[matfan]

Hi Guys,

I'm heading back to sunny brissy in a month from sh1tty cold london and my brother tells me that my zook is having some issues.

The stereo drops out for a sec when you apply the brake and at night, you can't have music / a/c / headlights on all at once.

The alternator was just replaced a couple of weeks ago with a brand newy as the old one was shagged. I also replaced the battery when I was at home in October.

I know a lot of you will probably jump in and say just upgrade to the ford alt but the current setup used to work and no mods have been added since. I'm unable to whack the multimeter out as the car is 16532 km's away from me at the moment but my brother tells me it sitting at around the 14v mark at idle.

This is the setup at the moment.

Standard 1.3
Standard alt (belt is tight)
Compressor and narva's wired to +battery post clamp with individual switches

Any suggestions/common issues?

[larry]

its probably not this but i was having similar issues, i had a battery terminal that was mangled, i replaced it and fixed everything.
just sayin dont rule out the obvious

[matfan]

That's actually a bloody good idea.... kicking myself for not thinking that already. It's always the simple things that you never think of! Cheers for that Larry.

In case it's not, keep the suggestions coming.

[PJ.zook]

Yeh check the obvious stuff like earth leads, battery leads, corrosion, etc... Just because its charging at 14v doesnt mean theres enough current flow. You should be able to have everything on at once (except maybe your spotties) even with the standard alternator. The fact that you cant, even if the alternator is not charging, suggests that its an issue getting power from battery to everything.

[Lokidog]

I had similar issues and I was also blowing fuses like they were going out of fashion. It ended up being a faulty tail light globe. I changed the globe for a new one and all is good!

[whincup]

mine did this for a while, turns out my earth wire had come loose. lights would noticeably dim whenever the fan or wipers were on... replace it, use a bigger wire.

[ozsteve]

had the same prob it was the wire to the back of the alt was not pushed on properly

[SuperRoo]

Check the earth for the rear lights/brake lights, just to the right of the left tail light behind the bumper.

[whincup]

to sum it all up, theres a dodgy earth somewhere... let us know how ya go

[matfan]

Cheers guys. I'll let my brother know.

Saying that, he's literally just bought a lwb of his own so I can't see him spending time on mine. Looks like it'll have to wait for me to fly home.
4 weeks and counting!

[Teracis]

matfan wrote:

Cheers guys. I'll let my brother know.

Saying that, he's literally just bought a lwb of his own so I can't see him spending time on mine. Looks like it'll have to wait for me to fly home.
4 weeks and counting!

If it's in Brisbane, tell him to move it to high ground or the electrical fault won't be your biggest problem!

[Gonzo]

For the sake of not starting another thread

My Vitara Was having issues with starting in the wet the other day
checked the reasonably easy options . Bah just clucthed it got home
Today on closer inspection the earth lead from the Battery to the body is not attached ...!!

There is no realy obvious position for it .. Can any one tell me where the earth should be attached.

[Ben_Sierra]

Normally its attached to the firewall, but anywhere should do. Just make sure its got a good connection to the metal underneath, rather than sitting on the paint doing nothing...

[Gonzo]

I thought as much ..!! Just checking . Thank You ...!!!

[matfan]

Ok so I've changed the battery terminals, cleaned and tightened the tail light, firewall and engine earths and still not charging with a/c, lights and radio on (12.1v +- .3v)

When i disconnect the charging lead to the battery, the lead has got 14ish volts so I'm leaning towards current loss somewhere....

I can't see anything obvious and I'm nearly at the stage of losing man points by paying a auto-lecky to have a look....

Anyone got any bright ideas??

[Ben_Sierra]

Dodgy alternator can't supply enough juice to charge the battery?

[matfan]

Nah its a new alternator

[Ben_Sierra]

The only reason I can see for the voltage being at 14 when it is unloaded, and suddenly drop to 12 when its loaded, is the alt can't handle the current draw...

Did the problems start around the time the new alt was put in?

[matfan]

No it was like this before the new alt, bloody head scratcher this one.

[Jason]

matfan wrote:

The stereo drops out for a sec when you apply the brake and at night, you can't have music / a/c / headlights on all at once.

Only common factor here is the rear light cluster. Possible short circuit as the loom passes out through the chassis to the rear bumper?

Do the instrument cluster lights dim at the same time? From memory they're on the same circuit as the rear light cluster but separate to the brake lights. I'm thinking music / a/c / headlights on all at once then isolate the rear lights by removing that fuse and see if the music / aircon picks up.