Troublesome electrics

[tattoojohnny]

Evening all
I've been having some electrical issues over the last few weeks. Its difficult to explain but will have a go and hope it makes sense.

Issue 1.
Starting problem. Its been an intermittent problem, sometimes the van would start on the button and other times when I turned the key I got nothing. Turning the ignition on and off a few times would eventually get it started. Coming back from a weekend away, we stopped off for food and when we got back to the van she wouldn't start again and everything I tried didn't work. Mr RAC came out and and tested the starter and said it was OK but there was a drop in volts when cranking and said it was an earth issue. Managed to push start and got us home.

Issue 2
The horn has stopped working and only gave out a dying squeak

Issue 3
The wipers seem slow.

Issue 4
The head lights aren't particularly bright.

I've had a read through the wiki, removed and cleaned the earth from the battery to the engine and the gearbox to chassis, took off the earth crowns from behind the fuse board and cleaned all them up too.

Looks like the starting problem is now fixed as the van now starts up every time without fail.
Horn now works with the engine running but not without (and the ignition on). Horn stops working with engine running and the head lights on.
Wipers seem faster but as soon as I turn the head lights on they slow down.
Head lights still seem dim.

I have a volt meter on the dash tidy.
With the ignition switched on it reads 8 volts
With the engine running it reads just over 12.
Head lights on it drops to almost nothing.

All things point to an issue with the headlights but I'm not sure what to do or how to check so any advice would be gratefully appreciated.
Many thanks in advance
John

[billybigspud]

battery or alternator?

[tattoojohnny]

battery or alternator?

Battery is an RAC one with one of those leds indicating battery condition and its green so all good. Alternator is also good and charging battery fine so I dont think its that either but thanks for your suggestion.

[kevtherev]

I have a volt meter on the dash tidy.
With the ignition switched on it reads 8 volts
With the engine running it reads just over 12.
Head lights on it drops to almost nothing.

If this voltmeter is reading across the battery terminals, then you DO have a charging system problem
Measure output from the alternator at the alternator terminals... it should be a healthy 14.2 volts

[Oldiebut goodie]

battery or alternator?

Battery is an RAC one with one of those leds indicating battery condition and its green so all good. Alternator is also good and charging battery fine so I dont think its that either but thanks for your suggestion.

Those green eyes lull you into a false sense of wellness (like reheads ) - they only work on one cell so you could have only one good one and the rest are duff. I had an exploded battery that was sitting outside my workshop - the green eye said it was good but my eyes said it wasn't.

[tattoojohnny]

Cheers guys, waiting for my multi metre to turn up from the bay of fleas to check battery and alternator out. If it is the alternator luckily I still have the one off my JX after the AAZ conversion

[tattoojohnny]

Morning all
The multi meter has turned up today.
Battery is showing 12.75v without the engine running and 14.17v with it running so from this I assume the battery and alternator are all good?
Wipers seem a little quicker now I've cleaned all the earth crowns but lights still seem dim and things still slow down and the horn barely works when the lights are on. Oh and I've just replaced both headlight bulbs just in case they were on their way out.
Any suggestions?
Many thanks
John

[tattoojohnny]

Just another quick update.
Lights are working fine now, wipers are ok but still slow down with the lights on, horn no change. Checked the power getting to the fuse board and its only 13.17v with the engine running so looks like a voltage drop somewhere along the line but not sure what/how to check