Oh Bugger

Got back from Canada to storms, rain...

And ALL the cars were dead in one way or another. Flat batteries on all

- plus the Supra has no tax and 2 flat tyres, the Sera has no MOT, and the Scorpio... oh bugger. The Scorpio had a dead battery and would appear to have a dead alternator.

You start the car... it runs for about 5-10 minutes, then all ancilliary circuits shut down (windows, indicators, instruments, climate control). I stuck a voltmeter over the terminals. Old battery showed 13v, ran, car provided voltage which increased steadily even with full load, up to

16v then everything shut down. New battery, same story but 18v.

No warning lights prior to this, so is it a regulator, or something else?

Richard (Sera now has two brand-new headlights, Supra is probably going to be for sale, and when we got the Beetle back it worked perfectly of course).

Reply to
RichardK-PB
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damn! serves you right for having a private fleet though :)

what colour is the supra? how much? wonder if i can afford a second car hmmmm

Reply to
Vamp

Take the battery out and slap it on a charger for a day or two, it might be dead anyway but it has every excuse at the moment.

The diesels blow alternators (diode pack) for a design reason, haven't heard the rest do.

Note that the Scorpio does have a reputation for arnitel wiring that goes funny, and also a fusebox that relies on the plastic battery cover to keep it dry. If the battery isn't covered by a big plastic flap with a screw on top then it is only a matter of time before the fusebox is damp and will produce all manner of japes and jollity like lights on during the night, engine starting while parked, radio that won't turn off. But it might merely be a flat battery.

Reply to
Questions

Yes, I might be interested and all....

Mike

Reply to
Mike P

It has a brand new battery - last paragraph ;)

Why do the diesels (apart from some vacuum or some such pump running off the alternator) blow them?

Yep - got all that. It's a 1998 one owner car with FFSH - so everything is in place. The Scorpio forum is full of advice on damp fuseboxes, but it really does all seem bone dry and as is. All the symptoms seem to tie in with a blown regulator. What is the proper way of measuring the output, anyway? Is the voltmeter across the terminals accurate? The bad wiring is in the pre-multiplex cars IIRC, usually around the headlights for the first area of trouble.

What I'd really like to know if there is an overvoltage protection device, and where it is. Overall though, I think it is the regulator - especially since a headlight blew when the fully charged battery and 'system shutdown' first happened.

Oh, and Vamp - Supra is 'clean and tidy' but a 3.0 Auto, so probably slow after the MR2. I'd want £750-1500 depending on what I had to do to it first; it needs tyres, tax, plugs and a coolant flush.

Richard

Reply to
RichardK-PB

I missed that bit.

They get hot and cook the diode pack, AFAIK there are workarounds, not got a diesel no never paid attention :)

If you're using the forum you already have a lot of specialist expert advice, and the website has some test procedures that ought to supply answers there.

Reply to
Questions

You've got a nice car - just run that and save the money and buy a house. One with lots of driveway space. Then you'll have lots of room for a second car without annoying neighbours or parents.

Peter

-- "The humble bic biro draws 13 beards, 9 devil moustaches and 49 penises on newspapers in its lifetime."

Reply to
AstraVanMan

"AstraVanMan" wrote

Hah! That was my idea! And then I had to sell my nice car cos the nice flat with a double underground garage plus an outside parking space ruined me financially :( And here I am with a 1986 Micra... I've transcended the hell now though and am back on financial form, looking for a car that is better than the Micra :) If only I can shift that bloody Rover P6 (no luck on ebay and a now show from an advert in Classics today)...

Reply to
fishman

My lancia did all of those one winter. Plus almost every electrical control inside the car would sound the horn :S

Reply to
fishman

or keep current car and carry on annoy the neighbours and parents without a second car just for laughs while i'll save cash for something exspensive and pointless that's not a house like i do now :)

Reply to
Vamp

Thats a real shame, as I would love a P6 (dad had a £50 2000 with a really didgy fuel smell) when I was a kid. Fantastically wonderful car in his vast collection of bangers. I just don't have room to keep it.

Sell the Micra, run the P6. YKIMS. Rather than being seen as tight in grannies shopping basket, be seen as eccentric in grandads luxury mobile smoking den.

Reply to
Sleeker GT Phwoar

Thats a real shame, as I would love a P6 (dad had a £50 2000 with a

Would you be willing to take up pipe smoking to complete the image?

Mason

Reply to
Mason

"Sleeker GT Phwoar" wrote

I got it insured for the weekend so I could take the potential buyer out in it legally, but of course he didn't show and didn't even phone to tell me so. Anyway I drove it for the weekend and really loved it... for a few hours, after which the novelty wore off big time.

It's in really, really great condition. It's been standing for a good few months, half of that in the garage, half outside the house after my landlord threw one when they found out I was using the garage "and not paying rent for it" FFS. A quick wash and it's looking great again and what's more, it started on the button, if somewhat smelly and sooty. Apart from the styling and the technology of course, it's hard to tell it's 30 years old and done

110k miles.

You're right about the smoking den thing - all those little opening quarterlights can't be for anything else than a cheeky cigarette :)

Happily, I talked the landlord into letting me use the garage again so it's being tucked up again tonight.

Reply to
fishman

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