Advice Please

[KernowRover]

Good Evening All,

On recent evenings I have noticed when running with dipped head lights, heated rear screen switched on an seat heaters on the charge light will be glowing dimly, is this a sign of a failing battery or perhaps the alternator on the way out?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Tom

[suffolk boy]

Originally Posted by KernowRover

Good Evening All,

On recent evenings I have noticed when running with dipped head lights, heated rear screen switched on an seat heaters on the charge light will be glowing dimly, is this a sign of a failing battery or perhaps the alternator on the way out?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Tom

it will be one or the other get it tested most garages will do this in a jiffy for free.

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by KernowRover

... when running with dipped head lights, heated rear screen switched on an seat heaters on ...

That's a lot of current you're drawing there Tom. If you activate the instrument pack diagnostics, you can monitor the alternator's charging voltage (expect 13.9 volts or above). In the meantime, if you have a battery charger it won't do any harm to use it overnight and for a total of 24 hours.

Simon

[muggerbee]

Or stick one of THESE in the ciggy socket. saves faffing around with going through the IPK menu everytime you start the car

[KernowRover]

That's a lot of current you're drawing there Tom. If you activate the instrument pack diagnostics, you can monitor the alternator's charging voltage (expect 13.9 volts or above). In the meantime, if you have a battery charger it won't do any harm to use it overnight and for a total of 24 hours.

Just done some tests and noted that with both seat heaters switched on plus dipped headlights and heated rear screen the charging voltage drops to 13 volts, with nothing switched on and the engine idling the reading ranges from 13..9 to 14.1 volts.

Is this acceptable please?

Tom

[freck]

Originally Posted by KernowRover

Just done some tests and noted that with both seat heaters switched on plus dipped headlights and heated rear screen the charging voltage drops to 13 volts, with nothing switched on and the engine idling the reading ranges from 13..9 to 14.1 volts.

Is this acceptable please?

Tom

That sounds like a reasonable charging voltage with nothing switched on, could be slightly higher but that could be down to wear and tear on the alternator brushes or the age of your battery.
However, if you have all those high loads switched on regularly, and only do shortish journeys, the battery will not be recovering its charge fully.
As Simon has said, it will be worthwhile to remove the battery and give it a good 24hr charge.
It may also be worthwhile finding a local garage who can do a load drop test on the battery to check whether it's getting a bit weak with age.
I recently changed mine as it was discharging fairly quickly even with only a little load, but still started the car ok.