battery light on

[S3SR]

dont know what the problem is now but the battery light came on today....

i cleaned the terminals...no good
i degreased the alternator (power steer fluid has been leaking on it)...no good
i go up past 100kph and it turns off, go slower it turns on (only tried this once to get the degreaser).
tried revving the engine incase it did something ...no good
wasnt gonna test any of it with a multimeter incase i did something and got electrocuted...ill leave it for mr RACQ if my battery fails

any ideas?

cars booked in to mechanics on monday...battery WONT last that long

Evilchief its all in your hands monday...or whoever gets it

[JC]

A piece of black electrical tape covering the battery warning light is one fix.

The other is a slipping fan belt, or a cactus alternator, or even just time for a new battery..

[au2sw]

by the sopunds of things, new alternator is what will be needed. its not charging properly. hence why with enough load from the engine, the light (dimmed?) went out. disconnect the negative terminal when you stop the car for extended periods of time (over night, while at work) that way at least you dont lose memory for stereo, trip computer etc.

[just me]

correct me if i'm wrong but i think that the power steering fluid leaking onto the alternator is the biggest killer for them with something in the fluid that destroys plastic peices inside the alternator i may be wrong but something to look at
cheers

[f6 typhoon]

your luck your battery light come on my au the battery light never came on and the next day car would not start had to start at 5am that morning had to get jumped started by the old man got a new battery and it fixed it i think my battery was about 5 years old too maybe the voltage regulator needs fixing

[S3SR]

maybe the falcon needs BURNING then crushed into a ball and sent into the sun...

it all happens at once

[nikos]

Hey you beat me to post this, I just started getting the same problem, though it seems to come on randomly. And there is still plenty of go in the battery, doesn't hesitate to start.

[Jastel]

Power Steering oil is no good for alternators
I don't think it destroys the plastic but it will gum everything up and attract dirt/dust etc to it which will wear out the brushes and slip rings and eventually short out the regulator

Best advice is fix power steering leaks immediately

[EvilChief]

chuck the multimeter on there while running and see what voltage u get, if u get around the 14v ur alt is fine, if lower, ur alt or alt regulator is cactus. when engine is turned off check voltage again and if u get less that 11.5v, ur batter is cactus. if u want a quick check, come to aitkenvale auto & dyno on monday between 1230 and 130, thats when i have lunch

[S3SR]

Originally Posted by EvilChief

chuck the multimeter on there while running and see what voltage u get, if u get around the 14v ur alt is fine, if lower, ur alt or alt regulator is cactus. when engine is turned off check voltage again and if u get less that 11.5v, ur batter is cactus. if u want a quick check, come to aitkenvale auto & dyno on monday between 1230 and 130, thats when i have lunch

its booked in from 8am i think....knock your self out
thanks in advance

Richie

[EvilChief]

Originally Posted by FALCONSR

its booked in from 8am i think....knock your self out
thanks in advance

Richie

lol no dramas, will keep an eye out

[all4fordau]

The problem is the power steering fluid leaking into the alternator and cooks the voltage regulator. Repco have a good hose replacement for about $70 and then you will need to get the alternator reconditioned, about $200. I think most AU owners have had this shitty problem.

[Mechan1k]

Had the same problem ... had it booked in to get fixed ... the bugger died while doing deliveries the day before (bloody Murphy's Law).

Got the high pressure hose replaced on the back of the power steer pump anyway the next day ... I had NRMA replace the alternator on the side of the road for $300 ... which i thought wasn't too bad for an emergency.

I knew it was going to happen ... I had the battery light come on a fair bit and it would go away under revs ... but when it went ... everything went haywire on the dash ... lights flickered on and off ... gauges went all over the place ... and then I had a coasting car in traffic with no power.

I was lucky I had a car park coming up ... I chucked it in N to keep it coasting ... and got ready with the brakes (as there was no power for them either) ... was and interesting stop with HEAVY steering.

[asimplelife]

My battery light came on a few days ago. Battery almost didn't start tonight so have chucked it on the charger.

