Noob Advice Please

[d4funky1]

Hi,

I have just bought a transit van it's a SWB H Reg (1991?) 2litre petrol for £395 (no laughing please). That's all i know about it.

When travelling to Hull on Saturday i noticed the battery light flashing on and off throughout the journey.

It stopped after a couple of miles and i thought nothing more of it.

When i arrived at my destination and turned the ignition off the battery light stayed on?

The van started fine for the journey home and it wasn't until my next journey on the sunday morning that it wouldn't start.

No electrics, no sound, no nothing??

I used some jump leads and it started fine but it has to be jump started on every trip.

I have bought a mobile power station to achieve this but i use my transit for market trading and i can't rely on the device 4 to 5 times a day???

Please note that i know absolutely nothing about cars or vans but i am very eagre and willing to learn.

Can anyone please suggest what the problem could be and how to rectify it????

Yours greatfully
D4

[schmacster]

sounds like the alternator has given up the ghost. You may find one on ebay? If you know anyone with a test meter They should be able to test the alternator for you, takes 2 minutes to check.
Good luck

[MrMPuk]

If the light stayed on with the ignition off I would say you may well have a chaffed wire somewhere.

[rover]

It will almost certainly be the alternator, I cant say I have seen it on a transit cos most folks will get them changed as soon as the light starts to show, but it used to happen that way a hell of a lot on Mini's.... one minute fine and the next time you switch off the light stays on...


Rover.

[crazyscoot]

It will almost certainly be the alternator, I cant say I have seen it on a transit cos most folks will get them changed as soon as the light starts to show, but it used to happen that way a hell of a lot on Mini's.... one minute fine and the next time you switch off the light stays on...


Rover.

Perhaps the alternator starts to breakdown inside and holds a small charge that normaly would discharge straight away when you switch off. Could a bad earth also do this? but on second thoughts, it's pretty well bolted up to the engine......so perhaps a bad engine earth

[d4funky1]

thanks for all your reply's i am getting the alternator changed tomorrow.

Still not sure if that is the problem but the guy is a pretty sound mechanic. I'll let him know about the bad engine earth.

I'll keep you posted.

Many Thanks
D4

[crazyscoot]

thanks for all your reply's i am getting the alternator changed tomorrow.

Still not sure if that is the problem but the guy is a pretty sound mechanic. I'll let him know about the bad engine earth.

I'll keep you posted.

Many Thanks
D4

just a random guess, not even sure if the engine is earthed on a diesel

[MrMPuk]

Yes it is earthed. I'm still confused as to why the battery light would stay on with the ignition off!

[d4funky1]

it doesn't now.

it just did for the first 7 or so hours.

[d4funky1]

ok got the van sorted today.

It was the alternator.

Been told i will need three new doors 2 at rear and drivers side for it to pass it's MOT.

Any ideas on a ball park figure i should expect to pay for these?

Thanks
D4

[rover]

Glad you got the alternator sorted

As for doors, Evilbay is probably your best bet, it depends on how bad yours are, you can get repair panels for them if its just the bottoms.


Rover.

[crazyscoot]

i Payed £100 for a pair of Half decent back solid doors. Im sure you could get them cheaper if you look around

[lunnie]

How bad have the doors got to be to fail the mot ? sorry to sound niave.

[madmark]

as long as there are bad jagged edges i cant see they will fail!

[MarkM]

How bad have the doors got to be to fail the mot ? sorry to sound niave.

I would guess that the bottoms have rusted through totally and also up the side of the door by the hinge, a new skin is needed or major plating...an older Transit of mine had this kind of rot and the MOT tester warned me about it by saying that by the next year it would be a fail Exposed edges is enough for many MOT stations to fail a vehicle...the sills are not structual but can be rotted right through but because they are out of sight they let that bad body work through but a door is touchable....my arguement would be if someone wants to rub their hands along it it is their choice but MOT stations don't always look at things in the same way as the drivers/owners.