Battery or alternator?

im having trouble with the bus.i can charge the battery and it will start the old girl up for a week but after this you struggle.i dont have a light coming on the dash for the alternator and the local m/world say battery is getting near its death(surprisingly).if its holding a charge for so long how do i know that its either : battery not taking the full charge or the alternator on its last legs?any help would be a bonus(before i have to lash out £90 on a battery only to find its the other)ta

Re-arrange the following suck grandma teaching to and eggs!

Are it the belts slipping on the crankshaft pulley?

I had a similar experience and spent £80 on a new battery(Its here if you want to try it) to find that the two belts were slipping at medium to high speed.
Only found it as I was checking the Power Steering Belt.

wont the shop do a proper battery test for you ?

[quote]Re-arrange the following suck grandma teaching to and eggs!

Like it, will use that one!

Like the idea of the belts, but have reservations only that you would typically see flickering of lights normally, especially if it's digi dash spec. Certainly don't think it's alternator as if memory serves me right you have the EFI Super which is ECU controlled and mixed with the weather we have been having! Although it's still worth a look at the belts
Have a visual on the battery to see if it's bulging on the sides and if poss, check for gassing of cells when on charge.

will check belts first(seems cheapest option).battery is 4 years old sides arent bulging but i know the battery compartment does get quite hot and i suppose the heat sinks into the battery and doesnt disperse as well as a car(with it being inside and covered with carpet).maybe this is why they quote 3-4 years on guarantee cos this is an extreme for the battery.did try bat-aid tablets after some success with a car battery many years ago but they dont seem to have made an impact.good job i got caravan battery to hitch up on the cold mornings but i fear it will be a new un shortly before i do the caravan battery any damage

Heck Spuddy,

You even know other peoples aces.

A few years in the motor-trade and being ex RAC does give ya a bit of experience. Don't do much on the spanners these days only to my own stuff. Mind you, getting mega withdrawl symptoms since Alltorque bought the old bus, still at least he's enjoying it and couldn't have gone to a better bloke .

Surface temp of the batteries shouldn't get Hot Warm maybe but not hot. You are also quite right on using a convensional leisure battery to jump, it will kill it soon unless it's a deepcycle or dual battery.
Couldn't agree more on checking the belts first, but have second thoughts, me thinks it's battery but don't hold me to it

I was curious to note that my 3lt custom was fitted with one battery while my 2.4's had twin HD batteries. Are these under batteried for the UK market ? I have converted mine by using the leads from a 2.4 and 2 HD batteries giving nearly twice the amp hour rating of the original one battery set up. On a freezing morning it starts first turn as do my 2.4's. I noticed in the past that as the batteries aged,the cold start performance reduced a lot on colder days.New batteries from a local specialist fork lift truck battery supplier cost £ 60 the pair and worth every penny. Try your local battery specialist and avoid the motor trade rip off prices. A pair of HD 's last about 5 years. (HD --Heavy Duty). Our local guy overhauls stater motors like new for £70 .In a lot of stop start driving worth the cost every 50k miles.

Did you need a split charger set up to run the 2 batts?

Pending on what the second battery is for I'm curious to know where the secondary battery was fitted. Was it in the same area (very close) Dad's 2.4 had 2x 6V Heavy duty batteries fitted in series which too up the same place as a single engine battery, but when one of them failed, we went to our local Varta Battery Specialist and got a single HD Carbon unit, wasn't cheap but hasn't failed in 5 years
Didn't worry too much with the last van cos having 2x125ah leisure batteries and a Battery Master feeding the engine battery when needed, didn't give it much call to worry.

due to some parts of japan getting very cold winters ... some japanese vehicles come with what is described as a winter kit, it cinsists of two batteries and often some sort of baffle in the exhaust that can be closed to make the engine work harder and therefore heat up quicker.... exteme cold causes batteries to reduce their power out put therefore requiring two to turn the engine over..... makes fitting a leisure battery a dam site easier...

HI, BigLloyd. Both batteries fit in the battery box side by side and are wired in parallel (ie pos-pos neg -neg) using the double terminal lead and link lead from a 2.4 D. It's a simple job but takes about an hour due to fiddly bits. Our local breaker had the leads for a fiver.No other changes are needed as the Alternator 'sees' only a bigger 12v battery.

