paddy145

The car has been running perfect up till now.
She got up this morning to discover that we had a hard frost and some snow. She tried to start the car and it was dead. Her father then gave her a jump and the car fired up straight away. She drove for around 500 yards and the power steering stopped working followed by the car dying. She managed to nurse it home although it cut out twice and had to be jump started. The power steering did not work. I came home and jump started the car. It fired up straight away and sat running for around 2 mins and then died.
How do I determine if it is the battery or the altenator ?
And secondly,if it is the altenator,are they easy to replace by a novice.
The car is a vauxhall astra estate,ls dti,2003 model.
Thanks

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

Is it electric power steering pump? If its not and is run off a belt, I'd be looking at incorrect belt tension or a mising belt all together. Any warning lights on on the dash? Wit hthe engine running, how many volts do you have across the battery? You should have as close to 14.5v.

paddy145

Their is a warning light of a battery but according to the manual this means it is the altenator and the battery is not being charged. I will need to have a better look tommorrow when it is daylight. Not sure at the moment if the power steering has an electric pump. How would I identify this ?

vaughant

iTrader: (1)

If it's electric pas,which it probably is,then from memory it's down by the drivers side inner wing.
I think with the belt driven version there should be an obvious reservoir somewhere?

As rich said,14volts is fine,grab a multimeter and find out.I'd guess battery myself as the faults only just occurred,they need a really good battery to start them as well.

FletchCossie

iTrader: (4)

Check the alternator belt is still there. They can snap and obviously give symptoms of alternator failure.

If it has a belt, test the battery voltage with the car turned off (Should be 12volts), start the car and test the battery voltage (Should be 13.5+).

tabetha

If it is a electric steering, identifiable by the lack of power steering fluid reservoir, then the load placed upon the electrical system with a flat battery also could potentially cause it to stall.
If the belt has come off, snapped which would be a huge coincidence the charge warning light would be lit, and of course no charge would be taking place.
A missing fan belt would be obvious due to it not being there.
You want a MINIMUM of around 14.7 volts on this vehicle, most run a calcium battery which can/does operate up to 16 volts.
You would be much better off charging the battery, even leaving the car with jump leads attached to another car for 30 minutes would put a good amount in there, the donor needn't be running and will still start perfectly.
A sudden cold snap can kill seemingly perfectly good batteries, not at all unusual.
tabetha

paddy145

Thanks for the help guys.