hi can anyone help
it started last night
driving a long and my stereo cut out losing power from battery, car jumping along the road
i got to a safe place to park and the car died on me
to trying to start it again and nothing
got someone to push me started but died again
got a mate to jump start me only got 20yrds down road and died again

can anyone give me any idea on what it could be
thanks

 

fan belts off
alternator packed in
main feed cable broken
earth cable broken
few things could cause it but the above is most likely

 

is there a batt light on the dash when you turn on the ignition,,, and does it go off when you start the car ?

 

yes bat light on but then goes off after stating

 

i know what your getting at mate but that doesn't always give it away
i work in a starter and alternator specialists and you'd be surprised at the amount fooked alts that we get in where the light goes out and looks fine but only charging at 7/8 v
the batt light only works with certain parts of the alt

 

fan belt is on then, the blue wire is connected so now test the voltage with the engine running, should be 13.8ish then turn on aircon, lights on full beam, stereo, heaters and see the voltage should remain about the same, goes to 12v or below then its the alternator

 

yeah the entiser wire,,, if it dont come on then the alt aint being turned on... if the bat light dont go out its the fan belt..... just narrowing it down a little

 

thanks for the help i will test it then if its the alt then i will get a new i hope they not dear tho

 

yip belts on
sounds like it could be the alt
its a bit more complicated than above but good advice

 

what kinda car?

 

as said the most common issues this will help, theres loads of other variables but this is the "stage one" of tests,,,,, always do these !!!

i remember once chucking out a tv cause it cut out,,,, took the plug off it as im a pikey fucker,,,,, went to use the plug a few months later,,,, the lamp had no power

the fuse in the plug blew !!!!

always start with the basics

 

ps: i had a issue with my bm, jump start it and it runs,,, checked the alt and 13.8 all the time and no issues,,,, turn it off and the car wouldnt start,,,, i was looking at the alternator but it couldnt be as the car ran with a jump start

the battery was fooked

 

dead cell in the battery can suck all the juice the alt can supply
the above does sound more like an alt tbh

 

ford escort 1.8 zetec
if i charge the battery it starts but cant drive for long

 

sounds like alt
if it was the batt the it wouldn't be taking the charge at all
60ish will get you a new alt(we'll thats the price around here anyhow)

 

If you can get 13.8 volts with everything on then you have the most effecient alternator in the world, never in a million years will this happen at idle.
The test should really be done around 2000rpm.
The "entiser" wire does not exist, what they are trying to get at is on battery excited alternators the LIVE comes through the bulb to intiate charging once engine running/alternator rotating, that said rev it around 3500-4000 and it will still kick in everytime.
They can as said fail to charge even if the light goes out, they can also charge even if the light stays on, depending on where the fault is.
The FIRST thing you need to do to get a accurate test is charge the battery fully or the test is meaningless, then test lights etc off at 2000rpm, then again with everything on at 2000rpm.
It should be anywhere around or above 12.8-13.8 with things off, with things on anywhere above 12.6 is acceptable, though some charge at 15 volts.
If you have a lot of stereo gear you might consider a uprated one, alternators will typically put out on a CONTINUOUS basis around 1/3 -1/2 of the rated current which is a max peak which only needs to be there for a second.
Another alternative is to change wiring from start to delta, as this will give around 60% more charge at the same speed lower down, but no more in total.
tabetha

 

not true i'm afraid
the battery light usualy acts as an ignition feed
so if the batt light bulb blows the regulator wont get a feed so it will not charge no matter how hard you rev it

 

tabetha the point of you post with ACTUAL HELP is ???

btw how can you say " you will never get 13.8" yet also mention that some charge at 15volts,,,,,, seems to contradict,,, not to mention the post was NO HELP AT ALL to the bloke !!

you advised and then contradicted yourself,,, then started flapping on about stereos ???

and people say i never stick to the point

 

yes,,, exactly true and i have proof with my old escort, it had a broken wire and would go dead no matter how hard i reved it,,,, revs wont rejoin a broken circuit

 

plenty of alts will charge at over 14v at idle even when fully loaded
what your saying tab was true with older style alt's but i'm afraid we've moved on a bit since then

 

i get 13.9v on my cos at idle if i rev it, makes no difference to the voltage, be careful of the heated windscreens both on at the same time and the full beams will drop the volts to around 12v. and wont charge the battery. i had to recharge mine the other day after using the heated screens and doing lots of short journeys with the lights on.

 

sounds like 1 of the winding are down on the stator
should still make 13v minimum even with everthing on mate

also make sure your fanbelts proper tight as if even a little slack then it shows most when under load

 

ive changed alternator on my 3-door but you still have to rev it for light to go out

was a second hand one though,got a new one to fit at some point

 

I get 14.5 volts at idle on my battery,are the terminals clean and tight ?