anorakmark

anorakmark

Active Member
Oops in need of help again.
Here we go. P38, 2.5 DSE
Was on a 120 mile round journey and car was fine but running low on fuel, due to being in remote area I had to run fuel low until a filling station was available. display was showing re-fuel - 50 miles, gauge in red. any way found a filling station and filled with a tenner, enough to get home.
Upon Re- starting when I switched ignition on and display showed Alternator Fault and was a struggle to start. Once started engine was running rough and lost all power and kept stalling every mile or two. several faults thrown up, Gearbox fault, alternator fault upon engine stalling. Car took several minutes to restart, once restarted run like a pig. finally stalled again and took about 5 mins to restart, once restarted i gave it a good blast of throttle and managed to drive for another 20 miles with no problems. arrived home switched off and attempted to re-start and wouldn't, engine cranking but not firing with display showing alternator fault? Would an alternator fault cause this? or was it me running low on fuel? Battery red lamp is not showing as not charging and symptoms feel like the fuel injection pump is shutting down.:confused: Prior to this 4 days ago a brand new battery was fitted of the correct type with no problems.
 
Pure supposition of course, but by letting it run so low on fuel maybe you picked up crud in the tank and did for the lifter pump or blocked the fuel filter.
 
Thanks Steve, here is an update,
just been out to car, placed key in ignition to power up and i noticed the following, No red battery light on test at start up and warning message alternator fault, attempted to start and she fired up no problems and runs fine. switched off and switched back on to check for battery light and the result is. if you switch on ignition and red battery test light appears then the alternator fault message appears, switch off and back on and the red battery light fails to illuminate and then no alternator fault message, on both occasions the engine is starting???? i'm confused i've checked plug on back of alternator and all seems fine, battery is secure and fully charged?? i'm guessing this may be an alternator fault and if so did this cause the stalling last nigh????:confused:
 
anorakmark said:
Thanks Steve, here is an update,
just been out to car, placed key in ignition to power up and i noticed the following, No red battery light on test at start up and warning message alternator fault, attempted to start and she fired up no problems and runs fine. switched off and switched back on to check for battery light and the result is. if you switch on ignition and red battery test light appears then the alternator fault message appears, switch off and back on and the red battery light fails to illuminate and then no alternator fault message, on both occasions the engine is starting???? i'm confused i've checked plug on back of alternator and all seems fine, battery is secure and fully charged?? i'm guessing this may be an alternator fault and if so did this cause the stalling last nigh????:confused:
Click to expand...
Most possibly...if the Alternator is failing and the battery volts are getting low (Lights on and etc) then the Engine ECU may shutdown due to low volts and stall the engine....

The P38 needs a lot of electrical uummpphh to keep happy!
 
For what it's worth, I had a failing alternator once. I was driving at night, so lights on, and what I experienced was a progressive shutdown of systems. It started by the EAS acting funny (I heard the EAS relay clicking a lot), then the light in the HEVAC when out, followed by the rev counter and speedometer stopping to register anything. Eventually the dipped headlights went out too, but I managed to switch on the front fog lights and eventually got home. There was a significant loss of power, that I attribute to the in-tank pump stopping, but the engine itself never missed a beat, kept on working right until the end of my journey.
 
If it say's alternator fault 10 to 1 it is an alternator fault. No volts and everything starts to shut down.
Put a voltmeter on the battery, at 2Krpm you should have 14.2 volts after a few minutes.
 
Last edited:
Datatek said:
If it say's alternator fault 10 to 1 it is an alternator fault. No volts and everything starts to shut down.
Put a voltmeter on the battery, at 2Krpm you should have 14.2 volts after a few minutes.
Click to expand...

Thanks Keith,
I was suspecting the Alternator, I guessed as it only started playing about as soon as the message appeared. I guess i will have to dig deep in the pocket,LOL:)
 
anorakmark said:
Thanks Keith,
I was suspecting the Alternator, I guessed as it only started playing about as soon as the message appeared. I guess i will have to dig deep in the pocket,LOL:)
Click to expand...
Test first, then if you are handy you can fit a new diode pack and regulator yourself, just need to check the windings for continuity and no shorts to the case.
 
anorakmark said:
Thanks Keith,
I was suspecting the Alternator, I guessed as it only started playing about as soon as the message appeared. I guess i will have to dig deep in the pocket,LOL:)
Click to expand...
Oi - I said Alternator First....:( :p :D
 
Just a quick update,
Haven't had time to test voltage output due to weekend of work, but here are a few points I noticed today.
Car has not been started since Friday, tried to day and after one shot of the glow plugs she fired up straight away and seems to be running fine.
But................. I noticed the following, still showing alternator fault and when this message is displayed I have no red battery warning light when I first turn ignition on?
I cant remember but does the light for the battery come on when the warning light test is performed then extinguish? or should it remain on with oil pressure light until engine fires?
I also noticed with ignition switched on and engine not running several times the battery light appeared and flashed with an clicking noise some where in the o/s bulkhead possibly the fuse box? I also noticed that if I put the ignition on and the battery light appears as normal I don't get the alternator fault, I'm thinking now is the alternator at fault or a gremlin entered the system. any ideas to pinpoint apart from an obvious alternator test.
 
anorakmark said:
Just a quick update,
Haven't had time to test voltage output due to weekend of work, but here are a few points I noticed today.
Car has not been started since Friday, tried to day and after one shot of the glow plugs she fired up straight away and seems to be running fine.
But................. I noticed the following, still showing alternator fault and when this message is displayed I have no red battery warning light when I first turn ignition on?
I cant remember but does the light for the battery come on when the warning light test is performed then extinguish? or should it remain on with oil pressure light until engine fires?
I also noticed with ignition switched on and engine not running several times the battery light appeared and flashed with an clicking noise some where in the o/s bulkhead possibly the fuse box? I also noticed that if I put the ignition on and the battery light appears as normal I don't get the alternator fault, I'm thinking now is the alternator at fault or a gremlin entered the system. any ideas to pinpoint apart from an obvious alternator test.
Click to expand...
Unlike most cars, the battery charge light does not go direct to the D+ on the alternator, it is switched on when the ignition is turned on and off by the BECM when the alternator starts charging. The Feed to the alternator D+ is provided from the BECM. Could be you have connection problems, worth also doing a check on the fuse box.
 
Datatek said:
Unlike most cars, the battery charge light does not go direct to the D+ on the alternator, it is switched on when the ignition is turned on and off by the BECM when the alternator starts charging. The Feed to the alternator D+ is provided from the BECM. Could be you have connection problems, worth also doing a check on the fuse box.
Click to expand...

Thanks Keith,
I think as a safe bet I run it in to my Local independant for some diagnostics.
Hoping this is not the start of sudden death with the BECM!
 
anorakmark said:
Thanks Keith,
I think as a safe bet I run it in to my Local independant for some diagnostics.
Hoping this is not the start of sudden death with the BECM!
Click to expand...
I doubt anything will show on diagnostics apart from low/no alternator volts. If there is no feed to the D+ the alternator may not kick in and start to charge. It's really a job for a voltmeter, check you have 12 volts on the D+ with the ignition on and engine not running, if you don't the fault is wiring/BECM/connectors, if you do, it's alternator.
 
Datatek said:
I doubt anything will show on diagnostics apart from low/no alternator volts. If there is no feed to the D+ the alternator may not kick in and start to charge. It's really a job for a voltmeter, check you have 12 volts on the D+ with the ignition on and engine not running, if you don't the fault is wiring/BECM/connectors, if you do, it's alternator.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much Keith, gonna run tests on my next day off. I will keep you posted on the out come.
 
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