Battery or alternator issues?

[Phil H]

Back in 'the good old days' a good way to check an alternator in situ was to load the system with everything switched on (blower motor/wipers/seat heaters/etc) and see if the voltage was maintained, and if not, to see if it recovered sufficiently with everything switched off. I'm not sure how reliable that might be with so-called intelligent systems, but I can't see that it would be much different.

If it was my car I would change the battery anyway; even if it has a recent date code that is no guarantee of performance and I've had a premium battery with 5 year warranty fail in less than a year, as have others on the forum.

 

[philw696]

Needs a new battery for sure.

 

[Zep]

The cold numbers seem in order, what is interesting in those numbers is the fully loaded voltage. That is effectively not charging at all. Very similar to what I saw when my alternator was on its way out. Charges well when cold, not so much when hot. For my money, it’s an alternator, and if the battery has been down to 7 volts, that will be significantly life reduced too.

 

[conaero]

Yes, your numbers seem ok, the alternator is sensing and adjusting the charge rate so I have no concerns there.

Get a new battery, the Varta blue you have is one of the better ones so I would recommend you go like for like, the AMP-H should be 90-100 amp

Its an 017 battery, simple to change, just make sure you push the negative down fully whilst pulling the armature over, they have a habit of popping off.

Don't get a Yuasa or Halfords branded batteries (also Yuasa)

Varta, Exide, Bosch, any of these are proven

 

[Chiveroni]

Thanks everyone! I have ordered exactly the same Varta battery - will be here tomorrow.

Just as an aside - does anyone know if the two, thin wires coming off the negative and positive terminals are standard or is there something fitted in my car that I don't know about You can see them on the photo in the previous page. The red and black go to my charger but it's the other thin cables heading to back of the battery that I am talking about. They don't really look factory standard....

 

[Scaf]

Thanks everyone! I have ordered exactly the same Varta battery - will be here tomorrow.

Just as an aside - does anyone know if the two, thin wires coming off the negative and positive terminals are standard or is there something fitted in my car that I don't know about You can see them on the photo in the previous page. The red and black go to my charger but it's the other thin cables heading to back of the battery that I am talking about. They don't really look factory standard....

See #2

Hopefully this sorts it.

But remember cars like this tend to drain a battery over time (alarm - tracker etc) so keep it on the trickle or charge every week or so.

 

[Gazcw]

Are yellow calipers the equivalent of the dunce's hat?
Eb

No that's red for choosing them in the first place.

 

[Gazcw]

Thanks everyone! I have ordered exactly the same Varta battery - will be here tomorrow.

Just as an aside - does anyone know if the two, thin wires coming off the negative and positive terminals are standard or is there something fitted in my car that I don't know about You can see them on the photo in the previous page. The red and black go to my charger but it's the other thin cables heading to back of the battery that I am talking about. They don't really look factory standard....

Something else attached. You will need to trace those and find out what it is. Maybe a hidden trickle charge plug somewhere poss underneath.

 

[Chiveroni]

Something else attached. You will need to trace those and find out what it is. Maybe a hidden trickle charge plug somewhere poss underneath.

OK - mystery solved - I followed the cables to a black box fixed near the parking brake motor in the boot. Box had "Plextek" printed on it and, after a bit of research online, found it to be a tracker. So that wouldn't have helped the battery! It's now safely removed and if anyone wants it just let me know. Free to a good home.