Kilps Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Not really sure if this is the right place for this, so mods please move it if it should be somewhere else. I need to find a decent Auto Electrician who can come to me in Crawley, Sussex. Anybody know any? Or can anyone here help? As briefly as I can make it... autumn last year (can't remember exactly when) I had a handful of lights start appearing on my dash. Battery, alternator, oil and big exclamation mark in the middle. The car still drove fine, just had these lights on sometimes. Sometimes they didn't come on at all. But it was always either all of them or none of them, I never had just some of them. Thinking this was just a weird electrical gremlin, foolishly, I ignored it! Thankfully they all stayed off for my MOT. I put the car away for winter and thought nothing more of it really. Came back to it a few weeks ago and found the battery dead. It's been sat, so didn't worry. Charged it, drove fine, still had the lights (now all the time). A few days later my battery died again. Now I've stopped ignoring the lights! I've checked all fuses and I've done the diagnostics paperclip trick which returns no errors. I've also checked the oil and it's fine. I've read about checking battery voltage (should get 14V across battery with good alternator). I haven't done this yet. If I do this and get a duff result, does this guarantee an alternator failure or could it be something between the alternator and battery? Anything else I should be checking? Any help much appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham1984 Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Benjy is based not too far from Crawley in Redhill. Personally I would either pm him and ask him for a recommendations on who local to use, Or just contact Austec racing (former traders on here) and in Crawley, or Srd who are down the road in Ansty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilps Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 I was thinking the same. Never having had an electrical issue before, I wasn't sure if I'd need to speak to someone who deals specifically with electrickery. Pretty sure Ben is at Bluewater and SRD likely to be closed for bank hols. I'll give one of them a shout Tuesday. Ta for suggestions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjy Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Test the voltage across the battery, should be no less than 13.8ish fully loaded (lights, heated screen etc...) and between 14 - 14.4v for a good charge. Also check the voltage at the alternator, by keeping the earth probe on the battery - terminal, and the + probe the big wire on the alternator. However, why the oil light would come on is beyond me, but once you've ruled the alternator out, then worry about that if it stays lit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilps Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 Thanks mate, I'll try to give that a go tomorrow if I get a chance. Yep, one test at a time and see what I can sort out. You're not free tomorrow are you?? Haha! Good film?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee P Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 It can also be down to a bad earth Check the Earth points in each kick panel and make sure they are on ok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilps Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 Well this has been very successful! All the help I would have gone for on Tuesday has arrived Lee, excuse my mechanical buffoonism... kick panel? How many are there and where should I be looking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjy Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Thanks mate, I'll try to give that a go tomorrow if I get a chance. Yep, one test at a time and see what I can sort out. You're not free tomorrow are you?? Haha! Good film?? I'm never free mate, and tomorrow I'm busy aswell! Lol Film was good. Nice touch at the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham1984 Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Well this has been very successful! All the help I would have gone for on Tuesday has arrived Lee, excuse my mechanical buffoonism... kick panel? How many are there and where should I be looking? I'll send you my suggestion invoice cost later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilps Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 I'm never free mate, and tomorrow I'm busy aswell! Lol Film was good. Nice touch at the end. Haha! That's exactly the answer I expected! Of course I wouldn't expect you to work for free... I've seen your Faceache rants!! So I've heard. I will see it soon. Working tonight so couldn't make the meet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilps Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 I'll send you my suggestion invoice cost later on. Haha! I'll be sure to file it accordingly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham1984 Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Haha! I'll be sure to file it accordingly The "To do" section is advisable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjy Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Haha! That's exactly the answer I expected! Of course I wouldn't expect you to work for free... I've seen your Faceache rants!! So I've heard. I will see it soon. Working tonight so couldn't make the meet. Ha. Nah, in all seriousness, I don't mind helping people out where I can, it's things like recoveries etc people expect for next to nothing - Hence I've sold my truck! Having to work sucks mate, especially on a saturday night! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilps Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 Ha. Nah, in all seriousness, I don't mind helping people out where I can, it's things like recoveries etc people expect for next to nothing - Hence I've sold my truck! Having to work sucks mate, especially on a saturday night! Yeah I get that. Didn't know you'd sold your truck though! Actually, saw you were selling the Surf. You sold your recovery truck too?? I know... overtime though, so a bit of extra cash! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjy Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Yeah I get that. Didn't know you'd sold your truck though! Actually, saw you were selling the Surf. You sold your recovery truck too?? I know... overtime though, so a bit of extra cash! Kept the Surf, sold the lorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilps Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 Good choice! I like the Surf. I want something similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supra joe Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Hey buddy I'd say check your battery connection, I had the same symptoms as you and went through alternators etc and turns out although I clamped the battery on tight it was still loose... Loose wire or something along those lines. Hodge fixed it for me. Saved me even more money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilps Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 Hey buddy I'd say check your battery connection, I had the same symptoms as you and went through alternators etc and turns out although I clamped the battery on tight it was still loose... Loose wire or something along those lines. Hodge fixed it for me. Saved me even more money. Thanks mate, I'm pretty sure it's alright, but I'll make sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee P Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Well this has been very successful! All the help I would have gone for on Tuesday has arrived Lee, excuse my mechanical buffoonism... kick panel? How many are there and where should I be looking? Kickpanel is where your feet are in the car. Pull the panels off each side and check the earths are on ok There is one each side, if the dash has been removed at some point they can get left off or looses. Check the voltage on the battery when the car is running also as Ben said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilps Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 Ah, the kick panel. Of course! Thanks mate, I'll have a look when I get a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilps Posted April 8, 2015 Author Share Posted April 8, 2015 Right. Refitted the battery after charging it. With nothing switched on I got 12.96v across the battery. With engine running, lights on, heated screen on and aircon on I got 12.03v across the battery. I then had a fight to get at the big wire on the alternator. I removed the air box and a turbo pipe to get at it. Ben, I guess it's the wire attached to the offside of the alternator, with a plastic cover? I used the bolt under this cover as my alternator point. Started the engine again and got 12.38v with positive on alternator wire and negative on battery negative. Moving the positive probe to the battery positive showed 12.40v. So I think this tells me the alternator is dead, no? Next challenge... get the alternator out of its tight spot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heckler Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Right. Refitted the battery after charging it. With nothing switched on I got 12.96v across the battery. With engine running, lights on, heated screen on and aircon on I got 12.03v across the battery. I then had a fight to get at the big wire on the alternator. I removed the air box and a turbo pipe to get at it. Ben, I guess it's the wire attached to the offside of the alternator, with a plastic cover? I used the bolt under this cover as my alternator point. Started the engine again and got 12.38v with positive on alternator wire and negative on battery negative. Moving the positive probe to the battery positive showed 12.40v. So I think this tells me the alternator is dead, no? Next challenge... get the alternator out of its tight spot! yup - alternator is goosed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilps Posted April 8, 2015 Author Share Posted April 8, 2015 yup - alternator is goosed Thought as much. Any idea how much a new one will set me back? Is it worth getting a refurbed one or best to stick with new? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjy Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 It's the only chunky wire held on with a nut dude. They're not horrendous to do in all honesty. By the time you've fitted a 2nd hand one, it'll end up meeting the same fate. May last 5 minutes, might last 5 years. Provided my alternator man can get the parts for it still, it can be refurb'd. Did my Hilux one recently, so imagine components are still available. Oh yeah - And what heckler said. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilps Posted April 8, 2015 Author Share Posted April 8, 2015 Good. In that case I got the right one. I was more confident of that when I got a sensible reading but I couldn't see all round it to see if there were any more. I don't quite follow... are you suggesting I refurbish mine rather than replace it all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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