Hi ive got a problem with charging system basicly car is fine when im driving,but if i leave it over night for a couple nights its flat, however batt light inside car never comes on and have tryed new batt. could it be draining and would i be able to check with a multimeter or anything else i can use before i change alternater all help/advice appreciated.

Watch its not your light in the boot on overnight draining the battery or something silly like that, is there a light in the glove box??

 

HTH John Crisp

basic checks for charging system: (really should do a faq one day!)

 

1) check charge rate - with engine running you should see about 14.2v across the battery terminals with all consumers switched off. you *should* also check the charge rate with an ammeter, but most of you prob wont have one with an inductive pickup so i wont go into that! ;) :p

 

2) check for quiescent current consumption (drain ;) ) - place an ammeter inline to the battery, with everything off you should see less than 0.1amp drain.

 

3) battery test - best way is with a drop tester that loads the battery, cheaper way is to get a battery hydrometer. cheap little tool that can give a good indication of battery condition. if all the cells have a low s.g. then the battery prob needs charging. if one is very low compared to the others then its got a dead cell & needs replacing.

 

HTH :)

Thanks for reply,i dont think its the boot light but you never know so will check.also i have a clifford 600+intelli start which if i press remote to start car it will come on but the starter motor keeps going on so i have to turn it off. this only happens with remote not if i start car manually, may be this could be reason.