so my red battery light when on today

[Dr Evil]

On my way home this morning my battery light as well as dsc and abs light went on.
I went to a willard electrical place near me and the guy checked the charge. It seems that alternator is kaput, the car is running off the battery alone. So now I need to find someone to fix it and hope they not gonna rip me a new one. Any ideas as to what the issue is besides alternator? I'm not sure how old the battery is.

 

[freerider]

thats the original battery in the car, if the guy at willards says its the alternator it more than likely is, you can also check if you want, when then car is running the battery should be charging at around 13.8-14v

 

[Sankekur]

On what car is this?

Did the battery place measure the charge of the battery? How does that tell if the alternator is gone?

Something you could possibly do yourself is to measure the voltage across the battery, when the car is turned off it should be at around 12V turn the car on and let it idle, now it should measure around 14.1/14.2V, if it is around 13V is could be that the belt is slipping on the alternator pulley, if it is lower that your alternator in not charging the battery properly.

But don't just go and have the alternator just yet, rather do the voltage regulator first as that might be the faulty bit not the alternator itself.

As for the abs and dsc lights, did they come on at the same time as the battery light? Not sure why that would be though. I would say first sort at the alternator issue then if the abs/dsc lights are still on look at that.

Might also be a good idea to have the codes read might cast more light on the problem at hand.

One thing that can cause the abs/dcs lights to come on is dirty wheel speed sensors, and cleaning them will cost to nothing so it is also worth a try.

 

[Dr Evil]

Thanks for the replies guys, the abs and dsc lights came on with the battery light, after a while the other lights went off and just the battery light stayed on. Everything when off for a minute, radio, heater and then came on again ie. The displays black out for a minutes. He checked the voltage at the jump points in the engine bay, I'll check the voltage myself and let you know what I find.

 

[freerider]

sank its normal for the dsc and abs lights to come on with the battery light when there isnt enough voltage.

 

[Sankekur]

sank its normal for the dsc and abs lights to come on with the battery light when there isnt enough voltage.

Strange, cause when my tensioner bracket went, just the battery light came on, nothing else, though it does seem plausible, just wondering why mine didn't do it :thinking:

 

[zaleonardz]

I once bought an E34 because it was showing trans-prog failure, and the owner figured the gearbox went poof, due to an altenator

Dr Evil,

Where you located, perhaps I can help ?

 

[freerider]

dr ebil is located in cpt, the car in question is my ex 320i

 

[Dr Evil]

Since the battery was never changed and its about 8yrs old do you guys think it could just need replacing? How would I know for sure if its the battery or alternator? I'll prolly just change the battery anyways cos its so old, I think the lifespan is said to be 4yrs on the oem battery.

 

[Sankekur]

Aaah so that would explain Mr freerider's seemingly superhuman intuitive knowledge about the car at hand

I would think it wouldn't be a bad idea to just change the battery as well, then at least you know it is knew and it won't leave you stranded (not just yet at least )

 

[Dr Evil]

Ok cool, can you guys maybe suggest any places here in CPT I can take it to? If I'm not mistaken the alternators are normally bosch parts, maybe a bosch service centre? What will happen if I drive the car with the light on to the place that's going to fix it, or would you suggest I get it towed instead?

 

[zaleonardz]

Chances are that you are going to run out of power, and will be sitting with a heavy paper weight on the side of the road...

Although you may make it, depends on the distance, remember that your starter pulls bucket loads of power, so if you are going to attempt this, try and not stop. I would not drive for longer then 20 minutes like this, and this is taking into account the battery is in good shape.

Which of course, it probably will not be

 

[Sankekur]

The alternators can also be valeo, but I thing that might only be on the 4-cylinder ones. You could also try goldwagen, they seem to have good quality parts for a lot less than the dealers want. But first see if it is not the just the voltage regulator, from what I have read nine time out of ten on an e46 a alternator problem is usually just a faulty regulator (would seem that they cam with pretty strong alternators)

 

[Iceman007]

Thanks for the replies guys, the abs and dsc lights came on with the battery light, after a while the other lights went off and just the battery light stayed on. Everything when off for a minute, radio, heater and then came on again ie. The displays black out for a minutes. He checked the voltage at the jump points in the engine bay, I'll check the voltage myself and let you know what I find.

Ok this is what happend. Firstly your alternator decided to overcharge and caused a spike in the electrical system and then bcause of that your regulator packed up completely. Just buy a genuine regulator for the pirate one gives you hassels. I learnt the hard way for the pirate one caused my car to have a Idle dip every time I stop at a robot. other than that it worked fine. I bought a genuiene one from www.sparxx.co.za it cost me R340 a year back. not that difficult to install

 

[Dr Evil]

UPDATE - so I got my car back from the macky today. The alternator was passed it's glory. They had to rebuild the whole alternator, bearings, bushes, slip rings and regulator was shot. They recharged my car battery as well. All is now well. Thank god for aftermarket warranties