Battery or alternator issue

[Alex Roux]

Just got back from a longweekend in Southern Kruger.

On or way back it seemed as if the N:L battery controller is starting to beep and beep.
Usually this is due to a contact fault and by shifting the wire around a bit it stops (after some corrugated road driving this may have caused it).
But then it persisted. 1 km away from home, the car stalled. The National Lunar controller reads that the crank battery is flat, but not the auxiliary battery.
So by clicking on the 'override' button both batteries work in series and presto, the car starts again. So got home.

Now for the mystery: Now at home, when I plug my trickle-charger in, the crank battery actually reads that it is fairly well charged (this is reading it on the charger, but not on the NL controller system inside the car)?

In this state, when trying to start the car, it sounds too flat and cranks over slowly once or twice. But when switching to override, it starts fine again.
Can this be the alternator? I thought if the alternator is gone it would not drive, not even if set to 'override'?

[Pieter B]

I can only comment on a problem I had a few years ago with my Maxima and Vaughn had with his HB a month ago. Remember Bosvark? The battery ran flat because the altenator wasn't charging. No light to indicate that altenator wasn't charging (charge light in the instrument cluster). Are you getting 14V across the battery terminals with the engine running?

[Alex Roux]

Pieter, when the car is running, prior to setting the two batteries on 'override' (i.e prior to pulling in the help of the second battery), the car actually stalls.
So I do not think I get 14 volts when the engine is running. This makes me suspect the alternator is the problem.

[Pieter B]

Exactly the same senario I had myself and we had with Vaughn. It starts with starting issue, you jump start the vehicle but the battery runs down to a point where it doesn't have enough power to run the ECU. In both cases we swopped out batteries just to get home. The other day at Bosvark we swopped out my battery with Vaughn's where I followed him home, at night, with no lights. Fun. Definitly start with a altenator test

[Wilkie]

Hi Peter
The injectors needs +-11volts to operate,so once the battery goes below that the engine dies,you can still crank the engine but it wont start
Get the alternator charging rate checked should be about 14.6v with main lights on

[Alex Roux]

Exactly the same senario I had myself and we had with Vaughn. It starts with starting issue, you jump start the vehicle but the battery runs down to a point where it doesn't have enough power to run the ECU. In both cases we swopped out batteries just to get home. The other day at Bosvark we swopped out my battery with Vaughn's where I followed him home, at night, with no lights. Fun. Definitly start with a altenator test

You went back to Bosvark again, with a reversal of the last scenario?

Sounds like alternator then.

[Tinus lotz]

Om te meet is om te weet .....klink soos hot connection op charging cuircuit. ....meet alles

[Herrie]

Jy moet die battery laat toets by Battery Centre om seker te maak hy is ook nog reg en hulle sal jou alternater ook toets en die toets kos jou gewoonlik niks.

Ek het al albei toetse op my battery en alternater gekry.

[Alex Roux]

Was pas by Battery Centre.
Batterye is gesond, maar 'getrek' na gister se lang rit waarin hulle nie galaai is nie.
Met die volts meter aan en ek throttle, dan klim die volts nie. Dit is na al die konneskie punte mooi skoon gemaaak is. Dit beteken die alternator het heelwaarskynlik gekraam.

So die auto-eletrician is besig met die alternator vandag.

I was lucky, with 100 meters from home when the crank battery became too flat to continue servicing the ECU and sparks. Also I still had enough left in the auxiliairy battery to get me home.
So this leads me to think again about the question of what if this happens when in the sticks?
Even the older carburator engines still need a spark.
And there is, it seems, little to tell if the alternator is on its way to retirement before it happens?
Would the solution be to travel with the solar panels?
Let me know...

Also, my quick research on the topic says that, lots of dirt driving can shorten its life because of more friction inside the moving parts. So this is deifnitely something to think about....

[Wilkie]

Hi Alex,thats the reason why I carry a spare alternator and fuel pump in my patrol....always
its not ecu or distributor that stops the engine from ticking over when battery goes flat but injectors,and as I set before ,it needs at least 11volts to operate.
You should have contacted Graeme regarding repairs to the alternator