Anyone know anything about cars ?
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I lent my ute to a mate, and it stopped working, I think he left the key turned on. The battery worked briefly after charging, but I had to buy a new one. I fitted it myself. Yesterday ( the day this occured ), it all worked fine, started right away, carried 5 sleepers home, no problems. Today, I picked up some pallets ( which are still in the back ), but on the way it briefly seemed to have trouble with power, sort of bunny hopping a bit. Tonight I picked up my daughter, and noticed that my lights seemed dim. A 15 minute drive ( with one stop ) later, I pick her up. Ute starts fine all 3 times. WE drive home, and as we get onto the hill I live on ( a slight slope at that point ) the lights get visibly dim, as in almost off. The ute loses power, I have to drop to second and milk it up the hill, and coast all the way home ( although I had enough power to go up the drive with the momentum I had. Thank goodness there were no roos on the road. Shortly after, I tried to start it, it starts fine, and the lights seem to be OK ( hard to tell, now that I'm aware of it, the lights were always a bit low ). So, what could cause that ? Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++
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I lent my ute to a mate, and it stopped working, I think he left the key turned on. The battery worked briefly after charging, but I had to buy a new one. I fitted it myself. Yesterday ( the day this occured ), it all worked fine, started right away, carried 5 sleepers home, no problems. Today, I picked up some pallets ( which are still in the back ), but on the way it briefly seemed to have trouble with power, sort of bunny hopping a bit. Tonight I picked up my daughter, and noticed that my lights seemed dim. A 15 minute drive ( with one stop ) later, I pick her up. Ute starts fine all 3 times. WE drive home, and as we get onto the hill I live on ( a slight slope at that point ) the lights get visibly dim, as in almost off. The ute loses power, I have to drop to second and milk it up the hill, and coast all the way home ( although I had enough power to go up the drive with the momentum I had. Thank goodness there were no roos on the road. Shortly after, I tried to start it, it starts fine, and the lights seem to be OK ( hard to tell, now that I'm aware of it, the lights were always a bit low ). So, what could cause that ? Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++
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I lent my ute to a mate, and it stopped working, I think he left the key turned on. The battery worked briefly after charging, but I had to buy a new one. I fitted it myself. Yesterday ( the day this occured ), it all worked fine, started right away, carried 5 sleepers home, no problems. Today, I picked up some pallets ( which are still in the back ), but on the way it briefly seemed to have trouble with power, sort of bunny hopping a bit. Tonight I picked up my daughter, and noticed that my lights seemed dim. A 15 minute drive ( with one stop ) later, I pick her up. Ute starts fine all 3 times. WE drive home, and as we get onto the hill I live on ( a slight slope at that point ) the lights get visibly dim, as in almost off. The ute loses power, I have to drop to second and milk it up the hill, and coast all the way home ( although I had enough power to go up the drive with the momentum I had. Thank goodness there were no roos on the road. Shortly after, I tried to start it, it starts fine, and the lights seem to be OK ( hard to tell, now that I'm aware of it, the lights were always a bit low ). So, what could cause that ? Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++
Something is draining the battery. I had a similar problem when a fuse was replaced and wrongly inserted. Janne It would be glorious to see mankind at leisure for once. It is nothing but work, work, work. I cannot easily buy a blank-book to write thoughts in; they are commonly ruled for dollars and cents. A[man], seeing me making a minute in the fields, took it for granted that I was calculating my wages. — business! - I think that there is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, to philosophy, ay, to life itself, than this incessant business. Henry David Thoreau
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hum! I had the same problem with a citroene saxo 1.1i. :doh: Solution: Buy a new one :-> Luis_pt
In my case... the problem was on the electric wires ...they had melted or had a Short circuit, something like that. ...they had to change all wires on the car... expensive, and I bought a Skoda Fabia Break 1.4 TDi (fantastic)... only 4.5l/100km Hum!!!!! but i want to change it to biodisel Good Luck Luis_pt
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I lent my ute to a mate, and it stopped working, I think he left the key turned on. The battery worked briefly after charging, but I had to buy a new one. I fitted it myself. Yesterday ( the day this occured ), it all worked fine, started right away, carried 5 sleepers home, no problems. Today, I picked up some pallets ( which are still in the back ), but on the way it briefly seemed to have trouble with power, sort of bunny hopping a bit. Tonight I picked up my daughter, and noticed that my lights seemed dim. A 15 minute drive ( with one stop ) later, I pick her up. Ute starts fine all 3 times. WE drive home, and as we get onto the hill I live on ( a slight slope at that point ) the lights get visibly dim, as in almost off. The ute loses power, I have to drop to second and milk it up the hill, and coast all the way home ( although I had enough power to go up the drive with the momentum I had. Thank goodness there were no roos on the road. Shortly after, I tried to start it, it starts fine, and the lights seem to be OK ( hard to tell, now that I'm aware of it, the lights were always a bit low ). So, what could cause that ? Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++
I suppose you don't have a 1000W amplifier in the trunk...:rolleyes: Since your battery is new I doubt that could be the problem, but it cannot hurt to check the water level anyway. It should above the membrane in all cells, usually the battery is marked with min-max-levels. If it's too low, top off with destilled water. If you have a voltmeter you can verify that the battery voltage is approx. 12V unloaded. More important is that when your engine is running the generator should charge the battery with approx. 13.5V. Otherwise there's your problem. Perhaps you have a short-curcuit somewhere that's draining the battery. If you have an amperemeter you can check the current, should be below 100 mA when the ignition completely turned off (pos zero). A newer car with CAN-network never "sleeps", there's always some nodes running, at least momentarily so the current consumption will never equal zero unless you dismount the battery. I'm not an export on the aera Christian, but I've had my share of car trouble as well. My colleagues knows everything about my Citroën C5 and tend to ask my from time to time if I have something new to tell them. They all seem to love a good story...:(( -- Roger
_It's supposed to be hard, otherwise anybody could do it!
Regarding CodeProject: "resistance is pointless; you will be assimilated"_
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I lent my ute to a mate, and it stopped working, I think he left the key turned on. The battery worked briefly after charging, but I had to buy a new one. I fitted it myself. Yesterday ( the day this occured ), it all worked fine, started right away, carried 5 sleepers home, no problems. Today, I picked up some pallets ( which are still in the back ), but on the way it briefly seemed to have trouble with power, sort of bunny hopping a bit. Tonight I picked up my daughter, and noticed that my lights seemed dim. A 15 minute drive ( with one stop ) later, I pick her up. Ute starts fine all 3 times. WE drive home, and as we get onto the hill I live on ( a slight slope at that point ) the lights get visibly dim, as in almost off. The ute loses power, I have to drop to second and milk it up the hill, and coast all the way home ( although I had enough power to go up the drive with the momentum I had. Thank goodness there were no roos on the road. Shortly after, I tried to start it, it starts fine, and the lights seem to be OK ( hard to tell, now that I'm aware of it, the lights were always a bit low ). So, what could cause that ? Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++
You're alternator's knackered by the sound of it, take it to a garage you trust and ask them to test it.
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I lent my ute to a mate, and it stopped working, I think he left the key turned on. The battery worked briefly after charging, but I had to buy a new one. I fitted it myself. Yesterday ( the day this occured ), it all worked fine, started right away, carried 5 sleepers home, no problems. Today, I picked up some pallets ( which are still in the back ), but on the way it briefly seemed to have trouble with power, sort of bunny hopping a bit. Tonight I picked up my daughter, and noticed that my lights seemed dim. A 15 minute drive ( with one stop ) later, I pick her up. Ute starts fine all 3 times. WE drive home, and as we get onto the hill I live on ( a slight slope at that point ) the lights get visibly dim, as in almost off. The ute loses power, I have to drop to second and milk it up the hill, and coast all the way home ( although I had enough power to go up the drive with the momentum I had. Thank goodness there were no roos on the road. Shortly after, I tried to start it, it starts fine, and the lights seem to be OK ( hard to tell, now that I'm aware of it, the lights were always a bit low ). So, what could cause that ? Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++
You drive a petrol truck right? Get the alternator checked out. When running it should produce at least 14 volts (you can measure this across the battery) If it less than 14 it is screwed and you need a new one. Any decent garage can do this for you, if you have a voltmeter you can do it yourself easilly enough. The brushes progressively fail on an alternator, and for a while you will get occasional good power out of it, other times it will be poor. But it will eventually fail, producing less and less power. Nunc est bibendum
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I lent my ute to a mate, and it stopped working, I think he left the key turned on. The battery worked briefly after charging, but I had to buy a new one. I fitted it myself. Yesterday ( the day this occured ), it all worked fine, started right away, carried 5 sleepers home, no problems. Today, I picked up some pallets ( which are still in the back ), but on the way it briefly seemed to have trouble with power, sort of bunny hopping a bit. Tonight I picked up my daughter, and noticed that my lights seemed dim. A 15 minute drive ( with one stop ) later, I pick her up. Ute starts fine all 3 times. WE drive home, and as we get onto the hill I live on ( a slight slope at that point ) the lights get visibly dim, as in almost off. The ute loses power, I have to drop to second and milk it up the hill, and coast all the way home ( although I had enough power to go up the drive with the momentum I had. Thank goodness there were no roos on the road. Shortly after, I tried to start it, it starts fine, and the lights seem to be OK ( hard to tell, now that I'm aware of it, the lights were always a bit low ). So, what could cause that ? Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++
Check the alternator, as everyone has said, but also the regulator (the thing what tells the alternator how much to charge the battery). Before any of that, though, check for secure connections between the alternator, regulator, battery and earth, and check no short circuits as well. cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
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You're alternator's knackered by the sound of it, take it to a garage you trust and ask them to test it.
