Idrees Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Ok I'll try to keep this brief.Yesterday I filled the GT up with Diesel, yes I'm an absolute bloody idiot. It took me 3 hours to manually drain the tank by picking out all the fuel with a small bottle after removing the fuel pump. I took the majority out, and then managed to get £40 worth of petrol in there, so it had around 8 litres of diesel still in there. I know people who have done this and their cars have ran fine once it's out of the system, so anyway the car was up and running so I took it for a run. I did around 10 miles and the car was running fine, it was hesitant once or twice but once it got moving it was absolutely fine.I went back to the car tonight, it started up first time but after letting it warm up I noticed the car had less power. The battery doesn't have the best earth, it has been on my 'to-do' list for a while now. I started driving it, and after 5 minutes I knew something definitely was not right. The alternator light came on so I thought I may have snapped the alternator belt, all the electrics were now under powered and the car was not revving much, it was very very hesitant and the exhaust was popping badly. I parked up and revved it for a while hoping the battery will charge, instead of that the bung literally shot out of the exhaust like a rocket and ended up around 20-30 metres away. If that had hit some, they would have some serious injury. So revving the car wasn't doing anything so I continued to drive it, got back to my accomodation and the car want's to die. I got out and disconnect the negative battery terminal, this made no difference to how the car was running whatsoever. Turned the car off and it's dead.So my first thoughts are the alternator is buggered, even though it was replaced 3 weeks ago. My mate thinks it cannot be the alternator if the car was still running while I removed the negative from the battery. Is he right? He thinks the alternator is fine and that the diesel it not letting it rev and making the car die somehow.Thoughts and advice would be much appreciated. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Enzo Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 i could be wrong as i cant get round the altenator light coming on.to be honest mate sounds like its the diesel, uve still got 8 liters in the (2 jerrycans)ul need to run it until all the diesels gone,is it smoking at all Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dean @RW-Developments Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 your mates right if the car still runs when u disconnect the negative it shows the alternator is still creating a circuit. thats how you test it without a multi-meter.sounds like the diesel id give it a good thrash to try clear it out. dont sell or break it Dean Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Amjad Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 sounds like the diesel id give it a good thrash to try clear it out. dont sell or break it ^This. 8 Litres is a substantial amount, especially in our small tanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
k1r4n Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 your alternator sounds finebit of a pricey way to solve diesel issue but i would have thought you could have disconnected the fuel line to the fuel railconnect the line to another hose and place the other end of hose into a large drum or have it pointing to somewhere safe to drainprime the fuel pump, and let the pump push fuel around the system until the fuel tank is empty - that should drain all the diesel - also unbolt fuel rail and rinse with petrolthere should only be minimal diesel left in the injectors im sure this is the easiest way to flush out all the diesel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Idrees Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 It was a bit smokey, nothing too bad. Could anyone explain why the alternator light is on then? The wipers and windows are slow too, and headlights are very very dim. I had the exact same symptoms after replacing the engine a month ago, fitted a new alternator and it was fine. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rorenapier Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Check the connections on your alternator, mainly the earth strap, i once changed my alternator then realising, It was the earth strap that was gubbedGet your tank fully drained, and get a fresh set of plugs in there along with new petrol and injevtor cleanerSee how you get on from there Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Idrees Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 The alternator earth it also on tight, one of the first things I checked when checking the battery. I left my tool kit at home this week, and I usually carry it around with me I'll try to get the fuel tank drained though, fingers crossed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Socks Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 i had same thing on my fiesta the toher day....alternator light came on.... wipers, windows, lights were all very dim or slow or not working at all, stereo wouldnt turn on... if i revved it made it worse....it was the alternator that was fooked. new one and it was right as rain!Remember, just because its new doesnt mean its faulty!I cant see how diesel could cause electric problems your describing... it might run a bit rough but it wouldnt cause alternator light to come on, or the slow elctrics :/Alternator, Battery or other Electric Fault imo..Iddy, try putting battery on charge for an hour... if this solves your problem clearly your alternator! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Idrees Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 Same thinking as me Matt, I'm going to put jump leads from a mates car on it and see how it runs. If it runs fine with the leads on, then it has to be the alternator and surely can't be the fuel! Thanks for all the help guys. