Alternator

[KLM]

Hello

i have a 1990 excel , i have noticed my battery going flat a lot , i took back to where i bought it as it was still in warranty and they tested it, they showed me it was fine but wasn't fully charged. However due to my hydrocarbon issues (separate topic ) i have been starting it up and just idling a lot. so anyway i started googling battery life and idling and whether or not just idling the car should recharge the battery.
by the
Apparently older cars , say before the 60's/70's had generators that didn't actually start to recharge until the engine was at about 2000 rpm, but cars of our era had alternators and they should recharge ?
so i decided to recharge my battery until full then went and tested my self, so a fully charged battery has about 12.5v but when the car is being recharged by the alternator it should go up to 13.5 -14v i think that alternators are limited to putting out 14v.

so i fitted the battery and started the car, just idling the battery was about 12 volts, and clearly not being recharged, so i set the revs to just over 2000 and low and behold the battery was receiving 13.5v. i noticed this on the volt meter in the dash too.

It isn't so much of an issue now that i have sorted the running issues but it clearly isn't ideal.

really modern cars charge up at idle so im wondering about changing the alternator but to what ? i have also just ordered a varta Silverline battery too. i will see how the new battery copes first but if it is the same i will start looking into alternative alternators.

[richardw]

I wouldn’t worry too much. How much time are you going to spend idling anyway?

I believe the ignition light will glow if the charging circuit shows battery discharge.

Anyway start by checking and cleaning all the main battery and alternator connections, and especially the chassis earths. You can check the voltage at the alternator (or starter solenoid as I think the charging circuit goes there from the alternator) to see if you are losing voltage compared to that shown at the battery.

Cheers, Richard

[Tanz]

You should be getting 14 volts across the battery at idle - certainly at 1000rpm. If all the connections are clean I would be looking at getting the alternator checked or rebuilt

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=11059&p=84889&hili ... tor#p84889

[KLM]

Hello

How easy or hard is it to replace the live battery cable and the cables from the starter ?


thanks

[Pete Boole]

The problem is getting your hands into the transmission tunnel to get at the clips that secure it in place. Basically the centre exhaust box and prop-shaft need to be negotiated.

Pete

[KLM]

Thanks for the reply's

My battery is just under 2 yrs old, bought it from a local parts place, i actually went back a few weeks ago to have it tested as it was always dead after a few days (idling ) and he said it was fine. so i decided to buy a Varta SILVER Dynamic 561 400 060 3162 D21 12Volt 61Ah £65 next day delivery. cheaper than an alternator.

fitted it this morning, started car, went and tested across the terminals whilst car idled and it was reading 13.6+ so it was clearly being charged at idle.

so thats another job jobbed.

next is boot lid and bonnet