The result of the alternator deciding to stop working ;(

Has the alternator actually died? Did they rule out the earth cable to the battery

Yep. The recovery bloke put his voltmeter thing on the battery, and you could see it wasn't charging.

@puntofan01 this happened to be on Monday night!







unfortunately my breakdown never turned up, Highway agency assisted my recovery at the cost of RAC.


I then broke down after using my old battery on the way to the family garage :') All fixed now with a new alternator

It was slightly terrifying when the car started dying as I was driving, lol!

puntofan01 said:

It was slightly terrifying when the car started dying as I was driving, lol!

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defiantly an interesting experience yes. my dash was lit up like a Christmas tree with everything 'failing' haha

ECU is very stupid on these cars... Battery light should light up on low voltage. Or a warning, something :/

cmosfxx said:

ECU is very stupid on these cars... Battery light should light up on low voltage. Or a warning, something :/

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The battery light did come on, along with all the others.

Yes it eventually comes on when the voltage is so low that engine is about to die.

I suffered this also not long ago.
Morrisons is half a mile away from my door.
I set off from the car park and the battery light was on with no power steering.
I switched her off and back on again thinking "it's a fiat" and away I was.
The next morning, zilch.
RAC did recover me from my partners and took me to the nearest garage.

cmosfxx said:

Yes it eventually comes on when the voltage is so low that engine is about to die.

Click to expand...

I actually managed a good few miles with that light on, lol!

itsowenhowarth said:

I suffered this also not long ago.
Morrisons is half a mile away from my door.
I set off from the car park and the battery light was on with no power steering.
I switched her off and back on again thinking "it's a fiat" and away I was.
The next morning, zilch.
RAC did recover me from my partners and took me to the nearest garage.

Click to expand...

I think it's just due to the cold, it finished my alternator off. The recovery bloke said he's had to go to loads of alternator problems lately, and frequently on cars newer than mine! I can't wait for it to be fixed though, lol!

Would be great to know what failed in your alternator. Physical damage due to frozen water from drain, regulator fail etc.

If the alternator has actually failed in the first place

seen a fair few GP owners on here over the years to have the Alternator then starter motor replaced only to find its the £30ish main battery earth strap thats caused all the issue......



Also knowing this i got my hands on some LED road flares just in case i suffer chronic power loss and have to wait an hour for the RAC to recover me...

its bad enough breaking down on a busy road or motorway but at night with no lights its a recipe for disaster

http://www.racshop.co.uk/breakdown-...c-personal-hazard-light-battery-operated.html

Aaah ofcourse... That cable is a big fail on every version of this car. But the epic fail... water drain going straight on alternator lol

Same on the mito there is a modified drain avalible for £10ish which diverts the water away. Or for a couple of quid there is the electrical wholesale option of some large cable heatshrunk tubing

Where can these scuttle drains be obtained from?

I always panic with water getting in! That rubber seal under the bonnet falls off all the damn time as well!!

Are you thinking about one of these: Modified drain pipe