listy Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 (edited) I have a friend who's Astra is playing up. The battery went flat, and the power steering went heavy, and they called the AA out. Now, the AA man said the alternator was gone, but when it went to the garage, they plugged the diagnostics in, and no error codes came up at all. Now, I'm not an engine electronics expert, but would a dodgy alternator pull a code? As there is no sensor there. Any help would be appreciated, as they have already incurred a charge of £50 from the garage just for doing a diagnostics check (robbing so and so's). Once the battery was recharged, everything worked fine. Any ideas on what the problem could be? Before I get them to get a new alternator and change it for them, as I don't want to waste their money or my time. Edited July 22, 2013 by listy (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slutters Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 A £5 multi-meter is all you need mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
listy Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 A £5 multi-meter is all you need mate. The garage have already done that and the feed from the alternator is good, but they still think that is the problem I guess it is possible that the alternator is still dodgy. However, from my experience last year when my crank pulley went, I had all the same symptoms, (warning lights, lack of power steering (forgot that in the OP, edited) but I don't know the ins and outs of an Astra engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creative Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 It went flat when they were driving it? voltage regulator on the Alt? If its a dud battery, get a drop test done to rule that out. Get the Alt bench tested. I suspected the one on the missus old beetle was on its way out as it still charged but not enough to keep the battery going. removed it and had it tested and I was correct. and dont rely on the laptop to tell you whats wrong with a car... computer says no and all that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
listy Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 It went flat when they were driving it? voltage regulator on the Alt? If its a dud battery, get a drop test done to rule that out. Get the Alt bench tested. I suspected the one on the missus old beetle was on its way out as it still charged but not enough to keep the battery going. removed it and had it tested and I was correct. and dont rely on the laptop to tell you whats wrong with a car... computer says no and all that... Battery recharged fine and has been fine since As I said, is it possible it's a pulley dying? I haven't looked at it yet, but I'm going round tomorrow to have a ganders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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