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I have an old diesel berlingo and the alternator has packed up
So, with a fully charged battery, will I be able to drive 30 miles, stop, and start her up again and drive back?
In other words, how much will the battery voltage drop in half hour's drive?
I want to drive to work until a new alternator arrives, is it going to happen?
I just got a battery charger but its only 1.5amp
too difficult to determine - try it and see.....
will depend on size of current battery - condition of current battery, and the electrical load the car draws when driving.
if you do try , make sure all lights, fans, radios , basically anything that draws a current is switched off.
In my caterham I could get about 50 miles out of it, but its quite an old fashioned car with not many electrical drains, in a modern car I'd guess it could be less, but its only a guess.
Depends on the car really. If you have an electric fuel pump, electric fan, ecu, running lights, etc all draining power you won't get far. If has a lot of mechanical components, you'll get further. Also depends how good and how full the battery is. I suspect it'll be fine. How bad would breaking down be?
Years ago in my youth I drove an Astra TD from Lands End to Manchester with an alternator that had died. I bump started it and didn't use any electrical systems, no radio or AC and used the gears to slow rather than the brake pedal/lights.
As long as there is enough power to keep the fuel stop solenoid open then an old school mechanical diesel will run. Brake lights are another matter though.
Tricky to calculate..
My alternator went in my plaything. Managed about 12miles before the wipers barely moved. Car started ok though, but turned around and went home sharpish..
So.. no idea really..
its an hdi if that makes a difference. I have jump leads
I better get a tow rope
my 1.9d which was even more mechanical than an hdi managed 15miles with a burst alternator.
Is the alternator completely packed up or just a bit knackered? I drove my old vivaro a fair way once with a very dodgy alternator, the headlights were dim and flickering by the end but it kept going for an hour down the motorway thank ****! Had to charge it to get it a mile to the local garage the next day but at least I wasn't stuck on the hard shoulder at 1am.
I went to the Alps and back!
I had 12.2v on the battery, running it had 11.8v, and with lights and fan it read 11.3v, but I dont know what that tells you about thealternator
but the battery light was on for a couple of days at least, before it failed to start this morning
34.3 miles.
Pot luck really. From the moment the battery light came on to the car conking out I've managed to get from kingussie to strathpeffer so a decent distance. Less impressively I got from Pitlochry to 3 miles outside Pitlochry.
Give the back of the alt in the centre a hefty tap with a hammer , some times you can get the brushes to contact better & go for a bit longer , I've done this quite a lot in my line of work.
To not answer your question, we made it from the far end of the Llyn to the outskirts of Bangor in an MG Metro, then it started raining and the game was up.
I got from a jump start in Edinburgh, had driven 25 miles there with a normal key turning start, to Spean Bridge. Transit has two batteries though.
Disconnect yours while parked in case anything is running in the background.
im a big fan of the big hammer approach, but its not so easy to get at this alternator
I did Wrexham to Lochwinnoch with a borked alternator in an old mk1 sprinter back in the day. Just didn’t stop the engine in case I couldn’t start it again. Towards the end of the trip I was having to ration the lights if there was no one else around. Approaching Lochwinnich the light s finally gave out.... and that moment there was a Powercut and the whole town blacked out. Overcast moonless night so Couldn’t see my hand in front of my face let alone where we were driving so parked on a slope and walked the last quarter mile and had to feel our way round the house to find the door. 🙂
that musta been a real fun trip. All that way, and just as you thought it was all over...
If it's a mechanical fuel pump (unlikely) then forever. On my old Landy, I could disconnect the battery and it would still keep running (although there would be no lights, wipers, etc) 🙂
The AA guy had a good tip of taking the fuse out for the electric power steering if you really want to save power.
If it’s a mechanical fuel pump (unlikely) then forever. On my old Landy, I could disconnect the battery and it would still keep running (although there would be no lights, wipers, etc)
My truck's the same. Ignition off, key out, and it'll still keep running. Comedy gold if someone who doesn't know it tries to switch it off (you need to pull a lever to shut off the pump)
OP mentions HDI though, so it's not going to be anything that old school.
Managed to get from Sidmouth to Eastbourne with a dead alternator, RAC man unplugged it and fitted a fresh battery(it was very dead after the alternator went short circuit). Jump started the car off his van. Engine was drawing 10A running the electrics with everything else off. Drove home praying for no traffic. I got stuck everywhere, eventually got home and turned the car off and tried starting it again, which it did no problem.
55 plate focus TDCI
I managed Penzance in Cornwall to Cockermouth in Cumbria, basically the entire length of the UK a few years back, in a Renault Trafic, having killed the alternator passing Plymouth on the way down. Was a bit tight, no wipers, lights, blowers, using headphones/mobile for music. Got home, tried to restart, totally dead!
Park in a hill if you are not confident?
About 17 miles after the first bump start and then 7 after the second ime 🙂
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that musta been a real fun trip. All that way, and just as you thought it was all over…
we took the scenic route through the lakes to avoid getting stuck on the motorway 🙂
Amazingly - having stopped on an incline in hope of being able to roll and bump start it actually started first time the next morning and managed to limp to a garage and replace the alternator before driving the rest of the way to Inverness.
I managed Penzance in Cornwall to Cockermouth in Cumbria, basically the entire length of the UK a few years back
theres a little bit more UK than that. At the moment anyway. 🙂
Luton to Harlow week before Christmas, left Luton ~5:30pm, in a f-plate (1989) Sierra 1.6l - so carb, not injection. As it was pretty much street lit all the way got away with running on sidelights (smaller bulb in the dipped beam reflector), kept to the left hand lane on M1 and M25 in case of running out of electricity. Got home fine. Fitted new alternator the following day.
No baby robins harmed during the trip.
my father always used to say, as we passed the iron bridge at gretna, it was good to be able to breathe again
Anyway, this only counts if you start on a full battery charge,
Can I measure the voltage drop over x miles, and the minimum crank over/start voltage, to work out how far I can get, or is it not a linear equation?
theres a little bit more UK than that. At the moment anyway.
I don't think thats even half way!
About 3 years after the light came on, it took so long to die completely that i'd decided it must be something else throwing up an error, still had 14.something v at the battery the whole time, it was the regulator that went in the end resulting in flashing lights as the voltage spiked!
If you've not got 14.something V at the<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;"> battery (or at least 13.something) with the engine running then your unlikely to make it very far in a modern car.</span>
20 years ago in a hateful Citroen BX diesel I did Chester to Cove in Hampshire for a wedding with a bust alternator 1/2 of that in the dark with the lights on, dropped the wife off at the hotel drove 1 restart to meet the groom at a local pub (another restart) back to the hotel for the night. Another restart in the morning to a local auto electrician who confirmed the alternator was FUBAR but had a replacement thankfully, yet the battery was still at 11.79v in it!!
Even better was I got mates rates on the alternator as the auto electrician was a friend of the brides father 🙂
that musta been a real fun trip. All that way, and just as you thought it was all over…
That lochside road is bad enough with power never mind without. Grim, driech place. It's never sunny on Lochbarr
When mine went on he diesel crv lots of other systems complained long before thinking about restarting. It was partially charging and I limped 130 miles home. I don’t recommend it. Especially not if it’s near dusk. If you need lights, you won’t get far.