulations on street parking, and we were set for a jolly next day. Next day. Flat as again. After following all the basics we presumed it was a parasitic drain and after using a power pack to start her up the voltmeter pointed towards the alternator. Now I don’t know if you have ever tried getting a alternator out thats been in situ for a very long time literally lying near a drain with the kerb restricting access one way and the idiot who parked too close on the other. When I eventually got the wire connecting plug off the smaller wire was clearly loose and it soon just snapped. I hadn’t seen the charging light on in years as the bulb holder fell out of its housing years ago and is somewhere behind the dash facing the wrong way but it did cross my mind that were this poor connection at fault for the battery drain my luck was running out. However everything pointed to the alternator.
New alternator arrives, on it went and after a supreme effort, blood loss and a few tuts from passing pedestrians we appeared good to go but two miles into a spin round the block she suddenly died. Absolutely nothing from the battery. The power pack started her up first time and we got back, different parking spot facing uphill which was a sod. Everything was checked and tweaked but the battery alone was never going to start her up so we got the fully charged power pack out again but after a few reluctant turns both battery and power pack were dead. My biggest mistake was unplugging the wire connector plug behind the alternator to check everything there as I have spent hours in all manner of contortions trying to get the damn thing back in. In the end I had to undo the alternator fixing bolt and loosen the belt tensioner so that I could get a better angle and actually see what I was trying to do. All the twisting and turning had made a mess of my plug repairs so I put the smaller wire on separately with a spade connector and ‘adapted’ the plug with a dremel saw and both wires are in. Now I have to try and reset the alternator before getting the power pack out. The battery has crept back up to 10.68 but that won’t be enough on its own. I am hoping the earlier failing was down to not pushing the plug in far enough but I am certain the voltmeter showed an increase in volts when she started up.
I have taken the opportunity to do a bit of wiring loom housekeeping and there are several new spade connectors on and bright and shiny terminals dotted about. Getting the alternator secured properly is going to be a ball ache but I’ll brace myself later on today if I can get under with a bit of leg space.
Two things I have learned though. I have had the landie for twenty years or so and scrambling around underneath used to be so much easier and despite being of robust design some of the finer details are getting beyond me as carpel tunnel and old elbow injuries seem to flare up when I’m trying to be nice. Maybe just maybe we might part ways over the summer
……….. if the bloody thing, love her dearly, fires up later
I wish I hadn’t fixed the charging light as it’s the brightest thing in the solar system at the moment. The battery held at circa 11.2 overnight so I might have sorted the parasitic drain but obviously it still took the power pack to start her up. 12.6 on removal of the power pack and the charging light was glowing so after a check on everything visible I thought the belt could do with tightening up a bit so after letting her run for a bit I did that but after cranking over for about five seconds she was dead again. Out with the power pack again and after firing up the positive lead from the pack to the terminal may have been smoking a bit, difficult to be sure but the power pack is now on charge again. It used to be four or five goes before a recharge so I might have knackered that as well. I managed to move her to a slightly better spot where I can get underneath from the front unimpeded but in the five minutes or so the engine was running the charge light didn’t go out and the big gamble of turning the engine off and straight back on again didn’t work out. All I got was probably half a turn and that horrible clicking noise.
It’s a new battery, new alternator, tidied up wiring, the same earth she has always had and no silly mistakes like leaving the lights on. Baffling and incredibly frustrating at the same time.
Scalleys Dad
Active Member
Hi. Thanks for that. This afternoon I concluded just that as whatever I do 11.6 seems to be the maximum the battery will hold which seems suspiciously consistent. I am hoping the service desk at Halfords don’t try and question my judgement as it’s been a bit of a weekend. When I brought the battery last week they wanted to be my best friend, couldn’t get past a Series not being a variety of Discovery and automatically added thirty quid to fit the flippin thing.
I hope it is the battery as this weekend has been a real downer and the thought of having to crawl around underneath some more has brought me to tears.
Not literally obviously
