It seems my battery is draining or it’s not charged properly. About every 2 to 3 weeks the battery is to empty to start. I haven’t checked for drainage yet, but I did have the battery checked under load. The mechanic said the battery is OK, but the charging current of 13,5 V is too low. Now thought I’ve seen a couple of postings saying the current should be just about that.

I use the car as a daily driver. I’m only about 10 Km’s from work. It’s highway, but mostly traffic jammed. (lights are mostly on this time of year) Can it be that driving in a traffic jam avoids revving the engine high enough to give a good load current? (it’s a 5 speed)

I need to say when the car was hooked up on a computer about a year ago, it showed the alternator being bad. The mechanics resetted, tested and looked again and it never showed up again.

One other thing –which probably hasn’t got anything to do with it- When I parked my car at work this morning, I turned off the lights. They nicely folded back in their eyelids, but they where still on. I put the keys in the ignition again, switched the lights on and off again, and now they are off.

 

Come on guys! Don't make me have to push the car to work every day, it's 10 km's you know!

A clue anyone?

 

Charge voltage should be 13.8 - 14.2v on a good battery. Yours sounds a bit low. Note, current is amps, not volts. That is hard to check on the car. First, check you battery terminals for clean, it's VERY important to have them free of corrosion. Next, check the battery ground strap-to-chassis contact for clean. Then check the engine end of things... grounds and hot lead at the jumper terminal. That's the easy stuff.

If that doesn't do it, search this archive for "alternator exciter resistor", and consider that check that. You could remove the alternator and have it checked, for voltage AND current, by a rebuild-shop. Do yourself a favor, though. If the alternator tests bad, have it rebuilt, or get the right one from one of the Big 3. Sorting out the wrong replacement unit is a royal PITA.

 

Thanks a lot Brian, I'll work out your tips first thing when I get back.

 

<a href="http://www.nichols.nu/tip692.htm" target="_blank">http://www.nichols.nu/tip692.htm</a>

Andre, the link above gives you a procedure for checking the alternator on the car. Hope it helps.

Jim

 

Thanks Jim,

I did not see your posting untill now, but I did some measurements over the weekend
Due to all the experimenting, the battery was almost drained when writing down these test results:
U (V) I (A)
Everything off 12,66 0,058
Interior lights on 12,18 3,350
Interior lights and contact (keyswitch) on 11,56 9,600
Interior lights and contact (keyswitch) on, headlights on 10,30 &gt;20

Above measurements state that the amperage while turning on the headlights was over 20A. (my gauge could not measure more). Although getting over a 20A readout could be OK to turn up the headlights, however it stayed that way. We (My father who did most of the brainwork and I) suspected a sticky light relay or end switch of the headlights. I took the relay out and saw it was sealed. Did not open it. I slapped it a couple of times and put it in again. (still talking about the relay) Now the readings were fine:

U (V) I (A)
Interior lights and contact (keyswitch) on, headlights on 11,59
Motor on (low rpm) , interior lights on 13,99
Motor on (high rpm), headlights on, while popping up 13,88
Motor on (high rpm), headlights on 13,95

I did not measure the Amperage (I) while the motor was running. I did not want to disconnect the battery with a running motor, because I’m not familiar with the consequences.

Questions; can it be the exterior lights relay is sticky and got the headlight motor continuously powered?
Is the headlight pop up system operated with an end switch, which can be sticky/defect? If yes, where is it?
What would be the normal current with the lights on and a running motor?