battery light on and no power steering!!! - problem?

[eddieboyII]

upon going home this evening, my battery light came on and i have no power steering... luckily my house was only a km away...

my mini starts normally.. but the battery light stays on and there is still no power steering..

alternator?


my mini is just 1500km

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[eddieboyII]

my friend told me that it's the alternator...

and when checked the "test" mode of the obc to function 9 (the battery voltage) i'm reading 12.0-12.2v when engine is off and 11.7-11.9v when engine is idling...
(what should be the correct voltage reading?)

what caused the alternator to break down? i've got only 1500km on my odo..

btw, we don't have any mini dealer here in the philippines...

any help?




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[cooper_s_flyer]

...there has been a documented history of alternator weakness in the BMW family. It is not so much BMW's 'fault' (maybe their parts buyers)... but the fault of the suppliers.

Valeo...., Bosch,..... and others ...just are not what they used to be. Also, electronic assist for the PS pump failure...PS cooling fan failure, and the PS pump failure may also cause the same said warning light. Many 'black box' failures can also possibly cause it.

Without a dealer there I would say get BMW/Mini to send your repair facility the parts...pray for better luck next time and....

Get back in it... and drive.

[mini_macky]

Quote: Originally Posted by cooper_s_flyer

...there has been a documented history of alternator weakness in the BMW family. It is not so much BMW's 'fault' (maybe their parts buyers)... but the fault of the suppliers.

Valeo...., Bosch,..... and others ...just are not what they used to be. Also, electronic assist for the PS pump failure...PS cooling fan failure, and the PS pump failure may also cause the same said warning light. Many 'black box' failures can also possibly cause it.

this suddenly got me worried. could be a case of getting the alternator wet while having the engine washed? so...there is a chance that my alternator will give in since i have a 1300 watt sound system & crank up the volume a lot?

[tnoy66]

You should be getting approx 13.5V with the engine iddling and over 14V whilst driving

[eddieboyII]

Quote: Originally Posted by tnoy66

You should be getting approx 13.5V with the engine iddling and over 14V whilst driving

so my voltage reading while idling is not sufficient... so the alternator is the culprit?

[Restyle]

In all likelihood, with the described measured voltages you took, it definitly sounds like its the Alternator, ... with only a slim possibility a cell could have gone down in the Battery {try comparing the cells with a hydrometer to see if any are significantly different as your 1st & cheapest option}
If it is the Alternator, At 1500 miles its unlikely to be caused by brush wear, so probably a diode gone down, which can happen anytime. Any auto electrics shop should be able to do the checks.

Theres also the possibility that an electrical fault elsewhere on the vehicle could be draining the power, & the 1st suspect I`d look at in this case would be the electro-hydraulic steering mechanism, {Although my 1st Cooper had a faulty CD player that liked to drain the battery completely overnight}

Quote: Originally Posted by Mini-Macky

this suddenly got me worried. could be a case of getting the alternator wet while having the engine washed? so...there is a chance that my alternator will give in since i have a 1300 watt sound system & crank up the volume a lot?

Water shouldnt have any real effect, But a 100Amp drain might slow things down a little

[eddieboyII]

Quote: Originally Posted by Restyle

In all likelihood, with the described measured voltages you took, it definitly sounds like its the Alternator, ... with only a slim possibility a cell could have gone down in the Battery {try comparing the cells with a hydrometer to see if any are significantly different as your 1st & cheapest option}
If it is the Alternator, At 1500 miles its unlikely to be caused by brush wear, so probably a diode gone down, which can happen anytime. Any auto electrics shop should be able to do the checks.

Theres also the possibility that an electrical fault elsewhere on the vehicle could be draining the power, & the 1st suspect I`d look at in this case would be the electro-hydraulic steering mechanism, {Although my 1st Cooper had a faulty CD player that liked to drain the battery completely overnight}


Water shouldnt have any real effect, But a 100Amp drain might slow things down a little

well, the car starts normally.. so alternator it is.. i'm just making sure before i remove the alternator and have it checked... to tough to do...

[eddieboyII]

i'll be removing my alternator to have it checked...

if it's the alternator indeed, what caused the alternator to die like that???

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[Restyle]

The only things that usually go wrong in an Alternator are the :-

• Brushes ... Carbon & Copper in constant contact with the Revolving Commutator
• Regulator / Diodes ... Electronic Components which are usually Long Lived, But can

sometimes fail unexpectedly at any time

[eddieboyII]

Quote: Originally Posted by Restyle

The only things that usually go wrong in an Alternator are the :-

• Brushes ... Carbon & Copper in constant contact with the Revolving Commutator
• Regulator / Diodes ... Electronic Components which are usually Long Lived, But can

sometimes fail unexpectedly at any time

can it be fixed? without replacing the whole alternator?

[Restyle]

Well I havn`t actually taken a MINI Alternator apart, But when I used to do them Years ago every component was individually replacable. You`ve still got to take the thing apart on the Bench to do it though.
Most auto electrics shops will do a fair price on a reconditioned unit, taking your original in PX, with these parts having been replaced.

[eddieboyII]

Quote: Originally Posted by Restyle

Well I havn`t actually taken a MINI Alternator apart, But when I used to do them Years ago every component was individually replacable. You`ve still got to take the thing apart on the Bench to do it though.
Most auto electrics shops will do a fair price on a reconditioned unit, taking your original in PX, with these parts having been replaced.

thanks a lot! i'll be rmoving my alternator and have it checked.. will update...

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[eddieboyII]

update on my alternator;

brought my alternator to an alternator shop earlier this morning.

they rewound it.. and after rewinding it, the ic regulator is not working..

we don't have that kind of ic regulator here in our country.

have to buy a new alternator if can't find an ic regulator.


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[adamknoxville]

I had a similar thing happen to me about 6 months ago. After seeing the battery light on I took it straight to the dealer and the technician said it was the alternator and told me it would be fine to run it for a couple of days whist they ordered a new alternator.
That evening I started the engine and the power steering had stopped working although it was hard to steer it was still drivable, I then continued and after another couple of miles the fan stopped, stereo turned itself off, the traction control and ABS light's came on.
At this time I managed to pull off the main road into a side road just as the headlights flickered off and the engine cut out and the car coasted to a halt.
All in all a very hairy experience, I would get it looked at asap if I were you.