Battery not charging.

The feeds & the earth to the alternator,

But as you've checked those, & I'm assuming it hasn't got Ford smart charge the feeds to those cable?

Is the warning light working? On some designs this supplies the exciting volts to the alternator, and if the bulb blows it won't charge.

How was it checked? They are connected direct to the battery, so you're reading battery volts, if it's not charging. 9.5v is a fooked battery.

The most common failure on an alternator is the regulator. These can be bought as spares for many units - but I dunno what's fitted to the Exploder. If you can identify the make and model of the alternator try Ebay for a reg. No problem getting Lucas or Bosch etc regs there. Usually under 30 quid. Normally pretty easy to fit too, with the alternator on the bench.

when you put it back together what charge rate did you get? it is unlikely two alternators have the same fault. How are you testing to see the 9.5v?

Ah - forgot about that. Haven't a clue how it interfaces with the ECU.

Thanks for the replies, when the battery died the first time, i put a brand new battery on that i borrowed from Halfords just to get me home, on the way home i had the battery and Alternater checked at Kwik Fit, they attached their "gizmo" to the battery posts (with the leads still connected) and checked the battery, they said the battery was fine (it would be it was brand new!) they then pressed a couple of other buttons and ran (with the engine running) a test that gave back the reading of "low" and said the Alternator was shot, the reading in volts was 10v.

I gave my battery to the garage at the end of the road who charged it fully, i then put this (my original) battery on (after having taken the loaned one back to Halfords) and also put on the replacement alternator. I had my MOT, the guy left the lights on the car and had it running on tickover for 15 mins or so, reversed it out of the garage and turned it off. I tehn went to start it and just got the clicking of the solonoid. he brought out a quick start to start it and then put a voltmeter on the battery posts(again with the leads atached to the battery) and the reading was 9.5 with the engine running and revving

cheers again

Theres no battery light on the dash coming on. theres a battery level guage that just shows above low.

Is there no conventional ignition warning light? Was there ever? Duncan raised the Ford smart charge system which I know nothing about - if it has that.

However, if it did have an ignition warning light (which went out when the engine started) and that's not working I'd try a new bulb before spending money.

a 96 explorer has a charge warning light, I would have a check to see whether yours should have one. 9.5 is a completely flat battery, I am actually surprised it would still run with such a low voltage.

I th "I assume the charge warning light is on when you turn the key, if the bulb is blown the alternator will not charge as it uses this voltage through the bulb as the reference voltage."

The dash indicator light is NOT on and doesnt come on when the keys insrted, im gonna take the dash out and check the bulb.

So you mean this wasn't already a clue:

Just beside the battery in the wiring there maybe some large sized spade connectors which do get dirty. there some where is a fusible link which has the connectors. The connector have a brown or black square plastic covering.

make sure these are clean, pull them apart, they tend to get dirty/corrode.

To be honest Dave, i hadnt even noticed the battery light wasnt illuminated!

FFS, don't you read the posts on here?

;-)

Makes me wonder why I bother...

FWIW a better system is to have a resistor in parallel with the bulb so the alternator will still get its exciting volts even if the bulb fails. But since this will cost a penny or so is usually omitted.

Tell me about it! The adjudication panel has nevertheless decided to award you the diagnosis points anyway :)

It is indeed a stupidly f**ked up system when a failure of the bulb that's supposed to warn you your charging system isn't working actually stops your charging system working. It's about as sensible as if when the oil pressure warning light bulb blew then the oil pump would stop pumping.