got a vn 91 calais lately, on start up, it makes a ch ch ch ch noise went for about 30 seconds i can see the alternator just flicking, sorta like it's seized when off, the battery is about 12.15 v when on, the battery is still around 12.8 v does that mean the alternator is stuffed? or could it be more, such as starter motor? what does a new alternator cost?
the alt light on the cluster dash? haven't seen it what does it look like? and do u mean the brushes inside the alternator itself?
he means the fins and the belt. Mine does it occasionally. It can come from all sorts of things. A retardation of the ignition timing caused usually by leads. Check lead votlage. then get back to us.
yeh, thats right the fins on teh alternator how do i check the lead voltages? disconnect the lead, put the positve of voltimeter to lead and negative to ground? could it be spark plugs? i keep thinking it's alternator...?
okay, i've gone and cleaned all the battery connectsion back to bare metal, inclduing the connection at the back of the alternator at the suggestion of a member on JC and it seemed to work, car started up normal again but just now, it started doing it again, the ch ch ch on start up i'm pretty stumped, anyone have any ideas?
okay, turned out to be oxidised connection at back of the alternator, which was draining my battery on start up a 10 mm spanner, sand paper, conductive grease and a recharge had the vn baby purring like a tiger again thanks VT97
Did the test on the L3 dash and got 13.9v - that the one that gives you the digital speedo on the VN and pressed mode 1 time to get the volts.
