Ignition Warning Light Comes on after 30 seconds!! HELP

[Steelsey]

Hey Dave

Thanks for the advice, i did think to splice the £13 loom onto the existing one but after stripping back the outer black sheathing I thought the wires inside looked in good shape and not discolored like in the link so I feared if it was the loom the fault could be further along the wires. The guy from Ford said their Diagnostic check would pin point the problem so i thought, if the problem is the loom, they maybe able to tell me exactly where or which wire so I could then strip it back and repair it.

Anyway, I got a phone call from them earlier to say the Van is ready and it turns out to be a faulty alternator They then said "you're in luck as we have one in stock and can fit it for you today for £553" !!!!!!!!! I replied with "I am in luck as I can get an alternator for £100 and do it myself" hahahaha £553 for an alternator!!!

All being well the alternator will turn up tomorrow and I can get it fitted on friday, crossed fingers

[Steelsey]

Ok, I've removed alternators before, but how the hell do you get one off a connect??? The one bolt I can't get to that isthe only one left holding the alternator to the engine is obstructed by the alternators axle! Any ideas? There are 2 flats on the axle attached to the pulley end that a 19mm spanner fits! Has this got somethig to do with it?

[me&myvan]

How did you go on?
I'm interested to find out.
I hope you have it sorted now.
Dave

[Steelsey]

Huh, done! To remove the alternator I had to remove the belt that's attached to the pulleys on the side of the engine, drift off the pulley assembly from the alternator using a 19mm and a hammer! This then allows you to gain access to the top alternator bolt.

Once out I had to fit the new alternator which meant swapping over the old axle/pulley from the old alternator to the new £100 one from ebay as it came with a different pulley attached. Unfortunately my tools ended at this point so I went to a garage who kindly swapped over the pulleys in 30 seconds!!

Reverse procedure to fitting the new alternator but due to the new one being slightly different I had to increase the length of the cable that comes from the starter motor. Did that and fired it up! Ran sweet apart from the wipers going crazy for a bit which according to the manual is normal on reconnection of the battery!

Then....Yesterday the bloody thing wouldn't start!!!!!! everything lights up as normal but when you turn the key nothing happens!!! I posted a thread on the forum and some guy said to try the cable that runs from the battery to the starter motor! I gave it a wiggle, turned the key and bang! it started up! So this weekend I'm going to pop over to the parts shop and get a new lead, though if it's too dear, i'll make my own

[painter4]

Hi i had the same prob with batt light coming on so removed outer black casing to check wire the red one was the only one that looked damaged so i put up on stands and unplugged the loom from the connector about halfway up the rad and left the other end still connected to the alt .... fixed the red wire but forgot to reconnect the other end to complete the loom jumped in van to remove from ramps van started fine obviously the batt light came on then went out then remembered i had not reconnected so i did reconnect and problem fixed but why did the van start fine and would have run fine without the loom being connected what exactly do those three wires do are they just for warning lights if alt is on way out

cheers

[me&myvan]

Hope it sorted in the end Steelsey.
As far as the loom that goes to the alternator, I'm not sure how that works but its something to do with the smart charge system, whatever that is. Perhaps someone could explain?
I remember running mine with it unplugged just to see what happened. It still ran!

[painter4]

well did anyone find out what these three wires are for , i think one might be for the rev counter
and one for the alt warning light

[Steelsey]

I don't know what they are for but I think you might be right by saying they are simply for warnings! My problem now is the cable that comes off the battery to the starter motor! Sometimes the van starts and sometimes it doesn't. If it doesn't I give the wire a wiggle and it starts!!! I gave Ford a call today as I was going to fit a new one until they told me the 2 foot lead is £113.80!!!

[painter4]

that is a joke surely if you went to a auto electrician he could help you out and i would think for at least half that they really are steelers they wanted 79+vat for an oil and filter change did it myself for half

[lushak]

Hi, i have the same problem at the moment with my 1999 focus estate, have replaced alternator and belt and light still comes on, took it to a diagnostic center this morning they replaced the alternator part of the loom, but still light is on. they are investigating further, but after reading all this im convinced the loom is at fault, just not the bit they replaced, will post updates!!

oh and on the pulley removal note i struggled for ages, even making a special socket so i could get a alllen key in it, this nut was still too tight,
heated it up to melting point still no luck! seems the only way is to wrap up the bell/pulley in a old t-shirt and hold on tight and get the impact wrench to do the work, still took 5 mins with that!!

Thanks woolworths for you £9.99 12v impact wrench lol.

[bortaf]

Had this exact problem in today, dash gauges going crazy, headlights and fan up and down ect, ect, alt output all over the place, replaced this section of wire.



Here's the breaks (in all 3 wires) 2 kinked are broken internaly and the red i spripped back.



Unfortunatly the chap had already changed to a new alt this loom cured 99% of the problems but the battery is fryed and wont hold a charge over night and the light still comes on after 30 seconds so i guess i'll be striping back some more loom to find the other break

This was on a 55 plate, only 12K on the clock
Loom was £11.75 pluss VAT

[bortaf]

Ok there's more to this, new alt and sub loom in and charging correctly
But after 20 seconds or so the alt light comes on (battery voltage checked and the alt is charging fine) so changed the alt (again) same thing, checked the loom for breaks all they way up to it entering the main loom behind the battery tray (no breaks at all) , battery changed and still goes flat over night (old battery was knackerd though boiled dry and warped plates), checked and found a 7/8 amp drain with the ign off, drain only goes when the alt sensor plug (the new one) is unplugged or the main charge line is removed, i know the alt is creating the drain but don't know why? if i turn the ign on and off say 20 times at least one time the drain wont appear.
the drain doesn't appear instantly it only appears after the ECU relay clicks OFF, changed relay fuses ect no differance, removed the radio, no differance and no the dash millage screen isnt lit but i was grasping at straws

Any ideas ??

[bortaf]

Well i've had half the loom appart and,,,,, given up it's going into fords for a code read
3 alts (i have a VERY understanding spares shop), new battery (old one was fubar), new sub loom (again old one was broken on all 3 wires), dealer recons the ECU, we'll see and i'll let you know but they cant take it in for 2 weeks apparently busy with warrenty work on connects l

[Altransit]

I was told that the ECU may need a reset when it's had this fault, as the smart charge system won't always reset itself

[bortaf]

Had it tested at a local leccy wiz type, ECU has been spiked apparently so i'm fitting a relay (ign activated) to cut the red wire to the alt when the ign is off to stop the drain on the battery and the owner is happy to live with the charge light being on perm, the battery charges fine so it's a small inconvenience rather than a huge bill for a new ECU.
Alrady tried "restiing" the ecu while the battery was on charge overnight and the leccy wizman tried clearing the fault codes ect but there wasn't any, i assume cos i'd had the ECU off for so long ?
So it's an old school fix to the rescure of the new electrotrickerycantbefixedwithoutsellingthekids bolox that car manufacturers force on us in the name of economy, economy my flipping bottom