N54 E92 Multiple faults

Howzit guys, I'm experiencing multiple faults with my E92 N54 6AT. Any help will be much appreciated.

Yesterday I fitted a Cobb charge pipe to my car with one diverter valve venting to atmosphere. I took the car for a drive and could feel an increase in performance. The wheels were spinning in 2nd gear and it never did that before. After driving for a few minutes the car suddenly died without warning. I pulled over quickly and tried to start and it started but would not come out of Park. On the Sat Nav display a "Transmission faulty, reduced power" message came up. I switched the car off and on again after a few minutes. It went into D and was driving fine for about 100m. The the car jumped into D3 and the transmission message came up again with the yellow gear fault light also displayed. I was almost home and tried limping the car home. On the way, the sat nav screen kept switching on and off and the speedo would just jump to zero and then to the correct speed now and again. ABS, airbag, DSC and tyre pressure warnings all started popping up. Then the coolant yellow temp warning came up and then it flashed red and the car lost power again right outside my house. Waited a while and then drove the car into my garage. I opened the bonnet and the coolant was boiling. This morning i topped up the coolant ( it was very low ) and went for a drive again. It was driving perfectly with full power and no warnings. Then after about 5km all the warning lights came on as before, starting with the "Transmission faulty" message. I limped the car home and although the coolant temp warning lights did come on again, it didn't seem overheated. The engine oil temp was sitting in the middle during all of this.
 

Shakieb

Member
Hi

Had the problem when the car use to just shut down and all the fault lights come on and the speedo jumping to zero and back to speed, problem was the alternator. You might want to have that checked up.
 

Kish2604

Administrator
Staff member
It's your alternator that's failed... Do not drive the car as the water pump is electric and will not function if there is no electricity...

Now that you say you installed a charge pipe, it makes me wonder if you didn't accidentally short the alternator output onto the body or similar as the output pole is immensely close to the charge pipe.

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Woodies

Well-known member
Kish2604@TheFanatics said:
It's your alternator that's failed... Do not drive the car as the water pump is electric and will not function if there is no electricity...

Now that you say you installed a charge pipe, it makes me wonder if you didn't accidentally short the alternator output onto the body or similar as the output pole is immensely close to the charge pipe.

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Think you might be onto something! When I installed my charge pipe the 1st time I also got a bit close to the alternator and noticed a huge spark jump across.
OP might have some other issues, but I reckon most the problems are due to alternator.
 

Iceman12596

///Member
Reading this i am in for Charge pipe pretty soon, maby a good idea is to Disconnect the battery when fitting it ?
 

FiRi@Rennzport

Well-known member
Official Advertiser
Iceman12596 said:
Reading this i am in for Charge pipe pretty soon, maby a good idea is to Disconnect the battery when fitting it ?
Always disconnect before fittong any mods. The charge requires tmap sensors to be removed as well, so best to disconnect.

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Thanks for all the help guys. It seems as though it is the alternator. Going to test it out tomorrow.

@Kish2604 , I had a look at the wiring by the alternator and it seems to be good. I don't think I shorted it but I could be wrong. Will this cause the alternator to fail? I also noticed the alternator was extremely hot. Thanks in advance

IMG_20161101_175701_zps0jgzcptj.jpg
 

Kish2604

Administrator
Staff member
+1 on disconnecting the battery...

Any current spike to the alternator can cause damage to the electrics inside... it could just be your bad luck that it went at the same time as well...

Edit: the N54 alternator has a one way clutch built into the pulley allowing it to freewheel on overrun, that bearing could also have failed and the heat killed the internals.
 

Zound

///Member
If the alternator is getting warm with the car in sleep mode, then the rectifier diodes have failed and you will experience a battery drain issue (Quite a heavy one).
 

ShaunB

Active member
Shev33 said:
Do you guys know anyone in the JHB area that can recondition alternators?

H & M Auto Electricians
Auto Electricians
011 5341273
637 Ontdekkers Rd
Johannesburg (Gauteng)
 

Yuben

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Does the voltage fluctuation due to faulty alternator also affect the transmission?

Or is that a separate issue where the box is possibly slipping?
 

Kish2604

Administrator
Staff member
YUBEN@TheFanatics said:
Does the voltage fluctuation due to faulty alternator also affect the transmission?

Or is that a separate issue where the box is possibly slipping?
Speaking out of experience with "your" car, the alternator died on me 200km from home while waiting in traffic for an accident on the road, the sequence of events were almost exactly the same, gearbox warning, lights on dash, wipers activated followed by coolant warning. Stopped and had the car towed home, a new alternator was the solution.

All the electronics work on a specific voltage band, when the car fails to maintain that band most if not all systems tumble one after another...

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Shakieb

Member
Shev33 said:
Hwsit man and did you have that repaired or replaced?

Hi

Had the alternator repaired. The voltage regulator and the diodes were changed. So far over a month now and no issues. Costed me about R3000 incl labour.
 
Update:

So we decided to swap out the voltage regulator for a new one to see if that will work. It's a Bosch part but it was really hard to find. Bosch themselves didn't have stock with most places giving me a 15 day waiting period. Managed to get the part from Motorlec for R900. The stealers wanted over R2000. It was a simple DIY job to replace the VR without having to remove the alternator. Been driving the car for about 4 days now and everything seems to be fine
:coolShake:
IMG-20161108-WA0027_zpsuofjofom.jpg
 
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