Help me work this out please.

[agentkiwi 110]

I have a voltage problem I think.

For a long time the volts gauge has been a bit possessed. On start up it sits on 2-3 bars until I rev it a bit then it shoots up to normal 2 bars over half way.

It flicks wildly back under half with the brakes applied & tick tocks with the indicators. No real issue so I just lived with it.

Until now.

Couple of weeks back I changed the rollers in the elec windows. Long story short I ran the battery flat.

No problem. I charged it up over 6 or so hours until it showed only 2 amps going in & the multi meter reading 12.6V.

Since then the battery doesn't seem to be holding chargeOR the alt OR regulator aren't charging it.

It reads 12.6 with the car off. 11.9 with it running at idle. I'll have to check it again with 2k revs to see if it gets up to 13-14.

If I shut the engine down without reving it it wont start again. Not enough juice. I can jump it with another battery though.

Am I on the right track that it's just a stuffed battery? Or could it be the alt or voltage regulator?

I've searched & read a lot of common problems. Bad +ve wires from battery to alt, earths etc.

How can I systemstically troubleshoot this myself?

Cheers guys.

[gerg 10,871]

Those gauges are notoriously bad for flickering. My XE does this as does any XD-E analogue dash. There is an earth problem somewhere along the line and there are threads around that explain the fix.<br /><br />If measuring with a multi, and the volts don't come up after starting means that something's wrong with the charging system. Could be reg/brushes, or a blown diode. Is the alt light glowing very dimly when running?

[agentkiwi 110]

The alt light only comes on dimly sometimes. Always when brakes are applied and indicator on. No other time. But it isn't doing that now although it has in the past

[agentkiwi 110]

I hope I've cracked it. Tested 12.6V engine off. 12.3 at idle then got mate to test it while I revved it to 1.5-2k. 13.9V so it must be the battery as the charging system works?

Hopefully a new one stops the guage fliker otherwise I'll be chasing my tail again.

Hope this helps anyone else with similar problems.

[gerg 10,871]

Also if you've flattened your battery, a good drive of more than say 1/2 hour is needed, otherwise you get what's called "surface charge", where the battery volts seem to come back to normal after a short run, but the alternator hasn't actually pumped enough juice for long enough back into the battery. Best thing is an overnight charge.

[Ando81 2,949]

Also if you've flattened your battery, a good drive of more than say 1/2 hour is needed, otherwise you get what's called "surface charge", where the battery volts seem to come back to normal after a short run, but the alternator hasn't actually pumped enough juice for long enough back into the battery. Best thing is an overnight charge.

 

That's handy to know, explains a problem that I have seen recently. Thanks mate!

[bear351c 10,270]

Agreed.

 

12 hour charge for a flat battery.  If the Alt light is coming on, sounds like your brushes are worn down, in the regulator.

[agentkiwi 110]

The alt light isn't coming on anymore although it has done in the past.

I've charged the battery overnight and it seems to be ok for now. I'll keep testing it over the next few days.

I noticed the earth from the battery to the block has some insulation tape on it so I pulled that off and the thick wire is intact but a big chunk of factory insulation plastic is missing. That wouldn't be doing anything would it? Might replace it anyway.

Next I think I'll check the brake light wiring loom for any bad earths or connections as the guage only seems to flick wildly with brakes and indicators. 

Thanks for the advice so far

[gerg 10,871]

If the engine is cranking over ok, that tells you how healthy your battery and cables are. This is the most work they will ever have to do. The tape is just insulation, so as long as there is no bare wire it's fine. Earth doesn't matter anyway, it can only short out to earth, which it does anyway

[agentkiwi 110]

Bizarrely I solved this issue.

First was a new battery. The old one was poked.

I found, cleaned, tightened every single earth I could find, then with the help of the manual and member VDO found & checked some more.

long story short, those bulbs draw a lot of voltage & the guage is just telling me this.

I replaced all park, tail/stop & indicator bulbs with LED's the indicator & park ones have a load resistor built in & what do you know.....problem solved. All guages are stable and accurate with no flicking, dropping or other weird shi*

Happy with the result. The LED's are as bright & I got the coloured ones to match the tail light lenses which helps a lot.

[agentkiwi 110]

For anyone wanting to convert the bulbs to LED's the easiest solution for the indicators instead of load resistors is a new flasher relay unit. It's the top right relay on the opposite side of the steering column from the fuse box

The part you need is this

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/171247843207?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

it's a ELB type relay. Careful you don't buy the similar BLE one as it won't work

[Ando81 2,949]

For anyone wanting to convert the bulbs to LED's the easiest solution for the indicators instead of load resistors is a new flasher relay unit. It's the top right relay on the opposite side of the steering column from the fuse box

 

The part you need is this

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/171247843207?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

 

it's a ELB type relay. Careful you don't buy the similar BLE one as it won't work

 

That's a good tip mate. I had to put one of those on a mates ute when we made him a custom tray and put led lights in it. Indicators flash at normal speed instead of like strobe lights. It annoys me when I see other cars with led tail lights flashing like strobes, when it can be fixed so simply. Prob a bit of OCD but it just bugs me.

[gerg 10,871]

For anyone wanting to convert the bulbs to LED's the easiest solution for the indicators instead of load resistors is a new flasher relay unit. It's the top right relay on the opposite side of the steering column from the fuse box

 

 

The part you need is this

 

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/171247843207?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

 

 

it's a ELB type relay. Careful you don't buy the similar BLE one as it won't work

 

 

Prob a bit of OCD but it just bugs me.

OCD maybe but it's also law. Blinkers must flash at a rate between 60 and 120 per minute. That's 1-2 per second. Any slower or faster than that range is illegal.

[Ando81 2,949]

Handy to know that I'm not a freak mate, cheers

[Mr Polson 10,214]

Always wondered if there were regulations on blinker speed, now I know.

 

Any idea how manufacturers decide on the flash rate? Hardly any cars are the same.

[bear351c 10,270]

Hey Gerg, does that mean that cops can count ???

[gerg 10,871]

If they're short on their quota that day and can book you for something, then yeah sure, they can count.

[gerg 10,871]

Dunno what makes a manufacturer decide the flash rate Polson, maybe it's a standard that varies from one company to the next