( .Y. )
Battery Light on? WTF??
So I noticed today that when my car (vr v8 ute) is "OFF" and I look the at dash the the battery light stays on? (faintly)
I can also see the (p) light, engine light and the oil light ever so slightly... They all have a different brighness so im assuing its a bad earth somewhere?
Any idea where I should start looking?
If its any help, when I turn the reds on they all work as per usual and once the car has started they are non existant.
Real cars are steel cars.
Alternator rooted.
If I told you I was a compulsive liar, would you believe me?
Donating Member
As above - diodes in alternator are probably failing - what will happen soon will be that your battery will be flat in the morning. If you have been playing around with the electrics recently it may be something else, but if not, then the alt sounds like the culprit.
"If anyone disagrees with anything I say, I am quite prepared not only to retract it, but also to deny under oath that I ever said it." --T. Lehrer
"The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made." -- Jean Giraudoux
check that your battery terminals arent full of corrosion
and your earth straps are firmly attatched
( .Y. )
Yeah it cant be the alternator as the car isnt on when the light shows up and the light goes off when its running..
A rooted alternator will show these signs when running, not parked in the garage while off... But I was fooling about with some electrics, best be retracing my steps then I guess?
Electrics are my achilles heel
Real cars are steel cars.
This just means the regulator is working OK.Originally Posted by 304runner
If your fooling about hasn't caused the problem, I'll put money on the alternator.
If I told you I was a compulsive liar, would you believe me?
Real cars are steel cars.
This would normally cause poor charging of the battery or slow cranking. (Voltage drop across the terminal)
Not really related to the OP's problem.
If I told you I was a compulsive liar, would you believe me?
Donating Member
The alternator is always connected to the battery - ignition on or off - that's why it has diodes fitted so it can supply electricity to the battery when the engine is running but not draw it back when the engine is switched back. The diodes fail and power drains from the battery back thru the faulty diodes to earth.
"If anyone disagrees with anything I say, I am quite prepared not only to retract it, but also to deny under oath that I ever said it." --T. Lehrer
"The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made." -- Jean Giraudoux
Banned :P
A simple way to look at this would be to say that the diodes on your alternator act like a one way valve, it allows the alternator to provide power but not drain it.Yeah it cant be the alternator as the car isnt on when the light shows up and the light goes off when its running..
A rooted alternator will show these signs when running, not parked in the garage while off... But I was fooling about with some electrics, best be retracing my steps then I guess?
Electrics are my achilles heel
( .Y. )
Ah ok, cheers for the insight boys. Ill swap over the alternators tomorrow morning. For what its worth, I disconected the
"Brown" plug that goes into the alternator (it looks like an injector clip) and the the problem is fixed? Surely I have messed up
some where? And I have noticed a high pitched ringing noise coming from the "ignition modual", its ever so faint but it stops
when I remove the plug as mentioned before....
What do you think ?
If you unplug the regulator and the light goes out im gonna say its the regulator as mentioned above.
( .Y. )
Sweet as... Thanks a bunch guys.. I'll tackle it in the morning and let you all know how I go? Any idea on the buzzing sound im hearing? ( and no, I havnt been to any heavy metal concerts)
Real cars are steel cars.
The faulty alternator may be back feeding voltage into the ignition circiut via the other side of the alternator light in the dash. Basically the ignition module is on, but with a very low voltage.
I would say a new alternator will fix all your gremlins.
If I told you I was a compulsive liar, would you believe me?
( .Y. )
Ok so I swapped over the alternators today and the problem has been fixed!Thanks again for the input I would have beed stuffed without it.
Any idea what I should do with the old alternator?
Is it worth having fixed or should I just lob it?
Real cars are steel cars.
I would keep it and use it a change over if the new one stuffs up.
Personally, I think a reco unit will outlast a new one.
If I told you I was a compulsive liar, would you believe me?
Donating Member
I'd bin it - they are a dime a dozen from the wreckers.
"If anyone disagrees with anything I say, I am quite prepared not only to retract it, but also to deny under oath that I ever said it." --T. Lehrer
"The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made." -- Jean Giraudoux
You could replace the regulator, i did the one in the V6 and it was $65 dollars from memory, two srews and then its out, takes a staggering 30 seconds to change.
Real cars are steel cars.
The fault is in the diodes, not the regulator.
If I told you I was a compulsive liar, would you believe me?
( .Y. )
RX, you seem to know your stuff (as does pretty much everyone posting in this thread other than me) so I was wondering if I could pick your brain some more?
As you know, alot of stock holdens still run the standard in-tank fuel pump and it got me thinking when I was looking at mine the other day why the pump doesnt ark out ? Obviously fuel is a conductor and the pos and neg are wired up fully exposed to the fuel? (in my case soldered)
So why doesnt it short out?
Real cars are steel cars.
The fuel pumps are in the tank (immersed in fuel) to keep them cool. EFI pumps work pretty hard to supply the 40psi to the fuel system.
They don't explode as they are immersed, so no oxygen is available to supply an explosion.
NEVER test a fuel pump on the bench. If they suck in air, they can go BANG!
If I told you I was a compulsive liar, would you believe me?
The Wagon on Wheels..
Like RX said, its simply the old fire triangle. Yes they will arc at the brush's but as far as i can see ---> Fuel pump VR Check it out on this thread, is the whole pump gets flooded with fuel so no O2. Also i would imagine fuel has a poor conductivity, so i would assume some voltage leakage, but not alot @ 12VDC, maybe .5V at most. So nothing that will ever short ur wiring.
It's cheap and half arsed - perfect fit for a Commodore
Reaper
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