Guest mac Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 hi can anyone help or have an idea on whats going on? i have just finished building my mk4 escort rs cabby and im having problems with my alternator charge and my battery going flat ,when the engine is running its charging at 13.5v but as soon as i put my lights on and the radio or the heated rear window anything like that, the voltage drops down to 10.5v - 11.5v the headlights will dim down and if i turn my radio up the head lights will flickker as well as my dashboard lights but if the radiator fan kicks in there is hardly any change in the voltage ? i have changed the battery and have replaced the alternator with a spare one that i had but its still doing the same thing. as the car is being stored in my garage over winter the battery is disconnected . the alternator is 55amp i never had any problems with it before i pulled the engine out, it came out of the same car but the engine was a xr3i. any ideas im lost lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cabbytech Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Charging voltage on the car is usually anywhere in the range 13.6v to 14.4v, a fully charged battery should stand at 12.6v and a discharged one will be at 11.9v. It might be worth having a drop test done on the battery to make sure thats ok and if it is, it could be theregulator in the alternator thats faulty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Millie123 Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 hi can anyone help or have an idea on whats going on? i have just finished building my mk4 escort rs cabby and im having problems with my alternator charge and my battery going flat ,when the engine is running its charging at 13.5v but as soon as i put my lights on and the radio or the heated rear window anything like that, the voltage drops down to 10.5v - 11.5v the headlights will dim down and if i turn my radio up the head lights will flickker as well as my dashboard lights but if the radiator fan kicks in there is hardly any change in the voltage ? i have changed the battery and have replaced the alternator with a spare one that i had but its still doing the same thing. as the car is being stored in my garage over winter the battery is disconnected . the alternator is 55amp i never had any problems with it before i pulled the engine out, it came out of the same car but the engine was a xr3i. any ideas im lost lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Millie123 Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Hi mate, First make sure that the alternator that you have fitted is working properly.It will still show charging slightly if it is something else that is at fault. . When things are not used for a long time they fure up. Pull the plug from the alternator and make sure the connections are good. Give them a clean and a little wd40. If that looks ok follow the wires and make sure there not arking on body. Best way to check is start the car up in the garage in the dark and you will see it arking and sparking if there is a bear wire. Failing that check all the earth that bolt to the body of the car. Not being funny but have you checked the battery terminals. Cheers Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mac Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 cheers for your help guys iv had a good look round it all and checked all the connections i fitted a new battery to it a few days ago so i know its not that ,the car gets a good run every week when the weather is good, so im going to order in a new alternator and see what happens been qoeted £55 for a new one which is not to bad . think its just bad luck that i have had two bad alternators ("well hope so!"). cheers chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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