Alternator or Battery

[stevo1977]

I've got a 58 C30 1.6d DrivE with 108k. There's a receipt form 2018 for a new battery.

the other night, the car died whilst driving, i got the "power system service - urgent" message very suddenly appear on the dash, and the steering went heavy as it lost it's assistance and had to pull over, then the car just wouldn't re-start. it just clicked and tried a little bit to crank but failed after a second. eventually just nothing more than clicks, and the exclamation mark inside a triangle light on the dash, along with the battery symbol.

Is it the alternator?.....i've fully charged up the battery and that showed 13.6v with a voltmeter across the terminals, which drops to 12 something as i keep the voltmeter on it. with the engine running (kept 1k rpm), the voltage across the terminals was 11v, and never went over that, even at 2k rpm or higher. in fact at one point the voltage across the terminals was 7-8v.

how can i tell for sure that it is the alternator? and if so, which replacement do i get? the alternator on it is a Denso 150A 12v. Do i aim for the same spec? or get a 14v alternator? what is fitted as stock (as i don't know if the alternator is the original or not (but does look 13 years old)).

Or... can i troubleshoot the battery more? if so how? it's connectors whilst feeling tight have been covered in a grease of some sort. Is there a way to test the voltage coming directly out of the alternator??

thanks. Trying to not throw money at it for now.

[IainG]

Hi

Sounds like the same symptoms as when my Alternator failed. The alternator as well as not charging was also draining the battery. I would be tempted to disconnect the battery to save it in case your alternator does drain it. The alternator was also too hot to touch, hotter than normal!!
Make sure you get the correct alternator, mine was 150A one but mine is a v50 2.0D

Iain

[andy_d]

Originally Posted by stevo1977

I've got a 58 C30 1.6d DrivE with 108k. There's a receipt form 2018 for a new battery.

the other night, the car died whilst driving, i got the "power system service - urgent" message very suddenly appear on the dash, and the steering went heavy as it lost it's assistance and had to pull over, then the car just wouldn't re-start. it just clicked and tried a little bit to crank but failed after a second. eventually just nothing more than clicks, and the exclamation mark inside a triangle light on the dash, along with the battery symbol.

Is it the alternator?.....i've fully charged up the battery and that showed 13.6v with a voltmeter across the terminals, which drops to 12 something as i keep the voltmeter on it. with the engine running (kept 1k rpm), the voltage across the terminals was 11v, and never went over that, even at 2k rpm or higher. in fact at one point the voltage across the terminals was 7-8v.

how can i tell for sure that it is the alternator? and if so, which replacement do i get? the alternator on it is a Denso 150A 12v. Do i aim for the same spec? or get a 14v alternator? what is fitted as stock (as i don't know if the alternator is the original or not (but does look 13 years old)).

Or... can i troubleshoot the battery more? if so how? it's connectors whilst feeling tight have been covered in a grease of some sort. Is there a way to test the voltage coming directly out of the alternator??

thanks. Trying to not throw money at it for now.

as Iain says replace it with the Same spec
fitting a 14v alternator to a car Needing a 12v one is a sure fire way to be chasing electrical gremlins from then on

be prepared for the battery to Also need replacing following alternator going defective

Gen volvo battery + alternator would be My recommendations, your wallet may have a different views