Volvo 480 Club Europe

Hi all,

New alternator and battery fitted.
On initial start up and idle no apparent charging.
Go for a drive about 2 mins in, normal charging (13.5v) resumes.
Idling also results in normal (13.5v) charging, stop then start, poor charging until a drive.
This behaviour is consistent ..

Any ideas? Thanks

C

Sometimes alternators need a slightly higher RPM than idle to "kick-in". Once they're going however, they're going.

If you start the engine and slowly bring the revs up, will it kick in just the same (eliminating the driving part)?

This all might suggest the pulley is the wrong diameter on what you have fitted and its geared too slow - put a vernier on new v. old pulleys - that's assuming the old one didn't give this problem.

When you switch the ignition on, does the battery warning light come on? This is what starts the charging process. Sometimes a good rev can cause self excitement and trigger charging, but not always.

Also 13.5v is right on the edge of actually charging; have a look at the how to section on my volt drop topic

Oh and the thing could be a loose belt; poly rib belts grip quite tight so don’t squeal as easily as single v belt when loose

jifflemon wrote: ↑

Sat May 27, 2023 5:12 pm

When you switch the ignition on, does the battery warning light come on? This is what starts the charging process. Sometimes a good rev can cause self excitement and trigger charging, but not always.

Also 13.5v is right on the edge of actually charging; have a look at the how to section on my volt drop topic

Thanks for all that, I'll get back to the car tomorrow AM and have a run through the how to and report back after that.
cheers

All good now, nice healthy 13.8v.

The little spade connector that plugs into the regulator was frazzled, its been stripped soldered and refitted.

During my checks the earth from battery to body was corroded and pretty much fell out of the connector so that's replaced too.

Thanks all for the excellent tips .

Colm

jifflemon wrote: ↑

Sat May 27, 2023 5:12 pm

When you switch the ignition on, does the battery warning light come on? This is what starts the charging process.

aye same happens if the bulb fails, so ALWAYS check it comes on, better half found out the hard way