Grande Punto Power drain!!!

[mboskett]

Hi would be really grateful for some advice. I was driving my fiat punto (57 plate - grane punto) to work when I noticed the battery light on the dashboard. I continued my journey and the radio went off, then one after another I got various failure lights - airbag failure, abs failure, ebs failure, the sterring got heavier and heavier until I could bnarely turn the car. I stopped at a car park and turned the engine off. When I tried to restart, i got a rapid clicking noise but the engine would not fire or startup. I left it for an hour or so and when I tried it again the engine did start. However, the battery light was still on and the same thing happened where all the failure lights came on. After about 5 minutes the engine started to stutter until all power appeared to have been drained and the engine cut out.

Any ideas - I think maybe the alternator not charging the battery??

Thanks in advance for any input

Mark

 

[kyle96]

I was going to say the alternator was not charging the battery but when you mentioned 'engine cutting out' I'm a bit stuck for words. It should be able to go on its own without a battery should it not? Unless it actually needs power.
The steering getting heavier is just your power asisted steering going since it needs battery.
As for the engine starting after an hour I remember being taught in college the chemical reaction in the battery can generate a bit of charge but I don't know if thats so true

Id go to a fiat dealer for this one

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

I was going to say the alternator was not charging the battery but when you mentioned 'engine cutting out' I'm a bit stuck for words. It should be able to go on its own without a battery should it not? Unless it actually needs power.

How do all of the 100's of sensors and engine ECU get power if the battery is dead and the ecu isn't charging? No working ecu = no running engine

My money is on failed alternator. Tbh you shouldnt really have kept driving it. You need to manually charge your battery ASAP op to ensure you don't irreversibly damage it by having over drained it.

 

[kyle96]

I stand corrected, I had never thought of that

Weird how an alternator can fail i thought they were rather reliable

 

[Darrell Green]

Hey, same thing happened to my brothers car a few weeks back.. turned out the alternator belt some how slipped off, so the battery wasn't being charged.
Same thing happened with all the warning lights coming up and power steering and abs failure too.. Could be worth looking at, only cost him £20 to have it replaced.

Hope this helps

Darrell

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Weird how an alternator can fail i thought they were rather reliable

They tend to be fairly durable, although I believe this is an issue on some GP's where rain water drains off onto them

 

[RowingLad87]

They tend to be fairly durable, although I believe this is an issue on some GP's where rain water drains off onto them

Aye, they can take quite a beating thanks to GM's 'interesting' design feature! OP, if you do go for a new alternator (after testing the belt and the original alternator, as suggested earlier) it'd be worth looking at ways to drain scuttle water away from the engine bay. There are a lot of threads on here about it, the OEM scuttle drain pipe seems to cause a lot of problems. Hope this helps

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

I think I've also seen on here to only go for OEM alternators, although slightly more pricey, some people have had issues with their GPs when using a none genuine alternators and the EPS system causing faults iirc.

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi,

assuming you've recovered the car from the roadside,
take battery off car, charge it properly ( over night)

if possible check the voltage with a meter;
1, before charging = should be @9V +
2, straight after charging is done and charger disconnected = should be @ 13.2 V
3, after letting the battery stand for an hour, should be 12.2V +

if it's dropped significantly from charge to standaing after 1 hour, it's probably scrap..,

while the battery is off the car spend a few minutes looking for loose alternator belt, loose/ damged wires around alternator, and Battery.. also worth checking the fusebox lid is on properly and all is dry inside,
clean up the battery clamps..to make sure ALL the battery's power can get out,

once it seems to hold at least 12Volts,
put it back on the car , see if it starts( let all the check lights go out 1st..)

then if it seems to run o.k. put the test meter across the battery terminal,
should ideally read 14.0 Volts + ( 14.4 volts)

if it's still around the 12 volts mark, try raising the revs to 2,500 that SHOULD increase the voltage across battery..
if still around 12 volts.. it's not charging the battery from the alternator,

you MAY find that it runs fine and is charging o.k.,
BUT the airbag / other warning light is still on,
this will probly be due to a stored fault code..( from insufficient voltage other day..) read the codes and reset should clear it..,

do let us know how it goes..!!,

a replacemnent alternator isn't a cheap job.. so worth doing the basics 1st..,

Charlie

 

[kyle96]

They tend to be fairly durable, although I believe this is an issue on some GP's where rain water drains off onto them

I wonder how water gets into there in the first place, am I the only GP owner without some sort of under tray or are all GP's like that I wonder

 

[JimbbobW1977]

It's a crap design, the water from the windscreen drains down just behind the alternator, in heavy rain it just pours onto the alternator. I had 2 alternators replaced on my old GP because of this poor design even after the new drain tube was added.

I looked at the Corsa we have at work to see if that was the same seeing as they were designed together. Not a single drop into the engine bay at all. Like wise with my MK3 Focus not a drop of water gets into the engine bay.

I have no idea why Fiat designed it so water pours onto the alternator, and sits on top of the suspension top mounts.

If they were designed properly from the start these common failures would not happen and the car would be more reliable!