Not starting NOW DRIVING ME NUTS

[darrenchadwick]

Gents
On going Berlingo problem. Got an '06 van 2lt HDi (ex forestry commission). Power steering pump blew and so replaced. All fine until leaked fluid killed alternator. Ordered an alternator via a breaker website (ones that you get various quotes from) and was promised a replacement last Tuesday. Still hasnt arrived despite continuous promises from supplier. In mean time been running on battery by charging it up each evening. No problems until Friday evening when it wouldnt start after being on charge for most of afternoon. Would turn over a dream but not fire up (well tried very faintly). Battery soon died. Dragged van with mates car and it bumped off but spluttered a bit before going like a dream. Ran perfectly all way home (10 miles) and so put battery back on charge. This morning same problems with start up. Fires once and then conks. During cranking (till battery dies) it makes an occassional feeble attempt to fire but wont go. Fuel filter changed a month ago. Fuel lines prime okay with manual pump. Is any onf this connected to alternator problem? Old alternator still on while replacement arrives but could it be linked or is it a coincidence and something else is failing. Van has been going superb until recent hiccups.

[Ol'Jeffers]

I would suspect that the voltage in the system is too low to satisfy the ECU.....Just a thought.

[darrenchadwick]

Thanks OJ.
Took the glow plugs off this afternoon to test. All fine. Left the battery on charge during work. Put everything back together and reconnected a couple of connectors that had to be taken off to get to plugs etc. Put multimeter on battery to find giving 12.8v.
With everything back in place and battery reconnected......tried it and it fired first time.
Beginning to suspect voltage issue as you said OJ and perhaps whether (just a wild hunch) I corrupted the ECU temporarily on the Friday by reconnecting battery posts with doors open or something weird.
Anyway, the bad start is not fuel related, its clearly electronic. Just hope replacement alternator turns up tomorrow. The supplier has been dire! If the part comes tomorrow (Im praying) it will have taken nine working days to turn up which isnt good enough in this day and age.

[darrenchadwick]

Heres an update to any techys out there..
After previous forum post I put the vehicle on charge (positive terminal disconnected during charge) and left it for three or four hours. Then removed charger. Put multimeter on battery and got 12.8v. Reconnected positive terminal. Opended door (you can hear electrical clicking when door opens) and got in. Put key in ignition and turned to glow plug position. All fine. Started van immediately then cut out. Tried procedure again and same non starting had returned. Went to test battery on multimeter and got 12.3v. I held meter on battery for a few seconds and watched voltage slowly rise in increments of 100th of a volt. I noticed the formerly green hydrometer indicator is black too although the battery still shows 12v+ on the meter. Do you guys think the battery is knackered too or is ALL this down to the faulty alternator. I cant understand why the vehicle starts then cuts and wont go. Or...does the battery hav enough power to crank and fire but the voltage then drop and cut out the ECU or some solenoid somewhere? I think Im thinking too deep. Maybe should just sit on my hands and wait for replacement alternator....fit it and see what happens. Any advice very very welcome.

[ron]

I would suggest the battery is duff.Voltage readings alone mean very little.Have it load tested,or if over 3 years old,go for a new one.alut:

[Ol'Jeffers]

I would suggest the battery is duff.Voltage readings alone mean very little.Have it load tested,or if over 3 years old,go for a new one.alut:

Agree! Voltage measurements by themselves only serve as an indicator.
Until you get a good alternator on the vehicle you won't have much idea of the condition of the battery unless you get it load tested.

BTW Who is the supplier who takes more than a week to get an alternator to you?

[brodfather11]

I've found when the green indicator on the battery is black , then battery is knackered.

[darrenchadwick]

At the risk of infringing slander laws let me share my 'customer experience' with Citroen Peugeot Spares of Blackburn, Lancs.
Visited Breakerlink website looking for an alternator. Keyed in the vehicle reg and the part required. Five email quotes arrived quickly from various breakers/suppliers and a couple of phone calls. Opted to go with Citroen Peugeot Spares (£40 delivered with 3 mnth warrenty). Placed order on Wed 22 Jan late afternoon. CPS took money and promised delivery by Mon/Tue 27th/28th Jan. By Tuesday 28th nothing arrived so phoned them. Was promised delivery for Wednesday. By Wednesday 1pm still no delivery. Phones them again. Was told they'd had 'issues' with despatch but someone would phone to advise situation. Waited an hour, no return call. Rang back. I was told that someone would call me again. Waited another 1.5hrs no return call. Called again and was told that someone was supposed to call me from a different department and they were sorry they hadnt. Still no one phoned so I rang at 4.50pm (still no alternator arrived). Got the boss (Lee) who apologised and blamed Hermes delivery company..saying "I packed the alternator myself on Tuesday". Please note that Tuesday was the promised delivery date when he packaged it. By Thursday the alternator had not arived so rang again. Spoke to Lee again who said that if it didint tunr up by Friday he would drive from Blackburn himself to bring one to me in the Yorkshire Dales. Waited through Friday still no alternator. Rang at 2pm and got a male who said he was only the mechanic and couldnt help but would pass on my call. Still no reply. Rang again at 4.55pm and got company accountant who said everyone had gone home and he couldnt help me. Rang them Saturday at 10.30am (still no alternator) and spoke to female who took original order and I asked for a refund. She refused to refund saying she was not authorised and I would need to ring on Monday (3rd Feb). Rang them Monday (yesterday) and asked for refund. Different female answered she said she would process refund but would need to speak to her manager. My wife phoned an hour later (still no alternator or refund call). My wife requested a refund again and eventually the female receptionist processed the refund stating it would take several days to be credited!. Later in the afternoon at 3pm-ish, the manager Lee phoned to say he had posted a new alternator by next day delivery. So here we are today at 11am, I have not been given the requested refund (as is my right according to distance selling regulations) and still no alternators have arrived. All the above is a true account and so I do not think I have libelled them. This was my experience with Citroen Peugeot Spares so draw yoru own conclusions. In the meantime, Im self employed, van is knackered, cant work and cant drive anywhere to go and look for a different alternator. We live in a remote village in the Dales and Im totally p***ed off now.

[Trevor]

Sadly customer ‘service’ is a thing of the past these days and the old ‘we will phone you back’ just seems to be a way of getting people off the line and out their hair.

Is it Autocraft that you are dealing with? If so there are quite a few sites where you can leave a review for their ‘services’

[Gadgetman]

When someone says 'part is sent and will arrive on xxxxx' insist on the tracking code.
If they don't have it(claims they don't give it away is even worse), just demand a refund and buy your part somewhere else.
An alternator is so big/heavy that it can't be sent as a letter, and most if not all packages can be tracked.

Never ever accept this type of bovine fecal matter.