Hey all, sorry, been quiet recently as we are on the road with very limited Internet. Our trip round Oz has been going great, until now. Pulled into the devils marbles yesterday and noticed the aircon had switched off, also there was no power to anything else on the dash, stereo, UHF, cigi plug etc.
Backed the camper in and just as I was about to switch the car off, the check engine light turned on.
So I checked the engine.... It was still there... Kidding (John(roo) you taught me better then that!) I checked every sensor I could get at to make sure nothing had just rattled loose, checked the fuel filters for water, checked the air filter (did some water crossings a few days ago) all looked good, so went to start up the car again and it did, only just, and then all the lights were on, handbrake, engine, oil, airbag, abs etc etc, so I switched it off again.
Knowing the crank battery was struggling to start the car more and more over the last few months I thought this could just be a caput battery throwing up fluctuating volts, so I started the car on the aux battery, no probs, no fault lights but as soon as I went back to the crank battery, lights galore.
Ok, sounds like the old crank battery has finally given up.
So I drove 5ks up the road the next day (starting car with aux but it then runs on the crank battery) to use a payphone to call the AANT (ie racq/racv equiv in NT) but because I was 13ks outside of their zone it would cost $280 to get a guy out.
Confident this was an electrical problem not mechanical, I decided to drive into tennant creek, well, 60ks out, every light lit up, and we lost all instrumentation (speedo etc). Mechanically the car still felt and sounded fine, so we babied it into tenant creek at about 70kph where the engine finally cut out in the main st. Mind you, there are worse places to brake down, outside a pub, across from autopro and a mechanic (closed though)
Long story short, I got a new battery, started the car fine, but the battery was going down not up...... Alternator???
So, purpose of this post is to clarify a few things so I don't get bent over tomorrow by the local auto lecky.
1. Guessing the battery was running everything with no alternator, hence the gradual lose of everything electrical, until it lost enough power to no longer run the fuel pump/ injector system, and finally stopped?
2. These alternators are 'water proof' and the creek crossings should not have killed it?
3. Possibly though we could have got some dirt and crap in the brushes?
4. How do I tell if the whole thing needs replacing vs just a clean up of the brushes
5. There is no noise, so assuming its not the bearings?
6. Finally, if I do need a replacement one...... What's it going to cost me, approx obviously, is $500 a reasonable estimate (trying to prep the accountant)
7. Oh, and am I right in assuming it is actually not too hard to get out? Remove drivers wheel, plastic flap, loosen belt/flywheel remove what looks like a top and bottom bolt?
Any other tips?
Backed the camper in and just as I was about to switch the car off, the check engine light turned on.
So I checked the engine.... It was still there... Kidding (John(roo) you taught me better then that!) I checked every sensor I could get at to make sure nothing had just rattled loose, checked the fuel filters for water, checked the air filter (did some water crossings a few days ago) all looked good, so went to start up the car again and it did, only just, and then all the lights were on, handbrake, engine, oil, airbag, abs etc etc, so I switched it off again.
Knowing the crank battery was struggling to start the car more and more over the last few months I thought this could just be a caput battery throwing up fluctuating volts, so I started the car on the aux battery, no probs, no fault lights but as soon as I went back to the crank battery, lights galore.
Ok, sounds like the old crank battery has finally given up.
So I drove 5ks up the road the next day (starting car with aux but it then runs on the crank battery) to use a payphone to call the AANT (ie racq/racv equiv in NT) but because I was 13ks outside of their zone it would cost $280 to get a guy out.
Confident this was an electrical problem not mechanical, I decided to drive into tennant creek, well, 60ks out, every light lit up, and we lost all instrumentation (speedo etc). Mechanically the car still felt and sounded fine, so we babied it into tenant creek at about 70kph where the engine finally cut out in the main st. Mind you, there are worse places to brake down, outside a pub, across from autopro and a mechanic (closed though)
Long story short, I got a new battery, started the car fine, but the battery was going down not up...... Alternator???
So, purpose of this post is to clarify a few things so I don't get bent over tomorrow by the local auto lecky.
1. Guessing the battery was running everything with no alternator, hence the gradual lose of everything electrical, until it lost enough power to no longer run the fuel pump/ injector system, and finally stopped?
2. These alternators are 'water proof' and the creek crossings should not have killed it?
3. Possibly though we could have got some dirt and crap in the brushes?
4. How do I tell if the whole thing needs replacing vs just a clean up of the brushes
5. There is no noise, so assuming its not the bearings?
6. Finally, if I do need a replacement one...... What's it going to cost me, approx obviously, is $500 a reasonable estimate (trying to prep the accountant)
7. Oh, and am I right in assuming it is actually not too hard to get out? Remove drivers wheel, plastic flap, loosen belt/flywheel remove what looks like a top and bottom bolt?
Any other tips?
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