Hi all

This (cold) morning I went to start my car - engine wouldn't tick over and all i got was this loud clicking sound.

Popped to the garage round the corner who gave me a jump starter. Did this, then drove it to the garage for them to check it with the multimeter.

Mechanic said it was overcharging, so probably needs a new alternator & battery to be safe.

After driving for about 10 minutes the car seemed to start by itself no problem. So I booted up the test mode and saw the battery voltage was sitting at 14.4 (normal as far as I know). Rang the garage to tell them this so they said to pop it round for another look in a couple of hours. Went to to start it, same issue again, click click click.

Here's a vid of the sound it's making (first sound is my aircon):

https://vimeo.com/user104664605/review/370108721/4206c50135

Bit of history - had the engine replaced on the car about a month ago, they told me they would be using the old alternator rather than a new one.

Does the above sound like a battery / alternator issue and I should go through with the repair. Or should I look at other potential issues?

Thank you!

I dunno about the other guys on here but if a Mechanic said to me, to replace the battery and the alternator based on nothing other than the description of the problem and a vague "check" with a multimeter which results in a vague diagnosis of "overcharging", id take it to another garage. it may well be both. or, it could be one or the other, or even some random electronic issue / starter problem. imo, they are fishing and taking a punt on replacing both of them to fix the issue without spending any time trying to work out what is actually going on.

 

if I were you id either speak to some other folk or do some basic tests your self, firstly pick up a cheap multi meter, connect it up to the battery and position it in the window. 

with the engine running. turn on all the lights, fans and heaters (including windows)  and see what happens to that voltage, it will drop, the question is how much. 

check the volts in the morning after leaving it over night and when cranking it see what that drops down too.

With the engine running, measure the AC (NOT the DC) voltage across the battery

Theres lots you can do to narrow down the problem, just takes a bit of time and meter 🙂 

1 hour ago, Dee_82 said:

I dunno about the other guys on here but if a Mechanic said to me, to replace the battery and the alternator based on nothing other than the description of the problem and a vague "check" with a multimeter which results in a vague diagnosis of "overcharging", id take it to another garage. it may well be both. or, it could be one or the other, or even some random electronic issue / starter problem. imo, they are fishing and taking a punt on replacing both of them to fix the issue without spending any time trying to work out what is actually going on.

 

if I were you id either speak to some other folk or do some basic tests your self, firstly pick up a cheap multi meter, connect it up to the battery and position it in the window. 

with the engine running. turn on all the lights, fans and heaters (including windows)  and see what happens to that voltage, it will drop, the question is how much. 

check the volts in the morning after leaving it over night and when cranking it see what that drops down too.

With the engine running, measure the AC (NOT the DC) voltage across the battery

Theres lots you can do to narrow down the problem, just takes a bit of time and meter 🙂 

Thanks for the reply.

Bit of a catch 22 really - to get it to another garage I'd have to have it towed / jump it & risk running it with an alternator that's overcharging... only for them to potentially say the same thing.

I picked up a multi so I'll see what it's reading in the day light

To be honest I'm due a battery replacement - the thing I'm most concerned about is whether or not the alternator really needs changing!