Club 80-90 Forums

Hi
My problem was every time I stopped the van the battery was flat on trying to re start, checked alt and battery both were not the best so replaced both, all was well for the first week, now it’s doing the same thing, when running the alt is kicking out 23.3 so seems ok, but the battery is still going flat? Any help or advice would be much appreciated
Dave

I could be very wrong but I thought the alternator should be around 14v/15v, 16v max
23.3v sounds like too much, could be destroying the battery.
Wiser heads will be along soon, (find out if I’ve got it wrong as well).
 
Regards Gary

Your alternator output is far to high. It should be 14.5v I suggest changing the voltage regulator.

Hi sorry yes you are right, checked it again and is 14.5 so is ok, when connect the fully charged battery, don’t even get dash lights, but I connect my booster pack, and everything is on and starts up first time, connect the battery back up and a flicker of the dash lights then all off again, if it was something to do with connections etc, surely it wouldn’t work with the booster pack, thanks for all the replies and help
Dave

A daft question, but do you have a security device on your battery (+) terminal?

Twist one way to allow full current to the fusebox, turn the otherway to cut or reduce current to the fusebox.

Otherwise - what is different between your booster clamp locations compared to your starter battery connections.?

Thanks for the reply robsey, no security device just the terminal to the split charger, the booster is on the battery connections, think that puts about 500 amps through it and there’s no problem, if I just use a fully charged 72 amp battery it like it’s just not enough power to start her up, almost like the power is going somewhere else?
Dave

Sounds to me like the battery is flat, what is the voltage at the battery terminals without booster connected and engine off?

Does it fail to start, if left off for a period ie overnight or for a short period ie when refuelling. Have you checked with a multimeter to see what is being drawn from the battery. If time permits may also be worth removing battery from van, fully recharge, leave disconnected and monitor voltage drop over a period.

If the battery voltage at rest with everything turned off is less than 11.5 volts, then it is probably tatered.

I dropped a cell in my car battery back in 2017 - the dash voltmeter would not go above 10.5 volts.
No way was my car going to start.
But after getting a jump start off the AA, I was able to use the alternator to keep volts high enough to allow me to keep the car going all the way home.
(50 odd miles from Birkenhead to near Glossop).

A new battery, and all was good.

Thanks again for all the replies, when left off the battery is holding it’s charge, where is the best point to attach the battery to earth cable, at the moment mine goes to the bulkhead