confirm my fears

[Asa-James]

driving home in the cav (1.8spi) the battery light comes on, followed by the airbag light and the engine management light. battery light pulsing with revs, and a nice burning smell in the car. after limping it a couple of miles (single lane roadworks) the lights have gone out but the car isnt running great, i'm thinking the alternator has burnt out (right as it rolls onto 77,000 miles)

so, am i right? bearing in mind i'm supposed to be driving 130 miles tonight in it

[AlexW]

burning smell, doubt its alternator. Somthing behind the dash maybe?

[Riggy]

sounds like it mate , get it running and either check the voltage across the battery or just disconnet batt see if it will run on alt alone :thumb:

[Asa-James]

burning smell, doubt its alternator. Somthing behind the dash maybe?
smell is more outside the car, once i've had a brew i'll throw a charge tester on it (found it after last nights episode with my brothers alternator)


edit--forgot to mention the brake fluid level light was very dim for the whole journey, never seen it before

[mowgli]

either dash, or the chassis earth has broken

[kent14sr]

Bad earth perhaps shorting out is my guess

[Asa-James]

just a quick vid to show what the brake fluid level light is doing, goes out completely when revved

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34q6UVZaawo

[Mazz]

iirc, when my alt. died the battery light was on solid, then eventually the warning lights popped up on the dash as they were receiving low voltage...

[Asa-James]

iirc, when my alt. died the battery light was on solid, then eventually the warning lights popped up on the dash as they were receiving low voltage...

hence my original thoughts. nevermind, nova to the rescue, 130 miles with 4 gears and a cherry bomb...:cry:

[Mazz]

....and ear defenders maybe? :)

[Guderian]

Totally sounds like a bad earth.

[Asa-James]

okay, well going off the earth train of thought, where do i start looking? i've checked all the earths under the bonnet and they are all secure, clean and in good nick, so where are the dash ones in a cav?

[Asa-James]

quick update, drop tested the battery and thats fine, but the alternator is charging at 15.2 volts, i know they over charge a little but is that excessive?

[w88rdy]

yes i think it might be too much , mine when running charges at 13.5v to 14.5v ish. I had one that was over charging and it wrecked the battery eventually

[craig green]

I was gonna say earth.... My Nova had earth failure & the handbrake light stayed on when the car was locked up. It was the g/box to chassis earth strap that had broken down. As for the interior earth, I'd say centrally behind the headunit somewhere.

[Guderian]

Is this solved yet..?

15.2 volts out of the alternator is a bit high, yes. Normally 14-14.6 on my delco remy's or bosches.

[Asa-James]

yes, new alternator cured it. at £107 it wasnt cheap tho