Day 7, Second breakdown!
Discussion
If you charge the battery back up fully you'll be able to drive until the spark dies which might get you to the garage, depends how far it is! Can you check the alternator? Put a multimeter across the battery with car running you should see +/- 14v
Do chimaeras have a charging light/ignition light? (they do dont they?)Did you spot if that was on or not?
Obviously if you do want to go for it and drive without a charging alternator, make sure you dont run any auxiliary things like stereo, lights etc!
Do chimaeras have a charging light/ignition light? (they do dont they?)Did you spot if that was on or not?
Obviously if you do want to go for it and drive without a charging alternator, make sure you dont run any auxiliary things like stereo, lights etc!
There is a ignition light, that will glow if the 100A fuse has gone. Trouble is its situated under the car so you will need to get it on ramps to check.Its a small black fuse holder about a third in from the front of the car.My one had a large red cable that i followed out of the bottem of the engine bay. Give it a good coat of vasaline once changed ( helps keep moisture out).
Might be something simple, you could have a constant drain that is flattening the battery. Mine turned out to be a duff interior light delay controller.
I had the interior light in the middle position so always off and didnt realise that the interior light delay was broken and constantly energised. Discovered by accident one day that even with the doors closed the interior light would stay on in both 'delay' and 'always on' positions. Removed the yellow delay controller, light went out and battery now holds charge for weeks without any noticeable drop. It used to go flat in about 5 days !
Easy to check, jump in, set interior light to door switch controlled (cant recall which way but you will work it out) and see if the interior light goes off when the doors are closed. As I discovered, even with the light turned off the controller can still draw a fair bit of juice.
Other option is to stick a meter across the battery and see how much current is being drawn with the ignition off, then pull fuses until the draw disappears.
Oh and change the 100A fuse anyway, its good preventive maintenance.
I had the interior light in the middle position so always off and didnt realise that the interior light delay was broken and constantly energised. Discovered by accident one day that even with the doors closed the interior light would stay on in both 'delay' and 'always on' positions. Removed the yellow delay controller, light went out and battery now holds charge for weeks without any noticeable drop. It used to go flat in about 5 days !
Easy to check, jump in, set interior light to door switch controlled (cant recall which way but you will work it out) and see if the interior light goes off when the doors are closed. As I discovered, even with the light turned off the controller can still draw a fair bit of juice.
Other option is to stick a meter across the battery and see how much current is being drawn with the ignition off, then pull fuses until the draw disappears.
Oh and change the 100A fuse anyway, its good preventive maintenance.
[
Oh and change the 100A fuse anyway, its good preventive maintenance.
[/quote]
^^^Would be my first guess. Had this fail completely on my Chim when I had it - - even bought a recon' alternator, but in the end it turned out to be this pesky fuse. Even when I first opened up the fuse holder, it looked fine, when I undid the small nuts the hairline crack showed itself and the fuse fell apart. On my Chim the holder was just behind the drivers side engine mount, clipped to the lower chassis rail. Can't mistake it as the heavy duty cables from the battery/alternator go to it.
I've just replaced the same item on my (current) Tuscan, and again, it looked OK whilst in the holder, but once I'd undone the terminal nuts I saw that the strip was hairline cracked across 80% of its width. The best option is to replace with 100 amp midi fuses, which I got from my local automotive electrical wholesalers for about £2.50. They're much more rugged than the original.
Nick
Oh and change the 100A fuse anyway, its good preventive maintenance.
[/quote]
^^^Would be my first guess. Had this fail completely on my Chim when I had it - - even bought a recon' alternator, but in the end it turned out to be this pesky fuse. Even when I first opened up the fuse holder, it looked fine, when I undid the small nuts the hairline crack showed itself and the fuse fell apart. On my Chim the holder was just behind the drivers side engine mount, clipped to the lower chassis rail. Can't mistake it as the heavy duty cables from the battery/alternator go to it.
I've just replaced the same item on my (current) Tuscan, and again, it looked OK whilst in the holder, but once I'd undone the terminal nuts I saw that the strip was hairline cracked across 80% of its width. The best option is to replace with 100 amp midi fuses, which I got from my local automotive electrical wholesalers for about £2.50. They're much more rugged than the original.
Nick
I have been there with this problem and had an intermitent battery drain.. To soon to be 100% certain but it looks like a fresh earth to the dash lights and a clear-up of the alarm relay contacts has sorted the problem.
When you are testing the drain, make sure that the doors or the buttons to work the internal lights are closed.
When you are testing the drain, make sure that the doors or the buttons to work the internal lights are closed.
So - I have to unscrew the underside bolts and pull the battery forward to get to the fuse box?
And the alternator wiring is a pain to get to...not sure I can get to the contacts as there is too much metal in the way!
I'm slightly disappointed the bible doesn't really go into any detail at all.
And the alternator wiring is a pain to get to...not sure I can get to the contacts as there is too much metal in the way!
I'm slightly disappointed the bible doesn't really go into any detail at all.
Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff