Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: DJ Pete on 24 May 2008, 01:45:51
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Driving back through some country lanes tonight, had to brake fairly hard (ok, very hard) to avoid hitting another car, my alternator light came on and started flickering
Stopped, turned engine off, started again, and it's still doing it.
That can't be a good thing, any ideas what might cause it???
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Battery light flickering does suggest the alternator is goosed or the drive belt has snapped - so that's the first thing to check.
There are other possibilities though...
I had this happen recently when I turned my aircon on and the speedo clocks stopped working as well - turned out to be a blown fuse. Any other symptoms apart from the battery light flickering?
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I had an alternator go on my old 99 cdx
Driving through village stop start at lights and noticed the revs a bit high, flicker from battery light, bit of a splutter, radio turned itself off! Then it really bogged then died, battery light on. Turned off, key out. Battery light still on, then radio and mid turned back on!!! There is a guide on how to repair an alternator on here. Bugger to change tho. Cant get at the bolts, had 2 people with thin arms on the drive. Vauxhall do an exchange service which worked out cheapest for me in the end. 2 or 3 types as i remember, need to get the right one. If thats whats wrong of course, the gods will be along in bit and give more help than me i am sure. Good luck with it.
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Belt seems ok, all fuses ok, alternator is spinning, but no voltage whatsoever at any revs.
I can't imagine why braking hard would cause it to happen, unless it's complete coinsidence!
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have you seen the guide? It talks about a connection under a cover that gets furry and caroded and breaks. Nowt to do with windings or anything like that.
I wonder if yours has just got brittle enough to break when you er braked?
Sure i seen it on here or on the vauxhall site. markdtm wrote it, maybe a personal mail to him? He will probably be along in a bit and say something completely differant, i only a new boy so dont take to much notice of me. Good luck with it anyway.
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how to repair alternator is in maintenance guides page 5 4th entry down. Give it a go, see if you think symptoms match up. Chow
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Just been outside looking, it's not the easiest of things to get to!!!
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yep its a pig. Exhaust pipes and heat shields main prob. with various suspension and chasis bits as well. I layed on my back head under car/bumper and reached up to get to the nuts while a mate held the bolts still from the top, with bag pipes(mark the vac pipes before you disconnect or your multi ram wont work right if you get then mixed up) and under tray removed. From memory, if you get one or the other bolt out you can twist the alternator out of the way to help with access to the other one. It took 3HOURS to do 2 nuts/bolts and an electrical connector and reassemble, but it was dark cold and peeing rain. I needed it to get work the next day.
Get the car jacked as high as poss on stands to give you room under car, but not so high your mate cant reach down from the top to the bolts.
Or pay a micanic :-)
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Mine is a TD, so I think it comes out the top.
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I have a feeling the 2.5 TD and the 2.5/3.2 petrol may well have a totally different layout/approach ....
Without being rude to Chris ... advice from a fellow 2.5TD owner might be more advantageous ???
:(
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Interestingly, as I took it for a spin today, the light went off, but upon restarting, it was back on.
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scratch most of that yours is a diesel, myn was petrol v6. Pm mark. Pretty sure its a BMW engine so may be differant alt. as well. Bit over keen on my part. Sorry.
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havnt the foggiest how this is done but when we got our care the alternator was duff and had to be replaced. Was about £320 parts and labour so best to try to fix it really
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Tested it twice today, first time, light came on when I turned the ignition on, and then went out when I started the engine - all seemed ok.
Second time, light was on dimly when I put the ignition on, and stayed dim when the engine started. Very strange. Could perhaps be a loose wire somewhere.
I've got an MOT tomorrow, hope it doesn't cause problems or a failure.
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Check the battery terminals for cleanliness and security, and check if they heat up at all whilst running.
bad connections could be the cause here .. not just an alternator
HTH
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I've also just noticed that the light goes out when the glowplug light is on.