Ok, driving into town last night, stopped at a petrol station, no problems, from the petrol station to the pub, noticed the interior and head lights were pretty dim, didnt really think much of it, driving fine though.
later last night about 11, driving home and the lights became very very dim, the radio kept turning on and off by itself, the windows wouldnt do up, i pulled over turned the lights off and on, only one light popped up immediatly, followed 5 secs later by the other, the rev counter was going doolally, but the revs were at idle and fine, i popped the bonnet with the engine running, had a look under to see if there were any noticable problems, nothing, then the idle dropped very very low, almost stalling, i turned off the engine and restarted it, lights came on, but still dim.
I drove off and the lights went off completly, engine dropped low, even with accelerator on the floor, then massive backfire, and engine died completely, funnily the electrics worked a tiny bit, enough for the immobiliser to stay on... i tried starting again, nothing at all, no ticks, no crunches, nothing...
soooooo... any ideas?
Are you sure the battery isn\'t on the way out?
Yeah defo sounds electrical. Could be a duff battery or alternator maybe.
well, i do need to check it with a multimeter, and i havent been driving it that often for the last few weeks so that could be an option, i\'ve been advised that it could be the alternator... just wondering if anyone else has had the same or similar problem and if they found out what it was
I have whipped both the alternator and battery out, so getting them checked over, the funny thing is, i checked my alt with my bro in laws TII and they\'re different, mine has a mitsubishi logo on it...
I think there were 2 sorts of alternator, with 2 different plug sorts
ok, so if i get a new battery what would people recommend?
Alternators dead, :)
right, ok, just had the alternator reconditioned, put everything back together, same thing still happening, starts up ok, lights on and bright (well as bright as they can be) after about 5 minutes, the lights dim really low and turn themselves off... please guys and girls, i need my car, really stuck here
by the way, when i tested the battery it was at 12.05
if youve had your alternator done it should be giving you around 14 volts when the engine is running when measured at the battery and shouldnt really drop below 13v under load with lights etc on. (remember to make sure the brackets that hold the alternator are clean use a bit of wet and dry to clean them up as the alternator earths through these)
if its the battery you need to do a load test not just a voltage test. most garages can do this for you.if you need to get one the best thing to do is get the best battery you can afford try a motor factor instead of someone like halfords as they will have more choice.
also i would check all your earths the main battery one and your engine earth aswell.
hope that helps
si
thanks Si, great help, but i must confess, i\'ve been a bit of a numpty... i forgot to reattatch the plugs :( seems to be all sorted now, thanks to everyone who helped me, i\'ll keep you updated
Does the EGI alternator have an external balast ? Could be the battery isn\'t holding charge too. The cold weather could have destroyed the cells in it.
Shaun
Quotei forgot to reattatch the plugs seems to be all sorted now
Wakey Wakey shaun :) :) :)
DOH ! DOH ! :Giggle
Shaun