Electrical problem - 2.8 TDI. Little help?

[ex-pat]

Hi all, been lurking a while - and of course the first post comes as a cry for help...

K. Here's the deal. 94 pajero, 2.8 TDI. Long drive in the mountains today, but nothing too extreme, no strange weather, nothing too out of the ordinary.

Got to town, shut it off for 1/2 hour or so. Got back in, fired up ok, but I noticed that the compass was acting strange. Diddn't come on right away, and took a few seconds to find where it was

After about 5 minutes on the road, I noticed that the tach needle was doing a little dance in time to the turn signal. Jumping up and down a point or so. No strangeness to the idle though.

Got to my street. Turn signal on - CD player cut out. Dead. Turn signal off, CD player on.

Pulled into my parking spot, and it just died. Perfect timing, granted, but all the same i'm not too happy about it.

Turning the key gives me the following:

1) *thunk* sound from somewhere behind the dash.
2) high pitched electronic *beeeeep* (different from what you get when you leave your lights on)
3) lights on, but nobody home: thermometer and compass are backlit, but no display

Engage the starter and I get:

1) rapid knocking sound (starter?)
2) significant drop in electrical power overall: interior lights dim, dash lights dim, etc.
3) a feeling of impending doom, followed by sharp pains in my wallet.

Having written all this out, I'm thinking alternator, but I don't want to think that. I want to think that the 4x4 Fairy will come in the night and when I wake up it'll be allll better.

I replaced both batteries a couple of weeks ago, because she wasn't turning over at -20C. No problems until this evening.

Your thoughts? How should I go about troubleshooting this?

[-Scott-]

Can't help too much, but you've reminded me:

I've got a Sigma which has an intermittent tachometer. It's OK in cold weather, worst when the dash is hot (hot sun or hot day.) When it's misbehaving, it will randomly drop to zero, then come back to life. When it's "playing dead" it will spring to life with the indicators i.e. tacho works while globes are lit, dead when they're off. I think the hazards have a similar effect. Once, when it was behaving erratically, it worked a little better when parking lights were on, and better again when headlights were on.

After 3 years the bugger still won't die and stay dead, to give me something to fix. Best suggestion I've had is the dashboard voltage regulator, which I can sort of believe (just too slack to actually replace. )

Don't know if I'm helping you much.

Reading again, I'd be inclined to suspect a dodgy earth somewhere; like the CD player is earthing through the indicator circuit? Is the CD player original or aftermarket? If aftermarket, how long has it been in?

Do you have a wiring diagram? See if any CD player wires are connected to the flasher (can) circuit.

Have you checked your battery voltage? Bad earth interfering with alternator operation, allowing batteries to slowly drain? Now I'm really grasping at straws.

Good luck,

Scott

[-Scott-]

And, by the way, welcome to OL.

[ex-pat]

And, by the way, welcome to OL.

cheers!

Yeah, been mulling this one over with a scotch. Best way, methinks.

CD player is stock. There's an old radar detector though, that's the only electronic add on. If it was a recent add, I'd suspect it, but it's been in there since I bought the truck in Septeber, and no problems thusfar.



Going to be a cold walk to work tomorrow.

[South]

Battery is dead

[Pharb]

Quite often found that when the alternator brushes are nearly worn out they intermitantly lose contact and create all sorts of dashboard warning light problems.

Peter H
NJ 2.8tdi

[ex-pat]

Quite often found that when the alternator brushes are nearly worn out they intermitantly lose contact and create all sorts of dashboard warning light problems.

Peter H
NJ 2.8tdi

Cheers, I'll check them this afternoon.


Anyone know the japanese for "alternator brush"

[RoldIT]

Yep, I'd say alternator is dead and you have steadily flattened the battery while driving.

Use multimeter to check battery voltage. Probably low, if you can get the car started, use the multimeter to then check the voltage of the battery while the car is running. Should be in the high 13v range, if not, definately alternator.

[ex-pat]

Yep, I'd say alternator is dead and you have steadily flattened the battery while driving.

Use multimeter to check battery voltage. Probably low, if you can get the car started, use the multimeter to then check the voltage of the battery while the car is running. Should be in the high 13v range, if not, definately alternator.

Yep, that's the one. Can't locate a set of brushes (there's a bit of a language barrier on that one), so I'm in for a new alternator and an hour of freezing my ass off.

(I'm kind of depressed that the 4x4 Fairy diddn't come in the night and make things all better. Even put a glow plug under my pillow. )