I know from experience, the alternator. When the battery is drained fully it can hurt the alternator. The battery is basically running everything right now, but won't for long. _______________________ Steven Fowler Sr. EC Developer
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I lent my ute to a mate, and it stopped working, I think he left the key turned on. The battery worked briefly after charging, but I had to buy a new one. I fitted it myself. Yesterday ( the day this occured ), it all worked fine, started right away, carried 5 sleepers home, no problems. Today, I picked up some pallets ( which are still in the back ), but on the way it briefly seemed to have trouble with power, sort of bunny hopping a bit. Tonight I picked up my daughter, and noticed that my lights seemed dim. A 15 minute drive ( with one stop ) later, I pick her up. Ute starts fine all 3 times. WE drive home, and as we get onto the hill I live on ( a slight slope at that point ) the lights get visibly dim, as in almost off. The ute loses power, I have to drop to second and milk it up the hill, and coast all the way home ( although I had enough power to go up the drive with the momentum I had. Thank goodness there were no roos on the road. Shortly after, I tried to start it, it starts fine, and the lights seem to be OK ( hard to tell, now that I'm aware of it, the lights were always a bit low ). So, what could cause that ? Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++
One other simple thing to check is the ground wire from the battery to the frame. Usually it is just a 10 guage wire going from the negative post to the frame of the car. I know it sounds weird but poor or intermittent connectivity on that wire can cause odd things to happen. Good Luck Jim
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I lent my ute to a mate, and it stopped working, I think he left the key turned on. The battery worked briefly after charging, but I had to buy a new one. I fitted it myself. Yesterday ( the day this occured ), it all worked fine, started right away, carried 5 sleepers home, no problems. Today, I picked up some pallets ( which are still in the back ), but on the way it briefly seemed to have trouble with power, sort of bunny hopping a bit. Tonight I picked up my daughter, and noticed that my lights seemed dim. A 15 minute drive ( with one stop ) later, I pick her up. Ute starts fine all 3 times. WE drive home, and as we get onto the hill I live on ( a slight slope at that point ) the lights get visibly dim, as in almost off. The ute loses power, I have to drop to second and milk it up the hill, and coast all the way home ( although I had enough power to go up the drive with the momentum I had. Thank goodness there were no roos on the road. Shortly after, I tried to start it, it starts fine, and the lights seem to be OK ( hard to tell, now that I'm aware of it, the lights were always a bit low ). So, what could cause that ? Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++
Some vehicles, believe it or, don't have the altenator power to drive all of their accesories at once. Altenators go bad all of the time and fortunately even a computer programmer can replace them. If you are a two vehicle household take the altenator out and drive it to a big parts store they might test it for you for free (the do in the states) And if all else fails there are always mechanics. "Until the day of his death, no man can be sure of his courage" -- Jean Anouilh
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I lent my ute to a mate, and it stopped working, I think he left the key turned on. The battery worked briefly after charging, but I had to buy a new one. I fitted it myself. Yesterday ( the day this occured ), it all worked fine, started right away, carried 5 sleepers home, no problems. Today, I picked up some pallets ( which are still in the back ), but on the way it briefly seemed to have trouble with power, sort of bunny hopping a bit. Tonight I picked up my daughter, and noticed that my lights seemed dim. A 15 minute drive ( with one stop ) later, I pick her up. Ute starts fine all 3 times. WE drive home, and as we get onto the hill I live on ( a slight slope at that point ) the lights get visibly dim, as in almost off. The ute loses power, I have to drop to second and milk it up the hill, and coast all the way home ( although I had enough power to go up the drive with the momentum I had. Thank goodness there were no roos on the road. Shortly after, I tried to start it, it starts fine, and the lights seem to be OK ( hard to tell, now that I'm aware of it, the lights were always a bit low ). So, what could cause that ? Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++
The alternator of course. You're car doesn't run off the battery, it starts off the battery, when you lose power while driving it's always the alternator or some part of the charging circuit. You might have a loose belt on it or it's just toast in some way.
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Some vehicles, believe it or, don't have the altenator power to drive all of their accesories at once. Altenators go bad all of the time and fortunately even a computer programmer can replace them. If you are a two vehicle household take the altenator out and drive it to a big parts store they might test it for you for free (the do in the states) And if all else fails there are always mechanics. "Until the day of his death, no man can be sure of his courage" -- Jean Anouilh
Ennis Ray Lynch, Jr. wrote:
Altenators go bad all of the time and fortunately even a computer programmer can replace them
Unless it's a Shogun (in which case it's better to let someone who knows about them to do it), to do that you need to take out the engine because the hydraulic pump is sitting on the back of the alternator.
You know you're a Land Rover owner when the best route from point A to point B is through the mud. Ed
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One other simple thing to check is the ground wire from the battery to the frame. Usually it is just a 10 guage wire going from the negative post to the frame of the car. I know it sounds weird but poor or intermittent connectivity on that wire can cause odd things to happen. Good Luck Jim
OK - I replaced the battery and connected no such wire... Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++