If you measure the voltage at the battery with the engine running it should read 14v approx. Look for the obvious faults but something not right with alternator. A good battery should read more than 12.1v if everything off. Battery is either faulty or not charging. Can you charge the battery separately and then check if it holds the charge? Then check the charging voltage, on the car. DId you get any sort of guarantee with the 2nd hand alternator?

Modern cars dont work well with a poor battery or charging problems.

You could have an airlock in the coolant system. Take the radiator cap off and let the car idle for a while- 30 mins, then check your heating, does the engine warm up?

Check youtube for some helpful videos on car batteries etc.

thank you. wires/cables look good to the battery. can't find a mains fuse box in engine bay. i believe the black box attached to inside of n/s wing is the autobox controller.

am getting 12.01v off the brand new battery terminals with engine off and 11.65v with engine running. i am getting a similar voltage off the alternator 13mm bolt when the engine is running so assuming all connections from the alternator are good??

a new bosch alternator is £800 ish so that is not a option and secondhand ones rarely come up on ebay.

long story but i sent the original alternator off to be repaired last year and paid £90. the chap said it was the regulator but then didn't return the alternator. a couple of months went by until i had to threaten him with trading standards and the police before he returned a alternator without the casing and regulator. i then bought a cheap (£115) chinese copy from ebay but that kept chewing up belts and finally packed up 8 months later. when i stripped it down the interior parts looked nothing like the bosch so i won't be buying cheap again. manage to find a secondhand one on ebay so made what i thought was a good alternator out of the three (only used bolts from the cheap one).

now i am stuck. the regulators for the bosch are £75. do i chance a new regulator or buy a lucas alternator for £251 from eurocarparts or is there a better planC?

Edited by dipsomaniac on 30/09/2020 at 09:28