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sparky Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 You mentioned it doesnt have the best of earth's that would be the first thing I would check, but yea I wouldnt say that problem has anything to do with being filled with diesel.Hope you get it sorted soon bud Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Socks Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 earths is a fair comment but earths dont just die or fail like that lol.... they get worse over time... as iddy said they havent come off so..yeh if u connect jump leads to a car thats running and a charged battery then this would test a/n! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Idrees Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 I'm using the original earth but it's not bolted on, instead we had to wedge it under the terminal as we had no wire crimps. Halfords is within walking distance so I will actually get some crimps for it first. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
daz gt turbz Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 in my expierence it is probly 2 problems at the same time, ive tryed putting a couple of faults down to 1 problem before and it turned out to be a few problems that are not related to each other. if that makes sense, it sounds like alternator to me, it just happend to fuck up after you put diesel in it(sods law strikes!) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Idrees Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 Daz I think you're right.Right, update on the problem.I went to the car today, it started up first time and ran well as I let it warm up. As I tried to set off it started stuttering again so I gave it a few revs and it ran absolutely fine. I drove it around locally, went to Halfords for a battery test and it was 11.9 Volts. He said the battery is fine, and that it just needs a good charge. So I started to make my way to North Wales (90 miles or so) and within the first ten miles, the battery light showed up again. I continued the journey with the CD player and other electrics off, and it was driving fine, no misfires etc so that bit of diesel is doing no harm, apart from causing a bit of smoke sometimes. If I accelerated the car, it would hesitate and the battery light would flash. I arrived at Wales and put the fault down to the poor earth. I went to Halfords, bought some proper clamps and put 2 earths on, one from the gearbox and one from the chassis (both original earths). It seemed fine so I set off, but the battery light came on within 5 minutes of driving away.Back to Halfords, bought a new battery and it ran absolutely fine. Made my way back to Birmingham, after 70 miles or so, the battery light came back on again. In those 70 miles the car drove absolutely fine, it still had half a tank of fuel which includes some of the diesel. I drove it slowly, the headlights were barely working and it was dark. It started to completely die out at the end of the road I live on so I turned the headlights off and very luckily parked the car. I allowed it to cool for 5 minutes, turned it off then tried to turn it back on again, but it's dead again.So how can that not be the alternator?!?! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rorenapier Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 I would be looking at the alternator buddy.Surley you would have a warranty if its fairly new? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BAZ2CRAZY Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Regulator?As in, voltage regulator, this could be dying.Initially ok, then once warm, diodes etc begin to break down.Worth a shot i suppose? Ive no idea where the regulator is... i suppose it might be attached to the alternator? It must have one surely.Mitch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BAZ2CRAZY Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Oh iddy, have you got the right alternator?Some produce 55 amps and others produce 70 amps?Mitch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Idrees Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 The alternator isn't brand new, it came with the car. I fitted a new engine with all ancillaries, but a couple of days later I noticed the alternator was dead so I removed the one off the original engine that came with the car (bottom end damage) and since then it has ran absolutely fine.The engine from in the car is from a 1995 GT, the alternator from a 1993. Any difference in the amps? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BAZ2CRAZY Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 I think its ok.Is this alternator definitely kicking out around 12v? even when the lights begin to dim etc?Mitch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Idrees Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 I haven't checked the alternator, I asked the Halfords guys to check it but I don't think they had any idea how to (and nor do I). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BAZ2CRAZY Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Just whack a multi meter across the battery when its running ;)Do the same when it starts to die, this should indicate whether the alternator/battery is deadMitch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Idrees Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 Ah right, they tested it with and without the car running, 11.9 both times iirc.I just want to get the car home, I'm gonna p/x it with my brothers Seat Leon Cupra as a tuned/modified/old car isn't serving me well enough for a 240 weekly commute. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
G14 NZA Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Your alternator should be making 14.5v otherwise theres not enough voltage to run the car and charge the battery. I may be wrong but when the alternator is completley dead you'll get 3 or 4 warning lights on the dash.Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BAZ2CRAZY Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 True, they do tend to produce over 12v.Mitch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.