Hi, Again, Spuds set up performs the same task and is a suitable alternative. Twin HD's give a total AHR of 450 , enough to kick the 3lt over in any cold and lots to spare .If you do this, make sure to get batteries with top lifting handles as removing them could be tricky without these.

I would be more worried about CCA's (Cold Cranking Amps) than AHR (Amp Hour Rate) when it comes to Starter Batteries. This is another reason why with the Old Man's that we went to a Battery specialist instead of a Spot ridden Monkey at the local Car shop as they could recommend the best for the starter battery. So may times I have seen this mistake made when it comes to starter batteries, not to say that anyone here would, but it's easy to loose sight of what is needed for starter batteries. The greater the CCA the better performance and reliability (especially in this cold ).
As for leisure batteries then that's a different kettle of fish Ive only got one choice when it comes to Leisure Batteries and that's Elecsol. 5yr guaranty, Carbon Fibre Lined for plate strength, 50% effecient guaranteed and 3 times the cycle life. In short......... the muts nuts I promise this isn't a plug

gumph!!!just had to lash out fora new one.didnt know which to go for so opted for the local monkey.got an energizer(550c.c.a)that was stated in book but when i took the old one off it was a 630c.c.a(not heard of the make but i did buy it 4 years back).so£90(count em) sovs later she is back to starting like a good un wi no messing on these cold mornings.with the old battery it was struggling to start with one belt from the heater plugs(was having to give it two glows and then try it with fingers crossed),i presume that when the battery starts to fade that the initial belt to the glowplugs gets weaker, so even when it turns over(a few times)you havent got the heat umph required for it to start first time

Can have a slight effect if the battery is defective, although it seems weired that it has reacted in this way. Glowplugs either work or don't and this is noted at the amount of times it takes for you to fire the beast up.
If it is firing on first key since you've changed the battery, I wouldn't worry about it.

the fork lift at work is doing the same thing(needs 2 or will drain battery turning over using 1 glow).the chimps that maintain it are reluctant to drop test it(as the f.l.t is a pyroban(safe to use on hazardous plants))as the battery is encased and doesnt have terminals (it has straps).they moan about getting a replacement battery cos of time .jeeez they rent it we pay.service nowadays eh .tis better to learn the two glowplug click trick than wait for morons like that,after all there is only so much time in the day and these fellas dont turn up till after dinner

Makes me laugh with these people, kind of similar problems with our I.T monkeys. You pay a software and hardware care pack and they moan when you tell them what the problem is and don't get on with it .
The next time they say the words "restart and that will cure the problem" they will get a round of £$%^&* from me

A similar tale with our East of England Ambulances - they are three tons of hot metal with a battery system that would not power a radio controlled skateboard.
They keep piling I.T.Systems, Sat Nav, Tail Lift Defib, Suction etc and wonder why the Mercedes standard battery gives up the ghost after a couple of months.
But what do we know? EEAT use Kwik Fit on a contract basis . I rest my case

MERRY XMAS EVERY BODY

PS Have a safe Xmas - I'm on duty over the holiday period and hopefully the anticipated tragic RTC's will be at the minimum.

I can relate to this as well John, we have had to deal with a few Motorhome dealers where they have fitted dual Aircon to the roofs of motorhomes and have not checked the spec of the van in relation to the A/C fitted.
For example a 2000W AC/DC air con fitted to a Fiat Ducato needed a 90A Alternator or above, a starter battery of 650CCA and 2x 100ah leisure batteries for this size of A/C.
We get a phone call from a very upset customer whom can't understand that their 3000W A/C will not work on their Autotrail Cheyenne Fiat. When we investigated, there was an 85ah battery, basic engine and 1x 85ah battery. The 3000w A/C requires 150a Alternator, 220ah Leisure battery power and starter battery of 650cca.
It goes without saying that if you do not understand the concept of power production, don't give to a bunch of fitters whom sole job is to do basic remove and replace (Any Fleet/Service Managers watching, here our prayer ).
It's always worth finding out from ya specialist what CCA is recommended for the van, you have to take into account of all the aux parts (ECU's, A/C, Electric Windows etc etc) that are all lookingfor a bit of the action from your battery, even when she's not in use. If you tow a Caravan which when you are using your 12S supplimentry socket, your Fridge and Leisure battery will want some too. More CCA's the better.[

Hope you have a quietbut happy time John !