Alternator light wont clear

[Denny pannell]

Hey guys, at a last resort of trying to resolve my issue without spending obsurd amounts of money, I thought I'd come here.

2010 ve series 2 llt, was driving around one day and I had a "service charging system" light come up on my dash. I didn't think anything of it because when I started it again a few times after it'd take a while to come back up, didn't seem like much of an issue. anyway fast forward a few days, this light came up everytime I started it, went for a drive around the block and every light imaginable came up (trac control fault, abs fault, airbag fault, power saving mode, [was also in manual mode and kicked me out of that]) and eventually I was left with absolutely no electronics including speedo and tacho, put itself into limp mode for a little bit, then to top it all off it started running as if it were running on 3 cylinders (foot flat couldn't go above 10km/h)

After messing around with it a while, volts on a multimeter from every electrical point (alt, fuse box, battery) all showed 12.3v with all electronics on or off.

Fast forward some more time, mechanic put a new alternator in, that seemed to fix it, no more alternator light, started and idled fine, until it was revved or driven, then the alternator light comes back up. Mechanic knew how pedantic the VE's can be with their alternators so he put 2 more (genuine I should add) in and same thing, fixed it until it was revved or driven.

Now in engineering mode, it shows up as only 13.3v with everything on or off, and battery percentage only sits at 69.8% but still with alternator light. Have started and stopped it a fair few times now and still starts completely fine.

My question is, has anyone had the same or similar problems that I'm having? How was it resolved? Am I up for a new/remapped ecu/ecm/bcm or is it something else?

I should add all fuses and relays to do with the charging system all are okay.

Cheers everyone

 

[krusing]

Firstly, how many K’s has it done ?,
Has it had any other work done to it ?,
Has it been modified in any way ?,
Any accessories added,
Has it been degreased/wash down recently.

These can be the hidden causes of faults appearing.

After the 2nd alternator,
I would have been looking out of the alternator (box), not replacing it again,
Unless he is doing a dodgy alternator deal,
Using S/hand ones that look new when reconditioned.

On the other hand, it could be a corroded/damaged ground connection after it gets to temperature,
Did it start happen at similar times ?,
Being the alternators are mounted low, the alternator and its wiring are subseptable to water/moisture,
Maybe the plug has been damaged by water, or is coved in oil, or even have burnt terminals,
These are things that can be over looked when replacing a unit, for a quick turn around job.

I’d be checking the plugs/connectors
The voltage you mentioned seems to be a bit low,
As the VE’s alternators usually run at approximately 14.3v > 14.7v, but can peak at 15.3v
A live test on a scanner can provide more accurate readings.

If the MIL is active, what are the codes being created ?
With out that information, it’s like a needle in a hay stack.

 

[krusing]

On a side note that other members may wonder why I mentioned oil in the RP120 alternator plug.

I say oil in the RP120 plug, how on earth would you get oil in that plug you may well ask ?, as it does have a seal on it.

Well I had NFI either how it got there either !
After a good plast with WD40 to clean the oil from it,
Then a good blast with Contact Cleaner to clean the WD40 from it, it came up looking new.

Because I recently found oil in a alternator plug on a L98, yes, “engine oil in the plug”, which had caused the whole car to shut down with no charge rate, and dead battery.

Replaced the Alternator, and Battery, and it’s running perfectly, so the customer is saying.

That said, I did find a 540cca std 4 cyl battery installed, which he claimed his mechanic installed it when it was last serviced.
He needs to find a new mechanic was my comment.

 

[Denny pannell]

Firstly, how many K’s has it done ?,
Has it had any other work done to it ?,
Has it been modified in any way ?,
Any accessories added,
Has it been degreased/wash down recently.

These can be the hidden causes of faults appearing.

After the 2nd alternator,
I would have been looking out of the alternator (box), not replacing it again,
Unless he is doing a dodgy alternator deal,
Using S/hand ones that look new when reconditioned.

On the other hand, it could be a corroded/damaged ground connection after it gets to temperature,
Did it start happen at similar times ?,
Being the alternators are mounted low, the alternator and its wiring are subseptable to water/moisture,
Maybe the plug has been damaged by water, or is coved in oil, or even have burnt terminals,
These are things that can be over looked when replacing a unit, for a quick turn around job.

I’d be checking the plugs/connectors
The voltage you mentioned seems to be a bit low,
As the VE’s alternators usually run at approximately 14.3v > 14.7v, but can peak at 15.3v
A live test on a scanner can provide more accurate readings.

If the MIL is active, what are the codes being created ?
With out that information, it’s like a needle in a hay stack.

190xxxks
No other work that I know of
No accessories, neither has it been degresed.

I believe he used new and second hand alternators to see if that was actually my problem, all genuine.

Today's job is to check every single connection from battery to alt to ecu to bcm and make sure everythings okay. I started it this morning and it's only now sitting at 11.8v so tyats a little bit alarming. I'll still go through everything, might even put a slightly bigger battery in and see if that does anything. I did put a different ve battery in there not too long ago (brand new) and that didn't change anything so don't think it should be that but still worth a try.

Excuse my lack of knowledge, but what is MIL?

 

[the_boozer]

malfunction indicator lamp I only replied as google and bing were adamit its a Mother inlaw

 

[Lex]

malfunction indicator lamp I only replied as google and bing were adamit its a Mother inlaw

Well it is, but not in this case.

 

[Fu Manchu]

Step one, test the battery.
That requires:
A load test.
Battery health (percentage of charge it can hold)
Charge circuit test.

I’m going to bet the battery is rooted.

 

[Fu Manchu]

If the alternator was rooted, the battery will be rooted.

 

[Denny pannell]

If the alternator was rooted, the battery will be rooted.

I had a new battery put in before a new alternator got put in, and battery was tested, came back fine. Brand new battery

 

[lout]

get it scanned and see if any helpful codes
is your mechanic intelligent enough to know vz and ve alt are different