Zapnut Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 HI all I drive a 1992 escort RS2000A couple of months ago my battery light came on and eventually the car wouldn’t start, I finally got it moving (new battery) and got it down to the local Mr. clutch to get a battery check done, they said the battery was fine but there was a charging error. I left it with them for about half an hour and they said that the problem was that the battery connectors weren’t tight enough so they fixed that and said all was fine, it was charging correctly and everything was good. Now this morning I fired her up to drive to work, it started fine but I noticed the battery light was on, though very dimly lit. I got to work turned it off and tried to fire it up again. It started first time but the battery light is still on. Could this be something to do with the rain? Like could the belt be slipping? Often when it’s wet or cold and I have the wheels on full lock something will screech is the power steering on the same belt as the alternator? Im hoping that I don’t need a new alternator as I have read that replacing it in the rs2k requires the engine being moved is this true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onehotminute_191 Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 no you dont need to move the engine. may need to fiddle with the exahust manifold, power stering pump or something like that though. get the charging signal checked. if its anything below 13.5v i think your alternator is going. if you got a new battery and thats knackered is should still be under warranty within the year. normally battery light means low voltage. either battery or alternator mainly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapnut Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 Right, will get it checked after work thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapnut Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 Right, i just took it to get tested it was coming in at about 12.5 untill he turned on all the lights, heaters and all that stuff then it dropped to like 11 he said it could be that the battery was gone and not charging, that or that the alternator was knackered. Unfortunatley he couldent give me a definate answer so im still unsure what to do, i mean a new battery is like 70 quid but god knows how much a new alternator is! and i mean the alternator was replaced like last year so it shouldnt be dead already should it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
escort4x4 Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 the people you took it to obviously dont know how to test batterys or alternators, for the battery you should disconnect it and do a drop test, a piece of equipment which puts it under load, and this would indicate if the battery is shagged, if voltage drops very quickly then battery is a dead one, if slowly drops and i mean slowly then the battery isnt at fault As for the battery light, these come on either when battery is a shagged one, axillary belt has snapped or if the alternator has failed, there is a diode pack inside the alternator, the main diode is the zenor diode which acts as a one way clutch it only lets current go one way, if that packs up current will back feed causing the light to come up to test the alternator is connect battery have it running, test while running, and test whilst under load, lights heaters etc. if i memba rightly 13.5v or above for idle with no load is good12.7 or above for under load, anything less then alternator is shagged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapnut Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 Ok Well i have had it tested again and apparently the alternator IS dead.. so looks like im in the market for a new one, apparently there bit of a pain to get hold of so far the cheapest one i have found was around £118 does this sound about right for one of these alternators? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScORTED Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 get a secondhand one.. ebay or i'd have thought you could get one from a motorfactors for about half that on exchange Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
escort4x4 Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 get in contact with jdmsport, or sign up to rs2000-16v.com, i think someone on there is selling a alternator mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapnut Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 (edited) ok im not sure if you guys can evan tell this from the page but does this sound like what i need? http://www.vehicle-electrics-online.com/al....html?flypage=0 Edited April 14, 2009 by Zapnut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScORTED Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 yeah thats what you want Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapnut Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 Good news! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapnut Posted April 17, 2009 Author Share Posted April 17, 2009 ok im under my car, i get the alternator bolts all off but the damn thing still wont budge! then i notice that there is still something holding it in place but i have no idea how to remove it this is proberbly the worst description ever so here i took a picture http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j146/Zapnut/alternatorthing.jpg i cant figure out how the hell to get it out of there sorry for the bad pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapnut Posted April 17, 2009 Author Share Posted April 17, 2009 oh im such a damn idiot...... yeah i got it out lol it was just tight... after i got the bumper and radiator off it was a doddle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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