last night i broke down in the rain,
the fez started misfiring then i realised the dash lights had gone really dim, a couple of miles later and the car would only run with anything that consumed power turned off then it died completely and i had a smell of burning wire! not good!, it's the same thing that happened when my fan belt snapped a couple of weeks ago, thing is, i got my old man to come out and tow me home, after setting off i tried the hazards and they worked everything was working but engine wouldn't turn over with the starter!!! any ideas suggestions!

 

Alternator maybe that would explain the dimming lights

 

that's what i thought, only once i was being towed down the road and the engine wasn't running, i turned the hazards on they were working normally and brightly and the wipers were fine as it was raining!! so there was still charge in the battery.

 

ecu requires at least 9v otherwise the ecu wont work and the ignition system needs a fair whack of current as well, the hazards and wipers will still work(albiet a bit slower or dimmer) after the engine has died

id say its your alternator or wiring associated with it

 

Thanks, it's quite a new battery, put in with the engine, i charged it all night after i got home late last night and it got me to work today, i'll check the voltage at the terminals tonight with the car running. if it's low i'll clean up all the alternator starter motor terminals. thanks for your advice...

 

did the battery light come on at any point?!

if the voltage when running is anything under 13 volts then chances are its the alternator or the blue wire which runs to the revcounter (if the battery light didnt come on, ill bet money on this being the problem!)

whip the alt plug off and take the dials out, test the continuety of that blue wire with a multimeter (think its blue...the thin one anywya), if its broken then just run a new wire and try it again, if its still not working then its probably the regulator thats gone, easiest thing is to go to a scrappy and get hold of one out of there, chances are they wont have scrapped a car because of a duff alternator

hth mate!

 

Thanks for your replies, last night i checked the voltage with the car not running it was 12.25 then with it running 12.20 and dropping a 100th volt every ten seconds, so swapped the alternator with one off my mates engine in my garage and it now holds 13.89 volts when running so it's sorted. The battery light on the dash didn't come on but the blue wire is connected, i think it's the bulb knacered so i'll swap it with my now unneccesary power steering warning light and all should be ok thanks again.