R32 Charging/discharge Problem

[B0oStEr]

The first I knew I had a problem was when I lost the power steering on a corner.

I looked at the dash and the hicas light flickered on.

When I left it idling there was this clunking solenoid sound every few seconds from under the bonnet and the hicas light kept flickering.

I noticed the voltmeter was reading low, just below 12 volts, so I gave it a rev to see if it would bring the volts up but it wouldn't go over 12.5 volts.

The charge warning light didn't come on but surely it must be a problem with the alternator.

I swapped the battery for a charged one went for a drive and the hicas light didn't come on at all.

I went to drive the car after two days and the battery was dead flat.

Even though the alternator is weak it shouldn't have gone flat so after recharging the battery I put an amp meter between the negative battery post and the negative lead terminal.

With everything turned off and the fuse removed from my stereo it was drawing 2.5 amps which is about the same as leaving your park lights on.

I started the engine to check the charge rate and it wouldn't get to 13 volts across the battery terminals.

I turned the engine off and checked it again with the amp meter and this time it was only drawing 0.1 amps which is about normal.

Does anyone know of an intermittant fault that would cause 2.5 amps to be drawn from the battery with everything switched off?

What is the highest rated alternator available for the rbs?

Are they expensive to rebuild?

Does low voltage cause hicas/ps problems?

[GTsauRus]

The first I knew I had a problem was when I lost the power steering on a corner.

I looked at the dash and the hicas light flickered on.

When I left it idling there was this clunking solenoid sound every few seconds from under the bonnet and the hicas light kept flickering.

I noticed the voltmeter was reading low, just below 12 volts, so I gave it a rev to see if it would bring the volts up but it wouldn't go over 12.5 volts.

The charge warning light didn't come on but surely it must be a problem with the alternator.

I swapped the battery for a charged one went for a drive and the hicas light didn't come on at all.

I went to drive the car after two days and the battery was dead flat.

Even though the alternator is weak it shouldn't have gone flat so after recharging the battery I put an amp meter between the negative battery post and the negative lead terminal.

With everything turned off and the fuse removed from my stereo it was drawing 2.5 amps which is about the same as leaving your park lights on.

I started the engine to check the charge rate and it wouldn't get to 13 volts across the battery terminals.

I turned the engine off and checked it again with the amp meter and this time it was only drawing 0.1 amps which is about normal.

Does anyone know of an intermittant fault that would cause 2.5 amps to be drawn from the battery with everything switched off?

What is the highest rated alternator available for the rbs?

Are they expensive to rebuild?

Does low voltage cause hicas/ps  problems?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

hi

i can answer the low voltage question, i had intermittant problems with the hicas light flashing on and losing ps but there was never any erorr code in the hicas ecu.

the hicas power goes through lots of connections 1: plug at battery terminal 2: fusible link in engine bay box 3: plug near fusible link box 4: ignition switch connector

5: turbo timer connector (if you have one) 6: fuse under dash 7: main harness to rear body harness connector 8: plug at hicas ecu.

The light flashing is the hicas ecu resarting after a low voltage reset, I fixed it by disconnecting and spraying lanox on all the connections above.

[B0oStEr]

hi

i can answer the low voltage question, i had intermittant problems with the hicas light flashing on and losing ps but there was never any erorr code in the hicas ecu.

the hicas power goes through lots of connections 1: plug at battery terminal            2: fusible link in engine bay box 3: plug near fusible link box 4: ignition switch connector

5: turbo timer connector (if you have one) 6: fuse under dash 7: main harness to rear body harness connector 8: plug at hicas ecu.

The light flashing is the  hicas ecu resarting after a low voltage reset, I fixed it by disconnecting and spraying lanox on all the connections above.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm pretty sure my hicas problems are entirely due to my alternator allowing the battery to go flat.

I want to confirm this is the most likely cause.

I'd like to know where to look for the intermittant drain on the battery when the car is garaged.

How many amps are the rb20det alternators?

Is it easy and an upgrade to fit an alternator from a later model rb?