CrashBangWallop Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 A one word answer might suffice, here. Having had my car unwrapped after almost a year, my first drive out had a warning light come on. Viewed, pretty much, through the steering wheel: - Top two are green indicator/hazard lights Below is the blue, full beam below is a red light (I'm guessing it's battery/alternator) If I could find my build manual I'd look, but, alas, I can't. The red light comes on when the car is idling. Give it a small amount of revs and it goes out. Back to idle and a few seconds later it comes back on again. Give it more revs and it comes back on again at idle, but seems to take longer to do so. The battery is brand new. So, dodgy alternator? Loose alternator belt slipping? Thanks, Neil Quote
daveac Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 Hi Neil, What engine/ECU are you running? I've got a Sigma Zetec 1.6 with Webcon Alpha. Mine does exactly the same thing and always has - without problem. I'm sure someone more grown-up will come along to correct shortly but I've always put it down to the ECU not quite seeing the volts it wants at idle. If it was an alternator prob then the light should stay on regardless of blipping the throttle I think. HTH Dave Quote
Darrell O'Neill Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 dont rule out the alternator. i had one that was playing up and wouldnt charge below 3000rpm a while back. bast way is to stick a multimeter on it.. Quote
peterg Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 QUOTE best way is to stick a multimeter on it.. what he said Quote
Guest Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 Go for the simplest explanation first - tighten the alternator belt and adjust idle to 800 to 900 rpm. If the light goes out, job done! Quote
CrashBangWallop Posted February 22, 2011 Author Posted February 22, 2011 best way is to stick a multimeter on it.. what he said I've got a CVH 1.6 RS turbo with standard Ford ECU and EDIS. It's the first time it's lit up, as far as I can recall. Thanks for the suggestions. Neil Quote
SparkyB Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 The red light is the alternator warning light, one side is fed by an ignition supply and the other side is tied to the alternator. After the alternator gets excited it puts out a voltage that means you end up with 12-14V on both sides of the lamp and it goes out. The fact yours is on at low revs does point to a dodgy alternator. As others have said, stick a meter across the battery and see what voltage you have at idle and at decent revs. Quote
chazpowerslide Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 Well hello Sparky, how ya doin? Chaz. Quote
markcoopers Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 We could do with you Sparky, set light to the car the other day.......by accident Quote
SparkyB Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 Heya guys, yeah I read about your antics Mark!! I'll be down for a week at end of March, gonna get all the engine bits out of yours and Sams garages and maybe get my car up and running....really been missing it Quote
adamnreeves Posted February 23, 2011 Posted February 23, 2011 At best your belt needs tightening or replacing. At worst the alternator needs replacing. Quote
RedditchJay Posted February 23, 2011 Posted February 23, 2011 could be a loose teminal connection on the back of the alternator ?? Quote
blankczechbook Posted February 23, 2011 Posted February 23, 2011 battery low charge.. low revs.. small pulley?.. doesn't sound too funny to me yet. try charging the battery up fully.. & does the light come on after a drive about? if the multimeter show the alt and batt to be fine then live with it - or increase crankpulley or decrease alt pulley to spin it a bit faster at idle.. - or if idle is that low then raise it a smidge. some fords do have smaller pulleys so at higher revs the alt isn't spinning like crazy. my x/flow does light up the alt warning bulb regularly, am not worried about it. Quote
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) Posted February 23, 2011 Posted February 23, 2011 battery low charge.. low revs.. small pulley?.. doesn't sound too funny to me yet. Yep, I have a small pulley arrangement to allow for higher engine revs without over reving the alternator. In my case it doesnt really charge much below 1000 rpm. But as the idle is set to 1050 rpm, it's not a problem. That said, as yours sounds like it's only just started doing it, I'd be out with the multimeter, and also wiz round checking cleanliness and tightness of all the relevant connections. (Unless of course your idle speed has suddenly dropped a little from what it was ) Quote
Andy Banks Posted February 23, 2011 Posted February 23, 2011 This might be useful: http://boardroom.wscc.co.uk/cgi-bin....ndacami Quote
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