gl auto AGAIN

Does it never end?  

As you will have probably gathered by now, my husband and I are blithering Car amateurs!!

My Gl Auto is still playing up!

Mechanically, things are going a lot better (touch wood!) after a number of teething probs, the carb is now set well and the muck in the fuel sorted. She no longer has a seizure at 60mph and will do 100 no probs (off road of course  :wink: ) Im absolutely amazed at how quick she accelerates between 70 and 90 mph.

The problem now seems to be electrical.

…The latest prob to be sorted was a leaking oil filler cap which absolutely covered everything in oil. At the same time the L shaped breather pipe off the rocker cover was replaced as the old one had a nasty kink in it which seemed to cause a lot of over heating. Also vacuum hose ends replaced.

The symptoms now are…

Usually she starts fine from cold…..off we go and then stop at shops etc 5 mins later. She then won't start except by using a jump pack.

Other things that happen most days on gaz's drive to work - the window wipers which are incredibly poor anyway, go weaker

Also the lights dim esp if you have other things on too like the window wipers!

The lights on the stereo goes off (yes i have tunes!! only just fitted this as was using a wind-up radio sat on the seat before!! Prob happened before though)


Gaz has been trying his best to sort the prob but we really are just learning and the whole electrical business hurts my head!! Right Il try explain what he has tried but this my confuse you even more!

Today he has been cleaning as many connections as he can find and the earth as everything was covered in oil from the leaky cap.

Im also presuming he has had the dizzy off & cleaned that up.

He has also had the auto gear stick surround bit off and done the connections around there.

Havent got the battery tested as it is pretty new but will do tomorrow.

One good thing to come out of this is that the heaters on our feet is now working!! Yay!!!

He just phoned me from work to say he had to jump her again after stopping for petrol.

I know it could be something obvious but any help would be much appreciated. Il show him the replies tomorrow when he is back from work and he can say what he has and hasnt tried etc.

Cheers so much in advance, dont know what we'd do without the site!!  

Pretty please  :wink:

Sounds like the battery is failing when being charged.  Does it start Ok when cooled down?

The other things worth checking is the big earth strap that comes off the battery - make sure the body connection is clean - also check for hot wires when the symptoms are there as this may help find the problem.

I guess it could also be an alternator problem - easy for an auto electrician to test - I've got used alternators if you ned one.

Cheers

Rich

hey mate thanks for the reply.

the alternator is new - about a month so that should be ok.

the car usually starts ok from cold but not always so il get the battery checked asap.

hhmmmm, I would have said alternator as well, but you say this is new?? Have you managed to get the battery checked yet?
When every thing is running on the car i.e stereo, lights, wipers, rear heated window etc there is a massive current drain on the battery, if the battery is poor or not gettin enough charge from the alternator then it will go flat very quickly…
Even thought the alternator is new its worth getting that checked again, you never know?
Does you red light work for the battery on the dash - this is an important part of the charging circuit?

Get the alternator and battery checked - I've had 3 duff alternators in a row before (on another car) !!!!

thank you, il keep you posted! My husband is still in bed (nights) and i can't find the car keys so I am stranded  :cry:  will definately pop out as soon as he's up and get the battery checked, then the alternator. Il be really annoyed if it is that!

Here's an update  :cry:

We went along to a garage to get the battery checked. The battery light isnt coming on when the car starts like it should do so the battery isnt getting chraged properly.

We went and brought an LED to try and swap it, got the clocks out and they have sold us the wrong type…now have to go into nottingham to get one tomorrow.

The old light does seem darker like it had blown but we swapped it with the oil light and it still didnt work.

We noticed on the wiring loom to the clocks that the wires seems to be  "crimped" but dont know if this is due to age etc as we've never taken clocks off a mk1 before.

SOmeone also mentioned the wiring between the alternator and the battery, would this effect the LED? SOunds like we prob have a combination of problems!

I have got some more clocks in the GX and wondered whether to swap them to see if this sorts it but ideally want to keep the original clocks in their right car!

Now given up for the day and in need of more inspiration and advice!

Cheers in advance.

Hi,if you have no battery light the alternator is usually at fault,there is a thin blue wire coming from the alternator,this exiter wire is the one to cause problems
Bert

Sounds like an alternator/battery problem to me. I would check the following in this order:

Battery - Kwik fit or halfords will do a free electronic battery test which will show up a duff battery straight away.

Alternator - Get hold of a multimeter and check the voltage before starting (should be about 12-13v) after starting with nothing electrical running (should be about 13.5 - 14.5v) and after starting with fan, headlamps and rear heated screen on (should be between 13.5 and 14.5v still)

I would do all those checks at the battery terminals, then repeat them reading the voltage this time from the back of the alternator. Any big differences between the readings at the back of the alternator and the readings at the battery would indicate a wiring or earthing problem between the two. (There will always be a slight difference due to resistance in the wiring etc)

If you get a low voltage reading (below 12v) before starting the engine, then your battery isn't properly charged.

If you're getting a reading below 13.5v with the engine running then your alternator isn't pushing out enough voltage to charge the battery. and

If you're getting an OK reading with the engine running with nothing turned on, but a low reading when you load up the electrics then you've got a weak alternator.  

You can pick up a cheap voltmeter from most motorfactors for about ?10 that'll do the job.

Hope that helps.

Mike.

Some good advice there.

i think you are off down the wrog track with your LED - I'd focus on checking the alternator & battery.

Cheers

Rich

thanks you lot. definately going to invest in a multimeter tomorrow - we have needed one so many times!! please be prepared for more ridiculous questions tomorrow, we will get there in the end  

Thanks again

the blue wire must have 12v + on it to charge? and the bulb in the dash must work to?

Hi,
I have a gls automatic, and another possibility is the starter motor!
I know its very hard to reach the starter, but I had this problem before and I had someone turn the ignition key and me banging the starter and then it would start.
I only had this problem with a warm/hot engine.
btw, the starter is below the manifolds, not like my gti which is just below the battery on the gearbox.
Also check if the blue wire is plugged in properly in the wirehousing thats running to the positive pole of the battery.

greets yal

therat1 said

the blue wire must have 12v + on it to charge? and the bulb in the dash must work to?

I'm not sure that's right, but I may be wrong. As far as I know the light on the dashboard is just a warning light, and the blue wire is simply a signal led to trigger this. It illuminates the light if the alternator itsn't outputing, however it's not always a reliable indicator, as the alternator has to fail completely before it is triggered, if you just have a weak alternator that's outputting some power, but not much then it will stay off. That's my understanding of it anyway.

Mike.

Hi all. Firstly Id just like to say a huge thank you for your help over this - touch wood everything is working!!

The wires between the battery & the alternator were pretty fried so we've made a new one and also replaced the battery light. So far everything is greatly improved.  

Great news  

the blue wire must have 12v + on it to charge?

Don't cut the blue wire… the red one! The red one!!!!

Sorry couldn't resist.

Good to hear the car is heading in the right direction again!

Cheers,

Drew.

no 12v on the blue wire and it will not charge try it pull the blue wire off?