Help - strange electronics problem 58 astravan ????
Discussion
Hi , hope someone can help I'm lost for ideas . any advice is very much appreciated .
Driviing along symptoms where engine management light , flashing then abs , airbag and various others flashing .
I then lost the radio , power steering , window wipers etc and eventually the turbo would only work occasionally , all this happening on the same journey. Occasionly things would start working again while driving along for example the power steering would start working at 50mph , the speedo would come back to life mid journeythen stay at what ever speed I was doing at that point . Electronics doing crazy things .
Van would run ok but eventually having no electronics/displays at all. I stopped and triied to restart the engine , it seemed the battery was dead . Had to bump start it and drive it with no electronics to the garage .
First diagnosis was alternator which I also assumed ...alternator changed all ok for few days then same symptoms appear.
Van back to garage , next diagnosis was dead cell in battery ....battery changed all ok for one day then again same symptoms .
Latest breakdown had all the above symptoms then just completely died on me .
Van has 80k miles , I have owned since around 75k everything has been ok , only grumble would be that it was always a little slow to turn over (2-3 seconds). It's the 1.9 cdti.
I also noticed that when I did have it idling with no electronics , it was a little lumpy..
Hoping theres maybe an auto electrician around here who can advise on the best course of action , I understand electical problems can be a bit of a PITA .....I'm also not sure whether it was necessary to replace alternator and battery if fault still exists ? Is there any way a fault could be frying a brand new alternator ?
Really appreciate any advice , thanks .
Jamie
Driviing along symptoms where engine management light , flashing then abs , airbag and various others flashing .
I then lost the radio , power steering , window wipers etc and eventually the turbo would only work occasionally , all this happening on the same journey. Occasionly things would start working again while driving along for example the power steering would start working at 50mph , the speedo would come back to life mid journeythen stay at what ever speed I was doing at that point . Electronics doing crazy things .
Van would run ok but eventually having no electronics/displays at all. I stopped and triied to restart the engine , it seemed the battery was dead . Had to bump start it and drive it with no electronics to the garage .
First diagnosis was alternator which I also assumed ...alternator changed all ok for few days then same symptoms appear.
Van back to garage , next diagnosis was dead cell in battery ....battery changed all ok for one day then again same symptoms .
Latest breakdown had all the above symptoms then just completely died on me .
Van has 80k miles , I have owned since around 75k everything has been ok , only grumble would be that it was always a little slow to turn over (2-3 seconds). It's the 1.9 cdti.
I also noticed that when I did have it idling with no electronics , it was a little lumpy..
Hoping theres maybe an auto electrician around here who can advise on the best course of action , I understand electical problems can be a bit of a PITA .....I'm also not sure whether it was necessary to replace alternator and battery if fault still exists ? Is there any way a fault could be frying a brand new alternator ?
Really appreciate any advice , thanks .
Jamie
Loose earth on the battery or chassis rail?
For everything to act up as described - that would be my first port of call.
Failing that, it's time to call Derek Acorah!
ETA: you can check the alternator yourself, grab a multimeter, set it to DC volts, stick it across the battery with the engine off (should be around 12v), then start the engine, and it should be somewhere between 13.8 and 14.4 volts. If it isn't, try having an assistant rev the engine. No change in voltage = duff alternator (or associated wiring).
I still think it's an earthing problem though.
For everything to act up as described - that would be my first port of call.
Failing that, it's time to call Derek Acorah!
ETA: you can check the alternator yourself, grab a multimeter, set it to DC volts, stick it across the battery with the engine off (should be around 12v), then start the engine, and it should be somewhere between 13.8 and 14.4 volts. If it isn't, try having an assistant rev the engine. No change in voltage = duff alternator (or associated wiring).
I still think it's an earthing problem though.
Edited by Mr Happy on Sunday 5th August 02:30
I had same sort of problems on my last RnR back home on the focus mk2 After some investigating it turned out to be the PCB on the fuse board under the glove box somehow had got water in it I striped it out cleaned it dried it with a hair drier re soldered some joints that looked a little dry and it worked fine again. This could be same as yours although a vauxhall mine had exactly the same symptoms but would start going mental even with no keys in windscreen wipers lights horn alarm everything would go of then would instantly stop if your foot on the brake have a take out all the fuses and look for the green corrosion on the connectors.
Okay AA came out today to recover the van ....
Looks like the brand new alternator isn't producing the correct voltage to charge the battery , we made the reading at the alternator itself so cable between alternator and battery is ok .
I'm wondering if it's just coincidence that the new alternater is a dud or if there is anything that could be damaging the alternators?
As far as I know the belt drives the alternator which creates voltage , charging the battery I'm not sure there is much else could go wrong ?
I forgot to add on my first post , I have another issue but not sure if it's related . When the fuel light comes on the car cuts out ?
Runs absolutely fine so long as I don't let the fuel go below the fuel light stage which is around 1/8th of the tank .
Any suggestions ?
Looks like the brand new alternator isn't producing the correct voltage to charge the battery , we made the reading at the alternator itself so cable between alternator and battery is ok .
I'm wondering if it's just coincidence that the new alternater is a dud or if there is anything that could be damaging the alternators?
As far as I know the belt drives the alternator which creates voltage , charging the battery I'm not sure there is much else could go wrong ?
I forgot to add on my first post , I have another issue but not sure if it's related . When the fuel light comes on the car cuts out ?
Runs absolutely fine so long as I don't let the fuel go below the fuel light stage which is around 1/8th of the tank .
Any suggestions ?
Knackered alternator is what causes the dash lights and needles to go crazy. Well known fault on the 1.9s, they fail about as regularly as the chocolate gearboxes in them. But like someone else said, if you know for a fact that the alternator is good (not just taking someone else's word, like the seller of said alternator) then I'd be looking at the voltage regulator next as well.
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