|
| EL___Fairmont |
|
|||
|
Battery is a century lead acid 4yrs old, serviced all the time with distilled water. cranks and starts good cold in about 3-5 chuggs. If I turn the aircon on with the headlights on low beam the voltage sits after a while at 12.5V-13V at lights and about 12v with high beam on with a/c on.
Ford alternator on a EL should hold the voltage at 13.8V with the a/c on full boar with the high beams at idle?? Also if more then one power window is being used they slow right down too snails pace..... Sitting at the traffic lights today in heavy rain with the a/c on set at 20degrees, widow wipers on and headlights on the voltage sat at about 12.7V on the gauge. When I turned them all off it went back up to just under 14V??? Cheers......... I am thinking I have lost a diode in the rectifier pack altough generally that would cause battery drain overnight????
_________________ Current ride 2007 Last edited by EL___Fairmont on Thu Oct 21, 2010 11:40 pm, edited 2 times in total. |
|||
| Top | |
|||
| bradley4567 |
|
||
|
battery is 4 years old, replace it,
_________________ ef falcon daily driver |
||
| Top | |
||
| EL___Fairmont |
|
|||
|
bradley4567 wrote: battery is 4 years old, replace it, yeah i though it might be suspect just after knowledge with el fairmonts running all the electrics and seeing what the current drain is.. Got a reco alternator from my EF parts car too fit so I will get a new century lead-acid battery and fit the alternator at the same time... The original El alternator has done 173000km and 14yrs of service so i would say the carbon brushes must be close too the wear limit. Cheers...........
_________________ Current ride 2007 |
|||
| Top | |
|||
| TimmyA |
|
|||
|
bradley4567 wrote: battery is 4 years old, replace it, I disagree... If it cranks fine the battery is holding perfect charge... That's all the battery is there for... I say your regulator has lost its s**t... Do you get the batt light up on the dash? This indicates you lost the output from the reg... Usually this occurs because the voltage reference wire that feeds into the regulator is dirty or broken... I'd start with trying a spare alternator if you have one... Because its probably easier to swap the whole thing rather than the regulator... Just in case there is a winding fault in the alternator and I'd reckon that would damn near solve your issue... At the end of the day once the car is running you should be able to remove the battery and the alternator should support the load and voltage to the car... The battery is only there to start it... The only way to test power supplies is when they are under load because quite often a failed power supply shows perfect volts unloaded and when you load it up they die in the a**... So what your seeing is not uncommon for a supply unit... Honestly I reckon if you keep driving it the way it is the alternator is dropping off and the only reason you can maintain the 12V mark is because the battery is supporting the load and in the end the added strain (of discharging to support the car and then charging when load goes away) will cause it to overheat and you'll end up with a stuffed battery on top of an alternator... See how you go anyway... Cheers, Tim
_________________ 93 Red ED 5spd Manual Build Thread |
|||
| Top | |
|||
| James84 |
|
||
|
also, just change the alternator. dont do both, other wise if the issue is fixed, you wont know what was the problem.
i had a problem recently with the volts on my gauge dropping, changing of alt fixed that. |
||
| Top | |
||
| EL___Fairmont |
|
|||
|
Replaced the alternator today with the spare one out of my EF parts car. Still does the exact same thing so the battery must be on it's way out???
_________________ Current ride 2007 |
|||
| Top | |
|||
| bradley4567 |
|
||
|
EL___Fairmont wrote: Replaced the alternator today with the spare one out of my EF parts car. Still does the exact same thing so the battery must be on it's way out??? yep
_________________ ef falcon daily driver |
||
| Top | |
||
| TimmyA |
|
|||
|
bradley4567 wrote: EL___Fairmont wrote: Replaced the alternator today with the spare one out of my EF parts car. Still does the exact same thing so the battery must be on it's way out??? yep still don't see how the battery causes the alternator to drop voltage... When your measuring this your using a multimeter (not the one in the car) and measuring straight accross the battery?
_________________ 93 Red ED 5spd Manual Build Thread |
|||
| Top | |
|||
| jpinckney5209 |
|
||
|
me battery in the eb stays at 14v at idle (7000rpm) with no battery connected.. measured with a multimeter
_________________ Mercury Silver Jan 1992 EB1 Fairmont sedan - Project |
||
| Top | |
||
| TimmyA |
|
|||
|
so see bradley... if the battery doesn't hold voltage the alternator should... I bet if you start the car and disconnect the battery the car will die... If the alternator is indeed not capable of supporting the system...
You don't have any blown fuses anywhere do you el_fairmont?
_________________ 93 Red ED 5spd Manual Build Thread |
|||
| Top | |
|||
| jpinckney5209 |
|
||
|
jpinckney5209 wrote: me battery in the eb stays at 14v at idle (7000rpm) with no battery connected.. measured with a multimeter i meant 700rpm 
_________________ Mercury Silver Jan 1992 EB1 Fairmont sedan - Project |
||
| Top | |
||
| EL___Fairmont |
|
|||
|
timmytimtim wrote: so see bradley... if the battery doesn't hold voltage the alternator should... I bet if you start the car and disconnect the battery the car will die... If the alternator is indeed not capable of supporting the system... You don't have any blown fuses anywhere do you el_fairmont? Checked the fuses next too the coolant reservoir, all look fine. Battery light does not come up on dash either. I will get another battery tomorrow and report back.. Cheers...
_________________ Current ride 2007 |
|||
| Top | |
|||
| Matt_jew |
|
||
|
It is actually possible of the battery is rooted you will see symptoms like is happening.
If it has dropped a cell the battery will be taking all the available current trying to charge but not doing anything. The charging system on an EL at idle is marginal at best. To have the AC on which runs the engine fans as well with the high beam etc at idle is always going to be touch and go. I hate to admit it but Bradley might just be correct on this one.
_________________ xr6turnip wrote: More people paid for a ride in a VT commodore then an AU Falcon so the VT is superior.
Based on that fact my Mum is the best around! |
||
| Top | |
||
| TimmyA |
|
|||
|
Matt,
May be so that bradley is right... But if the battery is knackered I don't see how it start first time every time even in the cold? It doesn't make any sense... If the battery has collapsed then I wouldn't expect to see it starting... I thought the alternator should be able to support the fans load at idle? Because fans aren't that important when your moving and have airflow... They are more important stationary in traffic... Just doesn't make sense to me... Cheers, Tim
_________________ 93 Red ED 5spd Manual Build Thread |
|||
| Top | |
|||
| bradley4567 |
|
||
|
theres a first for everything matt
depending on what battery he has, a cell can colaspe and the battery still start the car, just the voltage of the battery will be lower, but still able to provide a large current e.g 300cca at 11v ive been told at tech that a car, (well most) could be started on at little as 9v providing that there is still the amperage there, i am yet to test this
_________________ ef falcon daily driver |
||
| Top | |
||
| Who is online |
|---|
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests |
