Yesterday after starting the car I cranked the air con to cool the car and I noticed my abs and battery warning lights come up on the dash. I turned the air con down and eventually off, continued to leave the school to head off. Thinking it was odd the battery light was on and the car was still running I pulled off the road and put the car through all the gears and turned it off and started it again to see what changed on the dash lights. The car started again no problems. I continued to drive, when I come to an idle I get all dash warning lights, light up. My speedo and fuel gauge are now not working, and once when I stopped and applied the brakes the fuel gauge actually went to full. There was an odd smell coming from under the bonnet, not a burning oil or copper wire smell, but something I am not familiar with. I have checked all my fuses under the steering column. = fine I checked the battery = not chalky/dirty connections are tight. (is only 9-ish mths old) All fluids are good Full tank of fuel I have had suggested maybe the abs control module and to try disconnecting it, but I have no idea where this is. Also that it may be the alternator overcharging. Any suggestions or a maybe where to find a picture of the where this module is located would be great.
It sounds like an alternator problem to me. If the alternator is overcharging it will boil the acid in the battery which can give off a strong sulfur like smell and you might notice the top of the battery is damp around the breather holes at the top. Overcharging can happen when the brushes are almost worn out, which gives the regulator a false signal so it doesnt work properly. A new brush assembly with regulator should only cost around $20 and is easy to replace. The alternator could also be undercharging if the belt is slipping from either being too stretched or if an idler pulley has seized or collapsed. A slipping belt will give off a burning rubber smell.
I think you are on the right track as I just went outside to try and start the car and it is giving me nothing when I turn the key. I don't suppose anyone lives in Gympie and knows how to change an alternator....:hmmm: I would not have thought that the alternator would take out the sppedo and fuel gauges. Lets just hope that's all it is. Will keep you posted.
You might want to get the alternator tested first before replacing it and even then you will probably only need to replace the voltage regulator (black plastic thing on the back of the alternator). If you have a multimeter you can check it yourself but you will need to be able to start the engine to do that. You can also use the trip computer mode buttons to access the voltage reading, press and hold the mode and up buttons at the same time, start the engine and release the buttons, if you have a single window display press the up button until you get to Voltage (V) and see what reading you get.
