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Help Help Help 2006 VE on going saga it's dead

gazzat

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You need to understand that you are fault finding a computer network, not a car. As mentioned, if you have previously jump started the car, a voltage spike could have damaged any one of the vehicles many modules disrupting the network and affecting lots of other things. That is a headache no one needs and will take a lot of back probing and oscilloscope to find.
hello. you should not have much problem with spiking or anything as i use jumper leads with the anti spike arrestor inbuilt and GM in their infinite wisdom put the post as close as possible and the earth onto the body and the positive straight to the starter and then over to the alternator them fuse box so really minimizing any spiking.cheers
 

gazzat

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Okay, I do agree with not jumping at the battery, but only because it is too physically confined to safely do so. But there is no electrical reason why it won’t work.

I do think you need to sort it out one step at a time. I would suggest recharging the battery and seeing if the car will start (without jump starting). If it starts and runs, then you have verified that the battery and the battery cable are okay - and then you can move on to checking out the charging system.

However, if there is some issue with the battery cabling, it could well be upsetting the charging system and it could also be upsetting some of the other modules in the car.
hello (again) yep if the brand new battery does go flat thru lack of charging i can then put it on a 240v charger bring it back up to charge and bang it starts no problems but once again my new alternator is (appears) not to be charging and after a few starts and turning on the A/C full blast to run the battery down,until the motor stops then i try and start it but no go, so i get the jumper battery and put it on the post and it will start but the engine runs fairly rough. Anyway switch of disconnect jumper battery and recharge boot battery back to a full charge and can repeat the cycle so i am definitely going to look at this 'F' wire going to the alt but 1st check the voltage on that line. Anyway thanks for everyone's help but i have been on here for hours having some sensible discussions but time for some investigate work to be done.
it sounds like this fault is out of your skill range. Why don't you take it to an auto sparky and get them to fix it for you?
Hello. only because i am a retired 67 year old retired grease monkey and i have electrical testing tools and fairly good on electronics and am a pensioner and don't want to spend money if i can help it, the only trouble is (and its world wide) is that things are progressing to quick, not even dealers have all the information on problem shooting and repairs and have to contact manufactures for their input, and you need scanners for this and that and this, where does it end, and really who wants to go on an outing and a crappy little $2 resistor craps it self and your stuck out in the country some where and have to get your vehicle back home because you just can't unplug a module and plug another one in because it has to be reprogrammed etc, and the they want us to buy all electric vehicles, great. cheers
 

LS1VG

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It's a nearly 20-year-old commodore it's not exactly considered a modern car these days.
Any competent auto sparky should be able to fix it relatively quickly, they would have most likely seen this fault before.
If it's a money issue it sounds like you have already wasted a bit of money on it by not diagnosing it correctly and throwing parts at it.

Who wants us all to buy electric vehicles?
We may as well go back to all cars running dizzys, points and carbys.
 

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hello (again) yep if the brand new battery does go flat thru lack of charging i can then put it on a 240v charger bring it back up to charge and bang it starts no problems but once again my new alternator is (appears) not to be charging and after a few starts and turning on the A/C full blast to run the battery down,until the motor stops then i try and start it but no go, so i get the jumper battery and put it on the post and it will start but the engine runs fairly rough. Anyway switch of disconnect jumper battery and recharge boot battery back to a full charge and can repeat the cycle so i am definitely going to look at this 'F' wire going to the alt but 1st check the voltage on that line. Anyway thanks for everyone's help but i have been on here for hours having some sensible discussions but time for some investigate work to be done.

Hello. only because i am a retired 67 year old retired grease monkey and i have electrical testing tools and fairly good on electronics and am a pensioner and don't want to spend money if i can help it, the only trouble is (and its world wide) is that things are progressing to quick, not even dealers have all the information on problem shooting and repairs and have to contact manufactures for their input, and you need scanners for this and that and this, where does it end, and really who wants to go on an outing and a crappy little $2 resistor craps it self and your stuck out in the country some where and have to get your vehicle back home because you just can't unplug a module and plug another one in because it has to be reprogrammed etc, and the they want us to buy all electric vehicles, great. cheers

Okay, thanks for the clarification. It does look like the issue is with the charging circuit.

If you have some test equipment on hand, you may find this article of interest… https://www.pandgmotors.com.au/blog/ve-commodore-v8-alternator-light-no-charge-p0621/ They have some of the waveforms shown, but essentially they found the signals wrong with the alternator connected, but right without it connected. And therefore diagnosed a faulty alternator.
 

losh1971

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Does the no charge light flash on the dash with it running?
 

vc commodore

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So am I reading it right, all these problems started because your old alternator was charging upto 16V, so you bought another alternator?
 

gazzat

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It's a nearly 20-year-old commodore it's not exactly considered a modern car these days.
Any competent auto sparky should be able to fix it relatively quickly, they would have most likely seen this fault before.
If it's a money issue it sounds like you have already wasted a bit of money on it by not diagnosing it correctly and throwing parts at it.

Who wants us all to buy electric vehicles?
We may as well go back to all cars running dizzys, points and carbys.
hello, i have not wasted any money at all. The alternator was faulty so a new one needed(now i have already determined that it is now not charging, now that is thru either no voltage coming down the wire for the 'F' terminal or even though its brand new it could be faulty, i think as in fu manchu stated) and the battery had to be replaced because the battery was way underrated for that vehicle so a new one was needed). Now were is the wasted money, the money is an investment for once these problems are sorted out will be a good investment for long-term. The governments wants us to buy EV,have you not noticed wrecking yards being bought out, you know as well as i they are pushing for all the carbon foot print stuff, and to be quite blunt about it but i will preface it 1st with yes these cars may be a bit more fuel efficient and have better power but at what cost, yes i would love to go back to dizzy's and points,condensors,coils because man they were reliable as all hell. Like i said if a $2 resistor blows and the unit shuts down i have to get a tilt tray, a sparky, pay them some enormous fee and what ever else, back in my days a dizzy was very rare to go and if so no major drama, points,condensor,coil anything like that and if you just got a lift back to a town and mech minded just buy the part whack it in and away you go and you would normally getting a warning as in a simple misfiring,hard to start etc and you could just pull a plug lead off wind the motor over and check for spark and instantly know which direction to go,or fuel problems take the air filter off look down the throat and give it a few pumps and see if you have fuel squirting out, if not once again you would instantly know where you stood, so yes these new cars might look good and have all the bells and whistles but just remember for everything they invent and put on is one more thing that can and probably will one day let you down, and where will you be when that happens, pre 1990 cars wins hands down for reliability for sure, aas i said i have been working on cars for a long time and this new stuff is good when it works but a lot of time when it goes it goes.cheers
Does the no charge light flash on the dash with it running?
no mate, when i switch on the battery light comes on for its normal check the extinguish
 

Fu Manchu

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Just because the posts are there under the bonnet doesn’t mean jump starting from another car is ok to do.

Those posts have other uses and diagnostic testing is one of them.

Using a jump pack on the posts provided is fine because the jumper packs have electronics in them to limit voltage spikes. A safe method to start the car when battery voltage is low.

Let’s not forget to check that positive cable at the firewall behind the glove box. They can be loose. Has a black cap over it.

Make sure fusible links are good. Check relays (preferably with a relay checker) and make sure all fuses are tested for continuity across each side.
 
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