Battery Not Charging

surrealjam · Post by **surrealjam** » Thu May 21, 2009 7:16 pm

Hmmm, yeah I believe the alternator has had it then. Tested with multimeter tonight, and the voltage started around 14v then dropped slowly. Now it is reading about 12v.

Incidentaly, the battery light (with ignition on) is now NOT illuminating. It most definitely did last time I turned the ignition on as I was looking out for it... I take it this is an intermittent issue.

I will be taking to my trusty mechanic ASAP. How much do people think the part will be? I reckon the guy I use will only charge an hour labour, so I'm hoping the part itself won't set me back too much.

Cheers.
James

B18FT - LOVER · Post by **B18FT - LOVER** » Thu May 21, 2009 9:46 pm

A altinator would cost you some where around Ã‚Â£100 from a local pattern part company..

How ever i saw a mental cheap one on ebay the other day and there still on there

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ALTERNATOR-VOLVO- ... 7C294%3A50

ted clutch · Post by **ted clutch** » Thu May 21, 2009 9:53 pm

if the light wasnt on,ignition on,engine NOT runnng its brushes 100%.you wont need complete alternator.just regulator.be good to go.easily do it yourself with only two bolts to remove,5mins.Ã‚Â£20 or so.ive done this many times and it has always kept generating as long as car has gone so no worries there.hope this has been helpful and saved you a few quid.
edit.remember to take battery + lead off when working.dont want to take the fuse out with your spanner handle.and when doing anything on car Never Never disconect the battery with engine running ('load dump').
id be round to sort it but live too far.

surrealjam · Post by **surrealjam** » Fri May 22, 2009 8:01 am

Thanks for the advice Ted. Reading up on it, it would appear the regulator could be removed (as you suggest) without taking off the alternator.

Will all new regulators come with new brushes (excuse my ignorance) and how likely is a spares centre to carry one in stock? I work just down the road from a very useful car spares place...

Thanks again,
James

kev · Post by **kev** » Fri May 22, 2009 1:26 pm

I used jcr supplies Ã‚Â£15.69 delivered

Arrived the next day. Was I lucky ?

Easy to swap over .Just check the part numbers before buying

Ben Harris · Post by **Ben Harris** » Fri May 22, 2009 1:36 pm

You might like to have a read of this (my account of changing the regulator on my 480 Turbo, last year).

... and "yes", it is quite possible to change the regulator without removing the alternator. The replacement I bought came with new brushes as part of it.

Ben.

ted clutch · Post by **ted clutch** » Fri May 22, 2009 1:56 pm

yes mate.the brushes are part of it.it will be self evident when you remove it.you will see the problem. best way is to take the regulator off and make a note of any numbers on the alternator.you will find them on the end ,below the regulator.then you can pop it down to your parts man.if its a no/turbo like mine its probably a valeo alternator.volvo used a few slightly different models though,so be careful of this. next stop then is ebay.i bought mine here.if you get stuck pm me with some model numbers and ill try and find one.it may be the same as mine.

surrealjam · Post by **surrealjam** » Fri May 22, 2009 7:27 pm

Ted - spot on with the diagnosis. Removed regulator (partially at least) and one of the brushes is about half the length of the other. So thanks for the pointer!

Now does anyone have a short guide on how to remove the blue cable?! I take it from Ben's post, it is necessary to take off the alternator cover... but I'm not sure which bolts need removing to do this.

Also, without checking numbers, it appears the same set up as in Ben's photo (Valeo).

Cheers,
James

surrealjam · Post by **surrealjam** » Fri May 22, 2009 7:59 pm

Scrap that - managed to prise the plastic cover back enough to remove the spade connector. Model number, for anyone's interest, is a Valeo YV1925.

Thanks to all for the help. I will post back when, hopefully, the issue is resolved.

James

ted clutch · Post by **ted clutch** » Fri May 22, 2009 10:16 pm

here you are mate .check the model no 1925.
Ã‚Â£15.69 delivered.

Ben Harris · Post by **Ben Harris** » Fri May 22, 2009 10:25 pm

ted clutch wrote:here you are mate .check the model no 1925.
eBay Link
Ã‚Â£15.69 delivered.

That's the same seller that I bought mine from, last year. Arrived the next day. Highly recommended. You'll be surprised how big the new brushes are, compared to the ones you've removed. If I remember rightly, they're about an inch long!

I just prised the plastic cover out the way to remove the spade terminal too. There didn't seem to be an easy way to remove it completey.

Ben.

surrealjam · Post by **surrealjam** » Sat May 23, 2009 10:26 am

Cheers guys. Have ordered off eBay as the spares place I used said they would struggle to track down this part now (the only supplier they have other than Valeo themselves lists it as "obsolete"). The guy also said it would be unlikely to cost less than Ã‚Â£20 if I did find it...

So if this guy delivers as fast as people here have experienced, old Volvo should be back on the road by the middle/end of next week

B18FT - LOVER · Post by **B18FT - LOVER** » Wed May 27, 2009 6:33 am

Any up date mate.. ?

surrealjam · Post by **surrealjam** » Wed May 27, 2009 6:47 pm

Yep - part arrived today at work and I fitted it up this evening.

All appears to working as it should - getting over 14v on tick over and over 13.5v under load. Was running for a good 15-20 minutes without any issues

I'm very happy for her to be back one the go. A big thanks to all who posted on this thread, I would have been very much stuck without you as I'm taking it on holiday from 6th June and I'm away with work all next week!!

B18FT - LOVER · Post by **B18FT - LOVER** » Wed May 27, 2009 6:53 pm

Great result-

surrealjam · Post by **surrealjam** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 5:25 pm

Hi guys - sorry to drag up this old post.

The battery has been overheating in my car - tested the voltage over the terminals and with the engine running, it's up to around 16v (which I understand is too high).

Is this likely to be a fault with the alternator, the regulator or the battery? I'm suspecting the regulator...

If anyone could confirm this!

Many thanks,
James

B18FT - LOVER · Post by **B18FT - LOVER** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 5:46 pm

Yes mate will be the reg in the altinator, id just replace the altinator as a job lot and be done with it...

Be careful of over charging as this will eat ecu's and battery's .....

surrealjam · Post by **surrealjam** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 9:40 am

Thanks for the response, mate. Will get it looked at ASAP.

ted clutch · Post by **ted clutch** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 2:22 pm

oh dear.the regulator is playing up.it could be a bad contact on that blue wire you had trouble getting to behind the cover.this is were it senses the voltage.a poor contact could drop the sensed vlotage on this wire or if it is bent or came off and grounding will up the voltage.if you have no luck i have a spare alternator which came with some other stuff.it is only two years old and very clean.its yours for Ã‚Â£30.cost him Ã‚Â£148.50 to have fitted.
dont know about postage heavy but could meet you half way at m1 junction 24.if your interested i have a spare in dash voltmeter as well.can keep your eye on it going along.

B18FT - LOVER · Post by **B18FT - LOVER** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 6:37 pm

ted clutch wrote:oh dear.the regulator is playing up.it could be a bad contact on that blue wire you had trouble getting to behind the cover.this is were it senses the voltage.a poor contact could drop the sensed vlotage on this wire or if it is bent or came off and grounding will up the voltage.if you have no luck i have a spare alternator which came with some other stuff.it is only two years old and very clean.its yours for Ã‚Â£30.cost him Ã‚Â£148.50 to have fitted.
dont know about postage heavy but could meet you half way at m1 junction 24.if your interested i have a spare in dash voltmeter as well.can keep your eye on it going along.

What a nice man..xxxxxxxxx

Volvo 480 Club Europe

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