nick131

Hi,

My mother and brother share a ford escort 1.3 HCS base model. They reported a constantly on charge light, dim unchanging when reved. I put a multimeter across the battery and conectors and got a constant 11.95 ish reading. With the engin running this is also constant. I have assumed it is either the alternator or the voltage regulator on the alternator. (please say if you disagree).

I have also found the water levels to be slightly low in the battery, very equally and all of them. I have toped them up and it is on charge, showing near full at the outset.

The car is standard except for some aftermarket 6x9's and a 12" sub + amp.

The alternator was 23mths old and was a new not recon from halfords, the battery is of similar age.

Is it possible that the stereo is putting too much of a strain on the system? and if so can a higher amp alternator of a higher model be fitted with no other mods? ie will it affect the ignition etc. the amp is wired directly to the battery with the correct kit and is activated by the blue wire, remote.

I should add that the fuse has blown on the amp regularly recently, the earth was refreshed and all seemed ok. There has been one blow of the rear tail/dash board lights. this has not reocured / happened again. (sorry for some of the spelling).

cheers nick

cabriolet

what output is the amp divide the wattage by 12 that will tell u what current it is drawing yr alternator is only rated at 55 amps it is regulated internally to roughly13.8 volts yrs sounds too low suspect yr alternator is duff hope this helps

Cozziekid

Yep sounds like the alternator mate, should be charging at around 13-14volts.
You can fit a higher amp alternator but id also fit an uprated battery too to cope with the sub/amp setup.

nick131

Hi,

Thanks for the replys, I went to a small local car electrical place, Turns out the halfords 'new' alternator that cost £70 was a re-con ! Also it was a 70amp unit, though you are right to expect a 55amp cabriolet as it should have been.

So as some will know there is a removable box on the back of most alternators that used to be the regulator, well its now the brushes too. It was these that were at fault, he had them in stock about £18.

When fitted charging was sorted, however the other probs got worse till the sub was removed, this culminated in the whole sidelight circuit going down in the stalk.

That was fun as we cannot afford a new one so went to the scrappy, he had at least 10 slightly different ones !

Of course this all happened some while back and since removing the sub there has been no issues, apart from the stalk sticks on full beam some times.

So the answer was alternator brushes worn out, yes you can stick the higher amp alternator in, and no you cannot just stick a powerfull amp and sub in without damaging the car. ( the stero and 6=9s are still going fine).

I have to say lads, i loved mk1/2 escorts, im 41. But these are rubbish. I have a 21yr old bmw 316 base model, no ew's just mirrors and c/l, i had 2*12' subs a few years back and i had no probs ecept the boot lock fell out and a lot of bulbs were bought, oh and i had to pack the no plate with cloth ,

thanks for replys nick

tabetha

The sub and amp will shorten the life of the alternator if drawing too much, but remember a alternators rating is NOT it's constant output, it is a peak reading, typically a 70 amp alternator will not be happy at any more than about 45 amps, a larger battery will give more reserve.
Watts/volts as said give the amps but volts should be nearer 13.5 -13.8.
tabetha