Advice help / diagnosis

[jasonp]

I have been putting some miles on the s2 in he last few months,
Back and forwards to Kent and she has performed great,,
Been a pleasure but after leaving home today and a spirited run on the m2 when I stopped at a shop near to ours in Kent and started the car back up,,, my electrical gauge had dropped to 12 and red light came on ? and also the large light with an exclaimation mark at the top of the rev and speed dials Came on?
I carried on the short drive to ours and it was totally fine?....
I will pop her down to these chaps in the village who have the odd classic in Tommorow,,
Any ideas etc much appreciated
I rang my chaps back in London and couldn't offer much without seeing her but said it could be abs related ?,
Thanks, Jason p

 

[Waylander]

The abs light will come on if the voltage is low

i would head for the voltage regulator in the back of the alternator as a first stop

crazy expensive from porsche but cheap for a ford granada, they are the same

 

[jasonp]

Thanks Waylander,,
If I need to will she be ok to drive back to London if garage in Kent can't fix it?,,,jasonp

 

[Waylander]

Only if your battery survives the trip

 

[edh]

Sounds like a failing alternator - with any luck any Bosch specialist should be able to repair it.

Good luck with getting it to London.. .

 

[zcacogp]

Jason,

It certainly sounds like a charging issue, hence alternator is the most likely failure. Check for simple things - is the alternator belt still on, are all the electrical connections still plugged in and done up tight etc?

How far into Kent are you? Driving a distance on a flat battery is going to end in tears. Do you have the facilities to charge up the battery before you set off?


Oli.

 

[jasonp]

Hiya,
Thanks for the replys and i take her to local garage,,,
And go from there,,she still is starting on the button,
I have her taken back to London if needed,,,,
Thanks jasonp

 

[jasonp]

I have decided to call breakdown out and have her taken back to top gear as local garage could not fit me in until next week so it looks like a new alternator,,,,
Thanks again guys, jasonp

 

[jasonp]

Just to bring a smile,,,
The old chaps at the local garage walked around to the boot and asked me to pop the lid so they could have a look at the engine lol,lol,,I explained it was front engined,,,,politely lol,,,
Been putting a good few miles on her so not too bothered ,,,
a new alternator wil be a good new edition if needed,,,jasonp

 

[Eldavo]

I had my alternator refurbed locally.

For £25 it was cleaned up and buffed and the voltage regulator changed. That is two screws on the back and if you remove the cowl it could even be changed without removing the alternator.

I see 14V on the voltmeter (nearer 14.5V on my ECU display) for the first time in 8 years of 944 ownership!!!

 

[jasonp]

Thanks Dave,,
In all honesty I don't even know where the alternator is, []
Don't do any spannering so I will have her transported back on Monday as I am covered,,
Regards jasonp

 

[zcacogp]

Fair enough Jason, that's the safe answer. You won't go wrong doing that, although if you realised how easy the repair is then you may kick yourself! (It's probably not much harder than lifting up the telephone and calling the tow truck company .... !)

Nice story about the garage chap! I have people often wondering where the engine and gearbox are in a 944. I think the thing that confuses them most is not that the engine is at the front, it's the fact that the engine and gearbox are at opposite ends of the car. And the battery location foxes a few people as well; I gave a friend a jump start last week and reversed my car up such that the near-side rear (i.e. battery location on a late 944) was as close as possible to his battery. He proceeded to jump up and down and tell me I was doing it all wrong. However he's a nice chap so I didn't laugh at him too much!


Oli.

 

[jasonp]

Thanks chaps,
Well when it rains it seems to pour,,
4 new rainsports3 a few weeks back and this morning the car fired up immediately and abs an voltage lights still on but then noticed that one of my tyres (drivers side back) had a puncture[8|],,
Have a choice to take her to dk engineering in Tonbridge in Kent who were helpful and said "charge battery and bring her over" but its a way to Tonbridge from here so I call breakdown on Monday...
thanks again chaps,,, jasonp

 

[jasonp]

oli,,,
hoping it might be an easy fix and she has been back forwards to Kent and not missed a beat but you better then anyone knows of my complete lack of insight Re spannering,
it was you who informed me I had a complete air con system fitted in my last s2 lol,,,
I just thought it was a pretty blue pipe that went who knows where? [],
Thanks mate,, jasonp

 

[jasonp]

Happy days chaps,,
Breakdown was a ford claasics man and took a minute to show me my broken alternator belt,
So back tommorow with new alternator and fanbelts ( thought it prudent to change fan belt also ) and will also fix puncture on back tyre,
Very happy and be back on the twistys tommorow,,
Thanks again for the support chaps,,,, jasonp