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Can anyone help please with a problem which is driving my wife, our local garage and myself wild? My wife's 1996 Rover 111sli keeps dying with an electrical fault - not charging and the battery going completely flat. We've changed the battery, alternator and regulator. It's an intermittent fault, so every time it's in the garage, having been towed back again, it behaves perfectly. Anyone else had this problem please?
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Try copying to Technical( or get Mark (RLBS) to move it).
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Check nothing is draining the battery while it's parked up. Radio, interior light(s), boot light for example.
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I'd also say "check the boot light". This flattened the battery on my Renault 19 overnight - I fitted a bulb the previous day after finding out one was missing. Found out why it was missing when the battery was flat!
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Had same experience on a Saab.
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Hmmm you've done just about all I would have done!
MG-Rover Problems? forums.mg-rover.org/
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Check the main supply cable from the back of the alternator to the fuse box (or it may go direct to the battery) is sound. Could be the strands are broken or the connectors are corroded (had the latter on my 820). Try piggy-backing the existing wire with a new piece of (fairly substantial) wire to see if this alliviates the problem. After fitting a new alternator connector to my car I then sealed it with ignition sealer (in place).
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Hi
You say it's not charging and the battery is going flat. Does the charging light come on? Or does the battery just seem to go down? If it's the latter, it looks a bit as if it's discharging through something that's permanently 'on' (like boot light) If this happens overnight, or following a period of disuse, then this is a likely answer. You can confirm this by disconnecting the battery overnight (or for a few days) and re-connecting just before starting.
Could possibly be a dud 'new' battery (shorting internally) - or a dud 'new' alternator - but unlikely.
Have you checked the alternator output with a meter? Are all the connections and looms etc intact and clean?
Radio left on at min volume???
Short in an electric window or suchlike?
Heated Rear Window?
Is the car cutting out during a journey?
Is battery up to the job for the accessories on the car?
Could be a starting motor problem - solonoid?
Don't know if this helps at all - just thinking aloud!
Graeme
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Check cables and connectors as mentioned, check for battery charge by connecting a voltmeter direct to the battery and run the wires into the car so the voltmeter can be seen while you are driving. After start up charge volts should reach about 14.7 volts even on idle, check it while your are driving to make sure it does not drop down. This will at lest establish whether the battery is charging constantly. If it is then check for abnormal current consumption while the engine is off, do this by connecting a ammeter in series with the battery lead, some alarms have been known to flatten a battery after a few days.
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Had the same problem with the wife's 1988 metro VP, turned out to be a sticking rear screen demister relay/timer. I noticed it seem to happen (sometimes) after using the rear demister and leaving the switch on. Even though it is supposed to be powered through the ignition (the light on the switch would go off when the ignition was switched off), it remained on. I removed the relay to prevent the wife using it (she never does as she's told), the problem disappeared. Changed the relay about a month after.
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