Idiots guide to batteries/Alternators

[Dennis_Lish]

Hi all,

I come with my head bowed in shame and in the hope of sagely wisdom from those less afflicted by being a mong than myself...


I am the proud owner of a C5 6 Plus, which until recently, had been behaving very well...

I have just gotten home after about 5 weeks in hospital. During this time, I could not run or start the car, and in the rush to sort everything else out before this lengthy hospital stay, I failed to make provisions for somebody to turn the car over regularly.

Upon my return home, I was conscious it needed a run out so went off all pain medication for 24 hours to allow a sober drive of my pride and joy. It started and ran sweet as a nut but the battery light began to flash after driving for a short distance. I am sadly no car expert, but figured that perhaps a bit of a leg stretch might help to wake up the battery and deal with the red battery light. I drove it for about 70 miles, went through the gears, accelerated hard, tried all the electrics-windows, stereo etc and it all functioned perfectly. However, the voltage needle on the dash did fluctuate between approx 12-14

Upon returning to my house, I got the help of a friend (I am disabled) and stuck the battery on charge for about 12 hours. This got the voltage needle resting at 14 at idle. Upon starting it up and running until warm, that seemed to have fixed the issue, as the light did not come on during the 15 minutes I sat in the car.

Three days later (today), I ran the car in my drive to see if it was behaving, and the light is back on. It idles fine, all electrics work, key fob central locking etc and there is no sign of any dampness or water inside.

There is 79k on the clock and the alternator has not been changed.

I am wondering (with a suitable sense of resignation/dread) if this is a quick fix IE lengthy charge or new battery? Or is this something more substantial, such as the alternator or related issue? If so, any rough ideas on cost?

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. I have very limited ability to check much myself, other than the running of the car and under the bonnet at a glance but would am still keen to hear what you fine chaps might suspect.

If it has gone into a sulk and I have a problem that needs expert TLC, can anybody tell me how much it costs to get a low loader pick up from Unit 20 to have them fix it? I have a stealer nearby but after my last and only experience with them, I swore never again...

Thanks all in advance

[ahoooga]

Alternator is a common problem on these , and when they go its usually around the 80k mark !!!
However, battery also does strange things on these as well when its low or dying.

is it the original battery ?, if so , its dying, as it must be at least 9 years old ( depending what plate your car is on) .

could be either as your problem, but wait for someone whose experienced similar issues to comment before spending money.

I'm betting on alternator issue of some sort though, purely down to you mentioning the red dash light

[mavada]

...i had the exact same trouble.
i replaced the Original battery with the Varta mentioned in the faq area.
i got the battery light twice after that but im not sure if it happened because it wasnt fully loaded when i installed it.
its now on a battery conditioner 24/7. it isnt a daily driver.

Hope that helps.

FON


Cheers

[bam_bam]

i recently went through two alternators only to find out it was a 300A fuse that was dodgy. It's a 2-3hr job to replace the alternator, you can have it recon'd with a genuine £60 volt regulator, probably an hour bench time, so £250 - £300 all in.

[Mr Footlong]

I would replace the battery without batting an eyelid, I do it as essential maint on any car that I buy. As mentioned above, a shot battery behaves oddly on these in my experience and if you are getting a solid 14V on the charge gauge when driving then it is the less of two evils to try.

[Shoppinit]

The fluctuating voltage gauge is the worry, though.

If your car started after 5 weeks of not being used, I'd be surprised if it was the battery. I left mine for 4 weeks once and it was as flat as an anorexic pre-adolescent. That was 3 years ago. I'm still using that battery.

[chunky79]

I'm going for alternator. I was reminded by the wife that our voltage fluctuated about 2 weeks before it failed (I can't remember it and it was while I was driving, so she says). I'd change the battery as well, not mega money and will give you piece of mind (it won't really, you never have piece of mind whilst owning a c5 rs6!)

[Mr Footlong]

Sorry, I managed to miss the bit a out the alternator skipping between 12-14 on at least one occasion. Sounds like a death rattle to me, would still do the battery too though as I am sad like that.

[Shoppinit]

*peace

[chunky79]

*peace

Hive reported u too MrT. Theirs know kneed four this constunt bullieing. Y carnt n ee thred stay on topik?

[Dennis_Lish]

Thanks all for your input.

I can feel another explanation to my better half coming on as to why "that car" needs more attention....."What, again??!"...

A few more observations from today, when I warmed it up and revved with varying severity up to about 6k:

It is the original battery, as far as I can tell. I have no service record of it being changed and it is an OEM battery. Also, the 'magic eye' looking glass has a green hue to it.

Upon start up and idle, it behaves normally with no fluctuation in revs, voltage display reading a steady 14V.

Upon putting the car in drive and once it began to warm up to full temperature, the battery light began to flash, and the needle no longer sat firmly over 14v but instead began fluttering slightly.

I have original PIN for RNS-E so if a battery change is on the cards, as well as whatever else may be the issue, are there any other things that I need to have to hand?

I am getting the distinct feeling that a new alternator and battery are on the cards...is this a fair assumption? Mileage currently 79000. No previous alternator replacement.

If so, I will ring Unit 20 and see about getting it picked up from S Wales and ferried up to them. I cannot bear the thought of bringing it into the Cardiff Stealer, despite it being about 35 mins away. Lord only knows what they would claim I needed and the thought of the bill that would follow would put me firmly in the doghouse until the back end of next year!!

I appreciate everyone's help-much appreciated

[amanda1]

I personally would do both after having to replace the battery on mine and then 3 was later the alternator ....mine were still on original items, she's been fine since

[Shoppinit]

I know a bloke that does car transport reasonably priced on a flatbed.

Also, don't neglect what bam said about the fuse.

[Dennis_Lish]

shoppinit- Right you are-the fuse also.

It would be no harm to have your mates contact info for the flatbed, if you wouldn't mind PMing it to me? Thanks very much

[bam_bam]

you can also try Shiply.com for moving cars.