3 replies to this topic

[MarkH]

Had a bit of a scare driving home on Friday. When I got in the car my battery light came on, so as I had a 20 mile drive home in the dark I made sure I left the heater, radio, etc off just in case the battery wasn't charging. All was going well until less than half a mile from home my lights started flickering, the radio display completely turned off and the airbag light came on. A couple of seconds later the lights went out completely. I'd just turned onto my village road and I knew there was a layby a few metres up the road, so crawled up to it pretty much guessing where the road went. I'd put my hazards on but they were blinking very dimly. So glad I wasn't on a busy road when this happened! The engine was still running fine so I got my wife to come out in the Volvo and five minutes later was following her the last quarter of a mile back home. So it's clear that the battery really wasn't charging, but the engine still seemed to be running fine. Does this suggest anything about the root cause? Could it be just a dodgy wire coming from the alternator rather than the alternator itself? Would be good to have an idea what repairs I might be looking at before the RAC take it off to a garage Thanks, Mark

[Nelly Vx]

It will either be the alt belt has come off or the alt is buggered :-)

[Nelly Vx]

Best thing to to is firstly check the belt is still on the alternator , charge up your battery, get hold of a multi meter , start her up and check what voltage you have at the battery , if its charging it should read 13.5 to 14.2 volts .

[Mangham54]

I suspect a dead alternator, the VX uses fcuk all electricity and can therefore stretch a battery charge out thinly. Lights are the biggest drain by a mile. I managed nearly 40 miles in daylight, a dozen or more starts to get it on and offer car transporters when my alternator packed up in Cornwall.