Weird electrical problems, but suspect Alternator

[pgascoyne]

OK here's my current issue.
Started about a month ago when I was down in Brighton on a trip with friends.
Got back in the car to drive home and the battery charge fault light was on and there was an almight noise coming from under the bonnet.
Opened bonnet and check and it was definitely coming from the alternator, thought oh sh!t how am I gonna get home (even tho I have recovery it was 9pm at night and p1ssing it down)
So thought seeing as I've a diesel I thought my mate could drive infront and I'd see how far I could get driving home. I got about 200 yds and had brake for a stop light and all of a sudden the light went out and the noise stopped! And I made it home to London without any incident.
So next day check alternator but didn't see anything out the ordinary but noticed some dried liquid spots around the oil filter/alternator area and notice some white residue at bottom of rad but no leaks.
Car drove fine for next week or so, then one morning I got in car to drive to work and turned key and "click" no power, thought ahh sh!t. Called recovery guys and they checked battery/alternator and everything seemed to test out fine (Snap On digital tester), told me to drive and see about charging battery so I drove to work (55 miles away) and got there fine. Parked and turned off ignition and thought I'd try to start it up. "Click"!
So called out recovery again at end of day and guy tests my system again, says possible faulty batter and alternator tests fine with/without load. So drove to Halfrauds and bought a good battery.
So that all happened two weeks ago.
Also I've noticed I would get Low Brake Fluid Level light come on, but only when brake/handbrake combination was on! But fluid level was fine.
Went on hols last week and towards the end of the week I noticed that battery charge fault light would start to come on but only at idle! So when I was driving normally the car was fine.
Then as I was driving to work yesterday I got within a few miles and battery charge light was coming on regularly and then all of a sudden my dials were jumping and battery charge/ABS error/Brake Fluid level lights were coming on like crazy. Made it to work but when I tried to start the car it would just click.
I thought I would check the foot-well electrics but they were nice and clean.
Bumped started fine and thought I could try to get home, but got about 20 miles before car completely died after the same things started to happen.
Recovery towed me home.
I suspect the alternators at fault, but after all the testing I've had done they said it was fine, but now I'm not getting any charge to the battery that's all it can be I think.....
Any thoughts guys?

[highlander]

Weird indeed.

Check your footwell carpets for moisture. Also check the spare wheel well. Water ingress into the passenger cabin is known to cause horrendous electrical problems on the 406, as in their infinite wisdom, Peugeot decided they'd put some really important electrical connectors inside the sound deadening material under the footwell carpets. If your carpets feel damp or are literally soaking, then you may have found your problem.

[pgascoyne]

Thanks for the replay Highlander.
I did indeed check the foot-wells and they are sound and dry and I even disconnected the plugs just to be safe but they were all clean and not a sign of any moisture beneath the carpets.

[Busman]

I had similar problems, but not the same, and mine was caused by the earth strap from the gearbox to the battery being loose at the gear box end.
This may not be the cause of your problem, but it's an easy one to check.

Good luck, Richard.

[steve_earwig]

The brake fluid warning is usually the handbrake switch. The rest of the weirdness is probably because the BSI is very sensitive to voltage and throws a strop when it's too low - when my battery couldn't cope any more I got ABS warnings too. I'm not really sure what's going on with it, I think you'd have noticed if it was occasionally spraying coolant over the alternator. It sounds like one of them there intermittent faults that comes and goes and it's usually gone when you have the alternator tested. Check the connections as Busman suggests, then replace it if you can't find anything else wrong.

[pgascoyne]

Thanks again for the replies, will check and see what I can find.
Fingers crossed I find something cheaper than an alternator to fix!

[Busman]

I got my alternator rebuilt for £75. Just a thought.

[Doggy]

I suspect something amiss in your main power cables or earth leads / earths. (A battery with a dodgy internal connection will also do this, but I'm assuming you've eliminated that).

If you can get it to consistently misbehave, you can use a jump lead to join battery -ve to engine, then see if it starts - if it does, you've a dodgy earth somewhere.

If the big lead from the battery's accessible at the starter, you can prove the other side - jump lead from battery +ve to starter - if that does it, there's a bad joint in the positive side somewhere.

Don't forget the obvious - battery connections can be troublesome, particularly the quick-release variety.

Before you buy an alternator, try to prove it's not charging - a reading of less than 12.5V at the alternator so long as it's turning, is fairly conclusive. (By all means measure voltage at the battery - it's easier - but if you get a low reading, double check at the alternator before spending loads of money).

You could always consider one from a scrappy - the chance of it behaving exactly the same with two different alternators and it being a genuine alternator problem is vanishingly unlikely.

[pgascoyne]

Did another check yesterday.
There is good connection between positive and negative connections to/from the battery.
Jump started the car and tested voltage across battery and noted it was 13.52v appox as it was a bit erratic.
Then tested the voltage output of the alternator and this was only 13v and dropping...
Retested the battery and noted it was dropping below 12v now, checked dash and battery charge fault was on!
So as far as the tests go it sure looks like the alternator is at fault.

[pgascoyne]

Was having hard time figuring out which Alternator version I had as even for a HDI 110 W plate there are four versions.
Found a local Peugeot breakers yard a few miles away.
So charged up battery sufficiently to drive the car there and back so they could figure out which version I have and what they had in stock, told me come back in about 1hr or so..
2 bolt clutch version is what mine turned out to be.

IMAG0053.jpg

Picked up decent low mileage Alternator for £60
Then tried to find somewhere/someone could fit it, but no joy so thought I'll do the damn thing myself.
Luckily I had found the manual in pdf format online which gave me enough info to get the job done.
Overall it took me about 2 1/2 hrs total and well worth the time spend even if I felt like a coal miner with an aching back afterwards.
Here's some info from the h@ynes manual for anyone wanting to have a go.
I will say if you have the right tools, ramps or axle stands (sure would make it easy as there's a fair bit of working under the car) you should be able to get it done in a few hrs.
A couple of things I had to do was:
Remove ecu/box out the way
Move power steering pump off the bracket to gain access to alternator
Remove eccentric idle pulley to gain access to alternator mounting bolt (figure 5.15)
You won't need to remove AC Compressor (if you have one) or the inner drivers side wheel arch lining to do this job.

Peugeot-406-99-02-Haynes-Manual-LQ_01.jpg

Peugeot-406-99-02-Haynes-Manual-LQ_02.jpg

[pgascoyne]

Adjustment of the drive belt

Peugeot-406-99-02-Haynes-Manual-LQ_03.jpg

Here's the info for removing the alternator

Peugeot-406-99-02-Haynes-Manual-LQ_04.jpg

Peugeot-406-99-02-Haynes-Manual-LQ_05.jpg

[mikewest]

Just reading your posts. Sounds like the voltage regulator is gone on your altenator. Don't be surprised if you have battery troubles in the near future

[pgascoyne]

Just reading your posts. Sounds like the voltage regulator is gone on your altenator. Don't be surprised if you have battery troubles in the near future

I don't think you read the post where I changed the alternator..

[mikewest]

Just reading your posts. Sounds like the voltage regulator is gone on your altenator. Don't be surprised if you have battery troubles in the near future

I don't think you read the post where I changed the alternator..

I did read that bit but the damage "may" have happened already but only manifest itself when the battery gets stressed e.g. winter starting. Apparently the voltage regulator makes a significant difference to the life of the battery. Put a few quid aside for a battery replacement this winter just in case.

[pgascoyne]

Ahh I see what you mean, well the battery is brand new as this was the first thing I changed when having all these issues two weeks ago.
It also comes with a 5yr warranty and cost me a pretty penny!