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Jose-Antonio Castillo
Goo Roo
NSW
JZZ30/UZZ31/JZS160

Posts: 1927
Reg: 07-2005

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Sunday, September 01, 2013 - 12:06 pm, by:  Jose-Antonio Castillo (Ahh_soarer) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hi folks,

Well my 91 V8 hasn't been driven in weeks. I took her out a few days ago, blinkidash and all. Coming to a traffic light to slow down I've hit the brakes and the dash cluster starts to dim (no warnings either due to blinkidash... I really should replace them damn capacitors), turn on my blinker and they stop working and the dash is virtually blinking at me, EMV cuts out and no power steering. Somehow I ended up babying the car back home (only down the road) and she completely calls it quits in the driveway of my apartment (much fun that was).

So straight away I'm thinking the alternator has packed it in. I've had a look and it does't look like it's in tip top shape, rather looks like as it's been for the past four or so years of ownership.

I jumped the car and left the car running (cables off) to see if I could recreate any symptoms of a bad alternator but with of course with my luck she idled like nothing happened up until warm. Tried starting the car a couple of minutes after and whilst a little slow to kick over she did and again idled with no problems what so ever (about 10 minutes at a time, both times). I've turned on everything on to put a higher load on the battery and the headlamps dimmed in time with the hazards flashing. Next day I try starting her again and dead battery.

In the end I think it's the battery causing all of this as opposed to the alternator, but what would've caused the car to lose all power while driving? All terminals seem to be fine (I removed, cleaned and reinstalled), no blown fuses.

The battery is only around 18 months old as well (Century NSZ70XL from memory... never had a problem with the brand either and of used it on about 3 or 4 cars).

Any help is appreciated!


Thanks,


Jose
David Hall
TryHard
Tasmania
JZZ30 TT

Posts: 187
Reg: 06-2012

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Sunday, September 01, 2013 - 11:26 pm, by:  David Hall (Dr1zzle) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It certainly sounds like its an issue with the battery. But my guess would be the alt. is not putting out enough charge.

Put the battery on a trickle charge for around 10-12hrs (over night). Do you have access to a multimetre? If so, check the voltage of the battery. It should be around 13.1v once fully charged.
Chuck the battery back in, and see what charge you are getting to the battery when the engine is running.

With a full load, a healthy alt. should be putting 13+ volts into the battery. If it is not, which I think may be the case, then it is your alt. at fault.
Robert Day
DieHard
victoria
v8 & TT

Posts: 604
Reg: 01-2007

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Monday, September 02, 2013 - 12:27 am, by:  Robert Day (Lexsmaz) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sounds like the Alternator is intermittently charging & the last time it wasn't charging for quite a while it flattened your battery & hence everything fell over ..

In theory once the car is running the car should be able to run without the Battery so long as the alternator is good, not a good thing to try on modern electronic cars though ..
Matthew Sharpe
Goo Roo
North Island
JZZ31

Posts: 6884
Reg: 10-2005

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Monday, September 02, 2013 - 05:52 am, by:  Matthew Sharpe (Madmatt) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

A bad battery can definitely cause loss of all power while driving, at least when the revs drop off but power demand is still high (eg heater running, headlights on, wipers going etc) - the electrical can, for brief periods rely on the battery to supply the difference between what the alternator is producing at low revs and what the electrics are demanding - so yes, test the battery (or get it tested, most auto electricians will probably do it for free)
David Lye
Tinkerer
NSW
accord

Posts: 13
Reg: 08-2012

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Tuesday, September 03, 2013 - 01:08 pm, by:  David Lye (Coppage) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Well we all agree that the battery is a problem, why don't you check and tell us what happened? We will try to solve your problem fast.
Myles Jantzen
TryHard
SA
SC 400 V8

Posts: 211
Reg: 08-2008

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Wednesday, September 04, 2013 - 10:39 pm, by:  Myles Jantzen (Maxx999) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Agree with what Matthew has said, happened to me before when left a car sitting for while, was ok driving until started raining and had to use headlight's and A/C to demist windows, sitting at lights and dash would dim along with headlights, then brighten up when started driving before finally giving up when stopped to check. New battery and all good.

Battery voltage could have dropped too low and damaged battery, next time might want to disconnect it or try using trickle charger.
Jose-Antonio Castillo
Goo Roo
NSW
JZZ30/UZZ31/JZS160

Posts: 1928
Reg: 07-2005

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Thursday, September 05, 2013 - 09:08 pm, by:  Jose-Antonio Castillo (Ahh_soarer) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hey guys thanks for the suggestions. I won't get a chance to work on the car until the weekend so hopefully I'll have an answer by then.
Glen Mills
Newbie
NSW
V8

Posts: 4
Reg: 07-2012

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Wednesday, September 18, 2013 - 06:02 am, by:  Glen Mills (Millsyg) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I had the same problem minus the blinking dash after replacing my alternator. Turned out my new alternator had a faulty regulator. When the regulator got hot, the alternator would stop charging the battery and the car would die slowly as the battery drained.

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