i used my punto grande 1.4 8v to just start my van and the car has sat about all week not being used as its my girlfriends and heavly pregnant so does not drive at the mo i came to change the lambda sensor today and take it for a drive but as the car was de-misting the battery light came on and lost power steering i checked the battery and while it was running it was saying only 11.67 so means its not charging so im guessing alternator has died

any advise or solutions would be fantastic

bora54 said:

i used my punto grande 1.4 8v to just start my van and the car has sat about all week not being used as its my girlfriends and heavly pregnant so does not drive at the mo i came to change the lambda sensor today and take it for a drive but as the car was de-misting the battery light came on and lost power steering i checked the battery and while it was running it was saying only 11.67 so means its not charging so im guessing alternator has died

any advise or solutions would be fantastic

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I recommend you take your car to garage and have both battery and alternator checked.

I had this problem recently turned out to be a fooked battery mate, in terms of the battery light and heavy steering, turn the car off and then back on again and light and steering should return to normal, mine did.

I was given a quote of £200.00 for a bosch alternator and then a further quote of £95 to £115 to fit it. If the alternator has gone I would suggest going for a like for like replacement as some alternators makes/brands make the battery light come on.

I hope it turns out to be a worn out battery mate and not an alternator.

Kind Regards
Stephen

yea as soon as i restart the car the steering comes back untill i stit there and rev it a little then it goes again and battery light is back on

bora54 said:

yea as soon as i restart the car the steering comes back untill i stit there and rev it a little then it goes again and battery light is back on

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How about if you leave the car running for 15 - 20 mins or better still pull the battery out and put it on a charger if you can mate put it on a low charge and leave it overnight.

If you have a multimetre mate try taking a reading from the battery when the car is running you should see a significant increase somewhere in the region of 14.09

Leave your battery disconnected over night, see if the lights on in morning

when you was jumping did you put earth jump lead direct to battery on the van or on to engine? doing direct to battery can kill alternator, so can leaving leads connected too long after starting.

Check the earth lead see the faq section above and go to the Grande punto section and look at my electrical gremlin thread

dave said:

when you was jumping did you put earth jump lead direct to battery on the van or on to engine? doing direct to battery can kill alternator, so can leaving leads connected too long after starting.

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out of curiosity, what's the reasoning behind that? i always connect terminals to terminals and never had a problem so far. but if i'm doing it wrong i don't want to risk damaging anything..

chricol said:

out of curiosity, what's the reasoning behind that? i always connect terminals to terminals and never had a problem so far. but if i'm doing it wrong i don't want to risk damaging anything..

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i don't remember, i used to think it was just to avoid getting a spark near battery because they give off fumes that can ignite. but then people have told me the rest over the years.
It could just be coincidence that peoples alternators have died after giving jump starts and i am just spreading urban myth :chin:

The AA says turn both cars off before removing leads, ive never heard that one and it seems a bit nuts as the jumped car might not restart

chricol said:

out of curiosity, what's the reasoning behind that? i always connect terminals to terminals and never had a problem so far. but if i'm doing it wrong i don't want to risk damaging anything..

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A battery been charged releases hydrogen gas which is explosive!

Going to the engine block with the negative lead on the dead car does two things



It reduces the chance of a spark ignighting the hydrogen gas when disconnecting

And provides power direct to the engine block thus the starter bypassing the battery and earth strap


(Once the car is running this(the negative on the engine is the first clamp you remove having first turned on the heated rear screen of both cars. This reduces the chances of a spike in power when you disconnect as any spike is absorbed and dissipated by the screen)

SJB1985 said:

How about if you leave the car running for 15 - 20 mins or better still pull the battery out and put it on a charger if you can mate put it on a low charge and leave it overnight.

If you have a multimetre mate try taking a reading from the battery when the car is running you should see a significant increase somewhere in the region of 14.09

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the reading when the car was running was about 11.67

dave said:

when you was jumping did you put earth jump lead direct to battery on the van or on to engine? doing direct to battery can kill alternator, so can leaving leads connected too long after starting.

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when I jumped the van is was to both terminals on both batteries

Reuuk said:

Leave your battery disconnected over night, see if the lights on in morning

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left the battery off since last night but still no change maybe worse as lights on as soon as you start it now im guessing its due to the battery voltage getting lower I need to get the alternator off and take it to a shop near by that deals in fixing them

what are they like to get off as its at the back under the air con pump looks like a bitch to get to