anyone help with this problem

[fer355]

hi got a mk2 with 3ltr v6 fitted one off pauls , due to health problems the car has nt been used for a good while , its been parked up with no battery , so put battery back in started car but its not charging , dash light are like a xmas tree . red bat light ,red engine man light , wee red light i ve never seen affore , so changed alternater , still not charging ,put original back in cause its giving me same reading as the new one. any ideas guys help its doing my head in :freak3:

[Paul Woods]

Sam it sounds like alternator failure but very hard to say, if you can get the car down to me I'll sort it for you free of charge even though it was a vehicle sale and there's no warranty as such, don't want to see you stuck mate.

[cdwood2010]

Paul,

If the alternator was swapped out and it's still the same, doesn't that point elsewhere?

Is it possible that there's water got in somewhere? Shorted stuff out?

C.

[fer355]

paul it isnt the yellow mk3 its the red ferr rep mk2

[Paul Woods]

Indeed Chris, you're right (but don't let it go to your head :) ) , i didn't read Sams post properly, bit stressed at the mo, sorry Sam.

Sam it doesn't matter if it's not the yellow one, i'll still help wherever i can mate.

Ok some tests for you, grab a multimeter.

Take the plug out of the alternator and switch the ignition on, all three pins on the plug should show around 12v, please report back with the actual voltages at the three pins.

We'll go from there.

[fer355]

ok paul cheers for taken time to help, right here goes
yellow 0.71 v
red 12,11v
wh 12.13v

say the alternaters fek d make it easy

[Paul Woods]

Right, your alt is fine Sam, you have a problem on that yellow wire.

It should be showing 12v with ignition on, so you either have a blown fuse somewhere or a wire break between the Alt yellow wire and the yellow going to the clocks. The yellow wire pops up in the engine bay fusebox, so try a continuity test from there to the alt plug, and from the fusebox to the clocks.

In the meantime to test things out you can supply a 12v feed to the yellow wire and you should see it start charging, that's only a temporary test though, don't be tempted to leave that as a fix.

[fer355]

cheers paul yer a top dog. will give that a try the morra night after work thanks bud

[adamh]

does the mk2 have a charge fuse?. if i shorted anything in the mk1 bay it sometimes used to blow the 5a charge fuse, battery would die quick (after a run ) powering the car with nothing bieng returned to it.

[Paul Woods]

Ads, without looking at a diagram i believe the Alt sensing (white wire) is fused and the Ign+ (black/yellow) is definately fused, the problem is on the yellow wire but offhand i can't remember if that one is fused or not..... i mean obviously it's fused somewhere, every circuit on a car is even if it's going right back to the AM1/AM2 ones, but i can't remember seeing a specific fuse on that wire...... damn you i'm going to have to look at a circuit diagram now! :)

[Paul Woods]

Just had a look and i was right, there is no fuse between clocks and alternator on that wire, it runs through the battery light bulb on the dash (knew this already) and takes feed directly from ignition, which is AM2 fused.

Now if Sam had said his battery light wasn't working when switching ignition on then that would explain 0v at the alternator yellow wire, but i dismissed that because he said it was all lit up like a chrimbo tree.

Looks like a poor connection or wire break.

[fer355]

right here we go. yellow wire temp 12v feed all dash lights go out but still no charge going to battery all fuses tested and are ok

[Paul Woods]

If the lights all go out then the alternator must be outputting something, what is the charge rate at the battery terminals with engine running?

[fer355]

ok paul. well without engine running ign on when live feed was attached dash went out, when engine starrted and ticking over it is only showing 11.80 rev it a bit it goes up to 11 93v

[Paul Woods]

Well with all three wires having 12v on them now, have you checked the main charging terminal is tight and secure? That's the thick white wire on the 10mm nut on the alternator.

[fer355]

yes the 10 mm nut is tight i ll check it all over again hopefully tommorow night see if i ve missed anything but it looks to me as if alternaters feked no unless am missing something here

[Paul Woods]

I agree, if the wiring checks out it must be.

Check there is full continuity between the charging cable and the battery + terminal.

[fer355]

will do cheers for yer time on this, any alternaters down there

[Paul Woods]

Yeah i've got a 3vz one here, let me know if yours is definately knackered first

[fer355]

much you want for one with p+p

[Paul Woods]

I want postage cost only bud, probably £15.

Check yours out 100% first though.

[fer355]

will do paul will check it all again the morra night and let you know thanks

[fer355]

right paul managed to get a guy up tonight to look at alternater he says its got a dead short inside ,its a total mess inside wae rust realy bad looking so its feked he says , so can i take you upon yer offer please ,for yer spare alternater cheers need yer details for a cheque