Charging problem

[ste68blue]

Hi all, can anyone help please?

I recently experienced the battery not being charged, so i put my volt metre on it and there was just over 12 volts being put back in the battery, alternator at fault.

So i went to my local supplier who told me he didnt have one in stock but could refurb mine in about half a day, so £135.00 lighter i returned to pick up my nice clean shiny alternator, refitted and all seemed well.

Then last night i went to start the truck and it struggled with battery power, so i tested it once again and the battery was showing just over 12 volts without the truck running and about the same with the engine running...

So i removed the alternator and this morning went back to the suppliers and told them, they tested it and said that there was no fault with the alternator...so now i am confused...

Any suggestions?

(PS the battery is only about 6 months old)

 

[clivvy]

ok ive got some odd suggestions for you!!

when running, does the engine warm up nice and quick? if not, if the needle is slow to get to halfway then I suggest the glow plugs are on for longer-draining the battery. With that in mine, check your thermostat!

sorry, couldn't resist, I read this the other day and actually, I think its right because since putting my old thermostat back into my car, it doesn't get warm, and its been harder to start (so im changing my thermostat again today)

just a thought, probably rubbish but its all learning!

 

[ginna]

hi, a knackered battery still shows 12 volts it will be your battery that is not taking charge, if you run it for a while and your alternator starts getting very warm to touch its because it cant load the battery because the cells will be down, borrow a battery of someone elses car before buying one, get it started and it should be running 14 to 14.8 on the volt meter

 

[ste68blue]

thanks for the reply.

my truck has always been quite slow to warm up, but with the volt metre on the battery it isnt showing any voltage being put back in to the battery

 

[ste68blue]

but surely if the alternator is working properly then it would still show increased voltage being put to the battery terminals wouldnt it regardless of whether the battery is holding it?

 

[ginna]

if the cells are down it can not take power and will not show try a battary first

 

[ste68blue]

Hi guys, all sorted...new 700a battery fitted and it fires lovely now.

Cheers for all the help

 

[Sweety]

The alternator should be pushing out 13.5-14.2 volts:thumb2 my last T2 would dip down to 13v when I had lights & 6 spotlights on, heater & heated rear window going plus my sound system turned up high

 

[thesilkster]

i had starting problems so i cjecked my alt and it did not show charge untill i revved the engine

also i have fitted new glow plugs and i leave the ignition on untill the airbag lights go out then i start her .... every time never a problem unlike before.

i have been told my glow plugs stay on for eleven seconds even when the glow plug lights go out.

cheers Thesilkster

 

[rustic]

Hi all, can anyone help please?

I recently experienced the battery not being charged, so i put my volt metre on it and there was just over 12 volts being put back in the battery, alternator at fault.

So i went to my local supplier who told me he didnt have one in stock but could refurb mine in about half a day, so £135.00 lighter i returned to pick up my nice clean shiny alternator, refitted and all seemed well...

Sorry to raise this but... Was the alternator actually tested prior to being refurbished?

If it was faulty, then if the diode block had gone it can discharge the battery, to a point that if the battery is left with a charge of less than 80% for a long time can cause premature failure of the battery through sulphation. But to be fair, this would have caused starting problems prior to this.

A battery 6 months old would not normally fail unless there was a battery fault, so I assume it was still under warrenty.

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

I have owned 6 T2s and I have noticed many don't start charging properly until the engine goes over about 2.5k revs, once it has done so once it keeps charging, so local journeys may no result in the revs going high enough. test volts rev it and test again, If this is the case just give it a little rev at the start of a short journey :thumb2