Sisters car not charging the battery.

[volxstu]

My sis broke down the other day due to no charge in the battery. She had it changed but that didnt help. So i went round in the dark so could only test at the batt and the alternator wasnt charging it. She was at 11.7v with engine running.
So she went to the garage who were sposed to be doing their own testing and obviously replaced the alternator.
It looks like the numpties only did the same test that i did. They clearly couldnt have traced the fault all the way back to the alternator as that has made no difference. Battery is still not charging.
I did tell her it could be faulty earth. IMO if the alt can last at least 4 years and up to 8 and over 100,000 miles, then its made of strong stuff and its very likely that exposed earth connections are likely to have started severely weathering by now. But she forgot to say that.

Anyway she is going to ask if they did this and if this is the problem then they can at very least pay back a majority of the cost of the work done.

Im not one to quickly accuse a professional of being incompetent. Everybody thinks they know everything and makes assumptions that may very well not be true. Ive been on the receiving end and its not very nice when you are doing your best to achieve the impossible and the client throws it in your face.
So can anybody else think of anything else that it could be?

 

[Shadeyman]

Have you tried installing another good battery. Might be a duff battery?

 

[volxstu]

No not yet but what are the chances of it being a duff battery when it was only changed because there was a problem in the charging system.
The problem is my job dictates that i do everything to an anally intricate level and im a bit deatached from how the rest of the world work. I.e i wouldnt change a battery unless i had traced the problem to a definitive answer.

 

[dave]

 

[volxstu]

Whats that meant to mean. She said the battery light has come on a number of times.

 

[dave]

when she is just driving normal or when she has stalled it? if when just driving normal then alternator is on way out or belt is slipping

 

[volxstu]

When she is driving. The first time it was on constant and she lost all braking and power steering The second time it flashed on whilst she was driving, this is after a change of battery and i tested it at 11.7v with engine on.

 

[Shadeyman]

So the battery is new and the alternator is new and still its not charging?

 

[volxstu]

In short... Yes.

 

[dave]

When she is driving. The first time it was on constant and she lost all braking and power steering

that sounds like what happens if engine there is a brake in power like if a battery lead pops off

but 11.7v with engine running is way too low, have you fitted all the new stuff right

 

[ChrisUK]

It should be about 14v if the alternator and charging circuit is working correctly even when idling. Should peak slightly when revving.

If battery and alternator has replaced next thing would be to check wiring and fuses.

It has been known to get a duff alternator, was it a brand new unit or a refurb? I swapped an alternator on a friends fiesta only to find the new one was knackered too (confirmed by putting a multimeter directly on the alternator wiring).

 

[Focus Owner]

grandad told me to do this om my car didn't tell me anything but


remove the battery with the car running. i thought it would stall but it doesn't

he then said something like if the voltage shoots up regulator circuits are shagged if its low coils are shagged.
I don't know if this is wise to do or not but oh well.

oh i removed negative

 

[sledge]

Alternator needs to come off the car and be bench tested, if only to rule it out, particularly if its a service-ex or a repair as opposed to a brand new item.

 

[volxstu]

Damn i must improve my communication skills lol. Chris is the only one who has half understood me. (not aimed at you Sledge we posted at the same time)

The garage is doing the work. She had the batt changed but then the light flashed on whilst she was driving again. I went and tested it and it wasnt receiving a good charge. I then suggested to my sister that she tells the garage it is more likely to be a fault in the wiring than dodgy alternator.
They have replaced both the battery and alternator, and are going to try another alternator today.

My question is, can it be anything else other than a fault in a wire somewhere? Also are the garage in the wrong by not fully testing the charging system before changing anything.
Surely the first thing a garage should do on an 02 car with 100k miles on the clock is to check voltage with engine running.

My sister is proper skint right now due to her cam belt snapping. She wanted to sell the car but it keeps going wrong. If the garage are just replacing and charging her on a whim that may be perfectly servicable parts then i will go down there and get some of her money back.

 

[volxstu]

Ok now they are saying that the ECU is faulty. Im afraid im only have second hand information from my sister atm.
She was saying something about replacing a cable between the ECU and the alternator. Then the ecu can tell the alternator to charge the battery.

Please can somebody help, could this be true. Car is a Citroen C3. I though that any regulation was built into the alternator which is a direct feed to the battery. I am no mechanic so out of my depth here. How does an ecu affect the alternator charging the battery?

 

[sledge]

So it seems the fault lies with the cable??? It doesnt inspire confidence in the garage and suggests the alternator and/or battery could well have been perfectly servicable and time and money has been wasted replacing them.

You have no real option but to let them go ahead and replace the cable. Given the amount of messing around and costs incurred to date I would be insisting on a fixed price gauranteed repair as a goodwill gesture ie: if there are still problems there will be no further charges made if the fault is still not rectified.

 

[volxstu]

Ok yeah they are saying its a faulty cable from the ECU stoping the alternator from working. Could this be true.

And yeah im going down there to have a word with them. I dont know garage procedure, so dont understand why they didnt diagnose this first time.

 

[dave]

what car is it?

 

[ChrisUK]

Car is a Citroen C3.

what car is it?

 

[volxstu]

Ok just got back and the garage are doing their best. They wont be charging her for the alternator as it is an ECU problem. The ECU is pretty much shot. All they can do is bridge a wire from the ignition into the wire on the Alternator bypassing the ecu in a last ditch attempt to get it running enough to sell or trade in.
They arent even going to charge her for this and everything seems good on the Garages part, so it looks like my inclination to not get arsey with the garage and accuse them of not doing their job was correct.

So lets hope for my sisters sake this pays off. They arent exactly flush with money and she needs a car to commute to work.
Not only that but my own car is going in for work next friday for 9 days and she was sposed to be taking me in to work the days i cant borrow my dads car lol.

I have to say all this culture of commuting long distances and relying on personal transport dont half make life difficult.