Strange electrical issues

[v-lux]

(1.9 TD Syncro)
Was travelling back from cornwall yesterday evening and about half way back to exeter i decided i would clean the screen.
Turned on the wash wipe, water came out as normal, but the wipers were really slow.
Odd i thought, but never mind, i'll carry on home and check it out tomorrow. A short while after this i noticed that my temperature gauge had started to drop and the fuel gauge was dropping aswell

Then a little while after, the oil warning buzzer came on, but not properly. It was quite weak sounding, and the light a bit dim and flickery.

Naturally i stopped any way, just to make sure there was nothing evil going on in the engine bay. All seemed fine.

Went to start it again....just the sound of the starter motor trying to turn over, but not actually managing it. All the lights on the dash dimmed at the same time i turned the key.

Bump started it to get home, but now it wont start anymore.

Anyone got any wise pearls of wisdom??

[tonytech]

Well it sounds like your battery hasn't been charging and is now fairly flat.
Did your alternator light come on? does it come on at first turn of the key?

Check all the connections on the battery are tight and clean, disconnect a leisure battery if you have one.
Get a volt meter on the battery, Should be about 12V

Bump start or jump start the van, Voltmeter again, should be 14V ish with the engine running.

Check connections on the back of the alternator.

Report back.
Tony

[v-lux]

Did your alternator light come on? does it come on at first turn of the key?

Had no Alternator light come on. It does come on at the first turn of the key, but goes out as soon as the engine is running.

disconnect a leisure battery if you have one.
Get a volt meter on the battery, Should be about 12V

No leisure battery, searching for my voltmeter as we speak....

[v-lux]

Meant to say also, the temp gauge and fuel gauge didn't drop to nothing straight away. They went down slowly as if the power to them was gradually being turned off/resisted.

(ironically) my volt meter has a flat battery, so will need to sort that out today.

But....
Jump started the van, fired up straight away.
All gauges now working, wipers up to full speed

Left it running for a little while, now starts first turn of the key
(why are electrical faults always like this, disappear when you start looking for them )

Removed the warning light cable from the Alternator and checked it at the dash, it is operational.

[HarryMann]

As said, main leads to battery and alternator, possibly main star earth above fuse box (inside front flitch panel).. re-check all main engine earths too - remake them.

[bigherb]

Don't forget to check the drive belt is tight as well.

[ELVIS]

basics - check ya belts!
obviously diesel dosnt draw same constant ignition current as a petrol does so will run longer with little juice then a petrol would. all your gauges were dropping due to them running straight off the battery , not the battery/charging system.
this has happened to me 3 times - first time was a dead battery (middle of a very cold winter with old battery) , second two times it was slipping/loose belt.

you think your bus is trying to tell you something now ?

[v-lux]

So, i fully expected to find that the old girl wouldn't start this morning.

But lo and behold, fired up first turn of the key.
In fact it seems absolutely fine since i jump started it and ran it for a while.

Will check the tension of the drive belt this morning, now you mention it it did look like i could take up a teeny bit of slack on it. Guess this slack could easily have got worse as things got hotter eh?
Would have expected to see the no charge light come on though?

I'll keep you posted

[HarryMann]

Still think it happened that quickly its likely a wiring problem...

Have you heard the belt squealing in the past after a startup?

[v-lux]

Nope, never had any belt squeal out of it.

Just taken it for another (longer) drive. Did about 20 miles, stopped, started again fine. Another 10 miles, stopped, started again fine.

E D I T - Forgot to mention, oil buzzer kept coming on erratically while i was out too.For a couple of seconds, then off again. Sometimes just momentarily...

Got all the way back to Exeter, found the holy grail of a fuel station that actually has some diesel, pulled up in the que, thought to myself "not good to sit here for ages with the engine running" so turned it off.

Went to start it again, .....nada

Got a jump start, got home, tested the voltage with the engine running - 11.38v

Tested without engine running - 11.38v.......bugger

[Grun]

v-lux,

I do not have a wiring diagram for the diesel version, but the petrol engined diagram shows the B+ output of the alternator going first to the terminal marked 30 on the starter and then to the battery +

The dash warning light gets it's signal direct from the D+ terminal on the alternator.

If the diesel layout is the same it would be worth checking terminal 30 on the starter, I would think. (Large red cables)

Mike

[ELVIS]

where did you take voltage readings from battery or straight off back of alternator ?

[v-lux]

Both, everything was reading 11.38

However, after a VERY thorough clean up of every earth/connection/lead/plug i could get my mits on......it seems to be ok.

Getting 13.8ish volts at the battery when running and a constant 14v at the alernator.

So fingers crossed it sorted, however i still find the buzzer of doom thing a bit odd, part of me wants to believe that the two issues are related seeing as it all happened at the same time. But that buzzer also scares the crap out of me

Might try a bit of 20/50 in the mix to see if it quietens it down....

[HarryMann]

I would change completely to a 20-50 or not at all... if pressure is dropping off suspect your turbo..

GSF do a cheap 20-50 diesel oil, not turbo rated but worked for me

[ELVIS]

have you been playing under the dash recently or giving it ya-hoo in the woods ?
they play funny buggers when the multiplug on back is loose/wobbly etc