With mine it hasn't been power steering fluid. But I had an engine oil leak for quite a while from the timing chain tensioner. I put a lot of degreaser through the alternator. But it appears the damage must have already been done. Fortunately I have a spare.

[Citroënbender]

Alternators are pretty simple to go through, the biggest need is usually a rattle gun to get the pulley nut loose, and a good iron to unpick the field coil wires tidily. I use a large, hot tip on an electronics soldering station and it is great - you want to melt the solder quickly without boiling everything around it. Solder sucker and desoldering braid are handy for cleanup before reassembly.

Front and rear bearings are sealed type, provided you just use a garden hose for water pressure (not pressure washer) when degreasing you won't wash the grease out.

Have a crack at rebuilding one, it's very satisfying and quite cheap.

[George V]

Greetings,

I know it is a twelve year old thread about a eighteen year old car's alternator.

When I went through power steering oil into alternator scenario many years ago and opened up the alternator for the sake of it , found one of commuter segment / ring was almost ground out by oil / carbon brush. Was a good learning experience though.

Regards,
George V

[asimplelife]

Originally Posted by George V

I know it is a twelve year old thread about a eighteen year old car's alternator.

Yes but for me it's my "new" car and it seems better to add to an existing relevant thread rather than create a new one?

Appreciate all the suggestions. To potentially save $200 I think I will have a crack at repairing this. It might take me a little while to get round to it as I have a couple of other cars to get ready to sell first. In the meantime I have a spare to use.

I have also confirmed it is not the battery. Swapped batteries with another AU which does not have the warning light on and the XR6 warning light is still on so far.

[Citroënbender]

Can you identify the make of alternator, maybe by looking at pictures of ones for sale online?

[arronm]

Thow a meter on the battery. Engine running should be > 13.5V.

If not buy a new one. Can be had on ebay from $130 2 pin 110A

[aussiblue]

Power steering fluid usually takes the polymer insulation off some or all of the "magnet wire" windings in alternators so they no longer works.

[Citroënbender]

If it's a Mitsubishi alternator, the brushes are 5×8×23-ish mm and the slip rings are usually not much worn when the brushes are spent (12mm or shorter). The reg/brush-holder is designed for brush replacement.

One aftermarket part is labelled AB5006, but they're not sourced locally - $25 or so posted.

Denso brushes are a bit longer, common to find, do not have the retention hole but may be carefully shortened.

[aussiblue]

I put a lot of degreaser through the alternator.

That will usually take the lubricant out of the alternator bearings as well as the take the polymer off the "magnet wire".

[Citroënbender]

That hasn't been my experience with the Mitsu units, in either case. The field coil insulation has held up fine to solvent type degreaser, brake cleaner, shellite. And the sealed bearings have been darned near indestructible, even a twice flooded unit wasn't impacted by water or dirt. Front is a common $7 unit if required, SRE bearing about $22.

I like to see a frugal outcome that works just as well, when possible. And if I go overboard with a process like wet blasting a casing, that's another $60 staying in Australia for Aussie labour, not going to an importer of replacement units made in China.

[aussiblue]

that hasn't been my experience with the Mitsu units, in either case. The field coil insulation has held up fine to solvent type degreaser, brake cleaner, shellite. And the sealed bearings have been darned near indestructible, even a twice flooded unit wasn't impacted by water or dirt

My observations have been different; no the alternator may not die immediately but they usually do within a few months. There is a reason while most cans of engine degreasers carry a warning to cover the alternator, distributor and other electrical and electronic parts and avoid spraying it into the face of the alternator. That said, there are now some chlorine and hydrocarbon free degreasers on the market that claim to be electronically safe and cause no damage to electronic parts or bearings e.g Electromax http://www.maxim-technologies.com/pr...rosol%20PI.pdf and perhaps CRC Natural Degreaser https://crcindustries.com.au/product...400g-3076.html but better this https://www.crcindustries.com/produc...-oz-05018.html or http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Crc-400G-...lySk:rk:5:pf:0 If you must degrease the Alternator use one of them.

