www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

i had the alternator thing didnt i which i fixed, borrowed a chrger, got a full charge in the battery (took a good 12 hours)... so i reckon the batteries fine...
missus went shopping in the van, didnt leave anything on, when i went out this moring the batteries stone dead flat, well, it turned the engine once then nothing..
I have noticed a damp smell so i lifted the carpet in the passenger footwell and its absolutely flooded.. could this be anything to do with it? possible current leak maybe? or has the direct wire i put from the alternator to the battery blown the bridge rectifier (which i always thought was in the alternator)?
thanks peeps, this is doing my head in now
im gonna go and lift the carpet complete and pop the drain plugs in a bit..

Does the heater work ok ? It could one of the pipes to or the actual heater matrix. This would explain the water,it happened to me on a car ages ago.

I recently bought a good battery charger from halfords made by ring for £50.It can tell you if your battery is stuffed and can revive some batteries too.

Hi,
The water in the foot well could just be down to a blocked drain hole...this is a common problem on a lot of cars...take a look under the bonnet up beside the windscreen in the corners, there is normally a well with a drain hole that lets any water go down between the inner & outer wing, make sure this is clear & not bunged up with muck.

I think you need to have the battery checked, sometimes a battery will charge up & look to be ok but it's not & can give the symptoms you describe of suddenly going flat in a matter of minutes.

I would also have the output of your alternator checked as it may not be putting out enough voltage / amps.


Cheers

thanks lads, i dont think its the heater cos the water level hasnt dropped in the slightest but ill go check all round the bulkhead and cills etc..
gona have to go buy a cheap multimeter too...
its blown quite a few silly fuses too for no apparent reason.... like the dash lights a few times, the reverse light no-longer works and its plugged in the gearbox ok?
ill let you know what i find.. i hate car electrics... give me a house to wire up and im fine

christ almighty... i really should start taking the van to the garage...
i reckon i sorted it...
what i think was happening was that the alternator was working when it felt like it, sometimes the rev counter worked, sometimes it didnt...
multimeter showed alternator output as normal for the vehicle but when i turned the fan or the lights on it dropped to 12 volts....

so i took the alternator apart thinking the brushes were paggered...
brushes seemed to be fine?

put it back together again and the problem has disappeared? im thinking the brushes must have been sticky in their slots and me messing with it has freed them up again... output doesnt change now when i turn the lights or fan on and the rev counter works constantly.. ( i found the rev counter took its feed directly from the alternator, hence my diagnosis of moodyness)

i hate cars

If you had taken it to the garage you would now be the proud owner of a shiny new alternator

....but the down side of that would be that you would be somewhere in the region of £100+ lighter

Sounds like you have cured the problem...well done


Cheers.