Vauxhall Corsa C - Intermittent battery charging issue

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Fri 10 Jun 2011 20:58
Vauxhall Corsa C - Intermittent battery charging issue - nottmsimon
Hi All,

I am really hopeful that someone can help with this strange issue I am having on my 2004 Corsa (Diesel, SRI).

It started a few weeks ago, I came out of the local shop, started the car and the battery light stayed on. Not being far from home I decided to drive the mile or so back made it and decided I would see how it was in the AM.

Next morning no issue on the way to or from work and so was the case for a few days until I next stopped for petrol. Upon leaving the petrol station I noticed the battery light remained on again. This time I attempted to make it back home but broke down and had to wait for a friend to come and get me going with jump leads.

I continued to monitor and soon found that this never happened when I started the car from cold (stood for approx 30 min or more) but whenever I attempt to start from warn having nipped to the shop, petrol, etc pretty much always happens. I then have to turn the engine off, wait 30 or so min and try again. Having allowed to car to stand and cool off I go again without issue.

I have not yet seen the light come on or go off while in transit so if you start the car and it's not on, you know the battery is being charged and your fine for the journey (just don't stop unless you are leaving it for an hour). If you start and the light comes on you know the battery isn't being charged and you had better either be close to home or fine somewhere to pull over.

Spoken to 4 garages and not one had seen this before. Some want me to change alternator, others pay for expensive diags with no promise of finding anything so I decided to try my luck asking online first.

Has anyone seen anything like this before? Any suggestions for further testing or what may fix it? I don't mind spending a few quid if I know I'll get a result I just don't want to throw money at this to find it makes no difference.

Any help and advise greatly appreciated.
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Fri 10 Jun 2011 21:46
Vauxhall Corsa C - Intermittent battery charging issue - Peter.N.

The best thing to do is connect a voltmeter to somewhere inside the car - the cigar lighter for instance. If the battery is charging properly it will be reading just over 14 volts when running, check it from time to time, if it goes down to around 12 volts its stopped charging and the most likely cause is a faulty alternator.

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Fri 10 Jun 2011 22:54
Vauxhall Corsa C - Intermittent battery charging issue - nottmsimon

Thanks for your response.

I will certianly check that but what seems strange is the fact I only see this at certian times which I can map against if the car has been stood for a while. Any idea whay this would be the case if it was the alternator?

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Tue 14 Jun 2011 03:04
Vauxhall Corsa C - Intermittent battery charging issue - 1litregolfeater

I'll have a shot, although I've never heard of this problem.

Car isn't that old, battery and alternator ought to be in good shape.

That you needed jump leads points to one or the other.

Check auxiliary belt condition, and tension.

Check earths.

Check battery connections.

I wonder if a part of the charging system is controlled via a relay.

The ignition switch used to be a problem, bit of WD40 in there.

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