[asimplelife]

Thanks for all the input. Got caught up on another vehicle today. I'll make sure I post back with a response to the questions tomorrow.
I see now it was a mistake to use degreaser but I figured with all the engine oil in it it was stuffed anyway...but maybe that wasn't the case? It was spot on a few months ago that I used the degreaser though.

[asimplelife]

Pulled out the alternator yesterday. No identifiers I can see apart from a label from what I assume was the reconditioner? It looks the same as all my others (I've got 4 AY's and a couple of spare engines). So I assume it's the standard Mitsubishi 6G ? It looks like the diagrams in the workshop manual. Pic of mine below.



I had a spare alternator on a motor I picked up and fitted that. The battery warning light is now off so it seems that alternator was the problem.
However the replacement has a whine which can't be good. I heard the car running before I pulled the motor about a year ago and it wasn't there then that I remember. But in transit due to my carelessness radiator coolant leaked onto the alternator so not sure what damage that might have done? Maybe after I've run it for a while it might settle down?

Back to the damaged alternator. Most of the suggestions for repairing I am not familiar with. And I am not yet much of a mechanic but the purpose of all this is to learn to be better...if I can make the time;

- I don't have a rattle gun to get the pulley nut loose but was thinking of getting one. Not sure how big it would need to be for this job?

- Then a good iron to unpick the field coil wires tidily. I use a large, hot tip on an electronics soldering station and it is great - you want to melt the solder quickly without boiling everything around it. Solder sucker and desoldering braid are handy for cleanup before reassembly.
I have a couple of standard soldering irons that may not be big enough and almost no skill in using them.

- the brushes are 5×8×23-ish mm and the slip rings are usually not much worn when the brushes are spent (12mm or shorter). The reg/brush-holder is designed for brush replacement. One aftermarket part is labelled AB5006, but they're not sourced locally - $25 or so posted. Denso brushes are a bit longer, common to find, do not have the retention hole but may be carefully shortened.
If I even got this far, where do I go for these parts?

- Front bearing is a common $7 unit if required, SRE bearing about $22.
Also where would should I source the bearings from?

Thanks again.

[Citroënbender]

There’s no mention by the suppliers that it’s a reco unit, so I’d presume it’s aftermarket. Whether Chinese or European I have no idea. Aftermarket bits are probably going to fit if required.

To narrow down the whine, carefully disconnect alternator from the electrical system (insulate each connector well during the test) and run the car on battery only. If the whine is still there it’s either the drive (belt, pulleys) or bearings.

Edit to clarify, you only need to remove the pulley nut if replacing the rotating assembly or front bearing (a 6303, common).

[roddy1960]

In my AU ll the original Bosch alternator lasted 14 years but the obligatory seeping power steer leak got it in early 2015 .Dumb dumb here put in a new Bosch but failed to deal with the P/S issue..Idiot I am .. So a few months ago the second alternator went west for the same reason . Ended up fitting the new style high pressure hose to permanently fix the issue and was advised to go with the Mitsubishi alternator this time as it's a fair bit cheaper but just as good .

The only thing though with the AU etc Bosch alty's at least is that they do have the removable voltage regulator if that component fails , In both mine though the damage was the p/s fluid corroding the internals ..

The upgraded h/p hose kit is a much better set up all round than the old design or the repair kit for that old style set up ..Was about $120 fitted I think .

Won't happen again now . (or shouldn't) ..The Mitsy alternator was around $240 while the Bosch was nearer $320 I think.

[asimplelife]

It is definitely my replacement alternator that is whining. The whine was not there before with the same belt and the previous non charging alternator. So it will be either the alternator pulley or bearing then?
That will do me for now anyway, as discovering the front chassis rail is bent, means I have decided to retire this XR6 and use it as a manual donor vehicle, which was the original intention anyway.

[Citroënbender]

You can get electrical whine, it will occur only when the charging system is connected up - hence testing with the alternator leads off, and the motor just running on the battery. No whine then, means diodes usually.