Hi,

I took my felicia1.9d 2000 down to Devon from the North West, where it decided to break down (thankfully outside someone's house). Anyhow, I charged the battery and it survived the journey back up North. Another day later and the battery was flat again.

I've been reading some of the older forums which suggest alternator problems. The light on the dashboard doesn't light up (I'm guessing I should be looking for the light with the picture of the battery on?). I've bought a multimeter to check the battery output, but so far all I'm getting is 0.00 on any reading (unless I squeeze it really hard then 11.7 comes up). Maybe the multimeter is broken..?. I've set it to the 'V' with the two wiggley lines above it function switch, and 20v on the range dial - is that the right one?

I don't know if it is of any relevance, but on the journey down the speedometer went a bit mad, then died. Also the airbag light came on for a while, but is now off. I read something about this light and the regulator.. I also spilt some of the battery fluid trying to wrestle the battery (just over 2 years old) out of the car, which may be affecting the battery.

Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated, and thanks in advance!

:(

Hi,

I took my felicia1.9d 2000 down to Devon from the North West, where it decided to break down (thankfully outside someone's house). Anyhow, I charged the battery and it survived the journey back up North. Another day later and the battery was flat again.

I've been reading some of the older forums which suggest alternator problems. The light on the dashboard doesn't light up (I'm guessing I should be looking for the light with the picture of the battery on?). I've bought a multimeter to check the battery output, but so far all I'm getting is 0.00 on any reading (unless I squeeze it really hard then 11.7 comes up). Maybe the multimeter is broken..?. I've set it to the 'V' with the two wiggley lines above it function switch, and 20v on the range dial - is that the right one?

I don't know if it is of any relevance, but on the journey down the speedometer went a bit mad, then died. Also the airbag light came on for a while, but is now off. I read something about this light and the regulator.. I also spilt some of the battery fluid trying to wrestle the battery (just over 2 years old) out of the car, which may be affecting the battery.

Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated, and thanks in advance!

Since writing this, I've borrowed my neighbours multimeter and battery read 12v with the engine not running, then running. Went down to 11 volts when I turned on the electrics. :-(

two wavey lines would indicate ac, you should be set to a straight line with a dotted one beneath dc...

sounds like a dicky alternator they dont always bring up the lamp, sounds like the regulator/diode pack

The alternator has a regulator on it , that was common to fail , via overcharging

That would effect the radio , then the air bag light

So may be that that you may be requiring

I have seen one that blew the battery spewing acid on to the ECU , that was a bit of an expensive repair

Just a pre warning

Sarah

Thanks for that. I've not had a radio for ages since it was stolen, so no warning signs there. I suppose the next step is to ring around scrap yards to see if there are any similar cars. Hopefully the alternator is relatively easy to replace.

Thanks again,

susan

Susan , do not need the full alternator , just the regulator

If I remeber correctly they are approx £20 ish ans I would get new at that price

Sarah

Thanks Sarah,

I'm going to have a look on the internet now :-)

if you look in the thread that is pinned at the top of the felicia section called "common problems" or something like that there is a few pictures showing how to change the alternator voltage regulator, either that or it's fairly well covered in the haynes manual.. the regulator iteself is about £30 from skoda but they will want your old one back in exchange for a surcharge for some benign reason..

on the subject of multimeters, if you pop the plastic cover off the back of the alternator you can in fact obtain an AC signal if you tap in before the rectifier bridge, but it's not really necessary in your case, just measure off a DC signal from the battery terminals... i confirm you are using the correct settings with the v-double squiggle set to 20 volt range, it is difficult to obtain a reliable reading from the battery terminals however because they are often filthy dirty or corroded so it's worth giving the terminals a quick rub up with some sandpaper to get them clean or you'll chase random readings round in circles all day long

you should get around 11-12 volts when the engine is off, when it's running you should get a steady 13 to 14 volts.. if the voltage increases higher than 14v as you rev the engine then the regulator is likely to be faulty, also try switching on as many things as you can like the lights and rear window heater and repeat the test, this will simulate testing the regulator under load... you should get a stable voltage, if it's more than 14 volts when the engine is revved it's nackered..

you dont say how good you are with the spanners but it might be more cost effective to get a second hand alternator from a breakers yard (around £20) rather than fiddling with your existing alternator... some of the polo diesel engines have the same alternator as well as some seat ibiza's so they should be easy enough to find...

if you sucessfully do the test and the regulator is fine i would suggest checking the battery fluid levels at first... make sure you take some pictures so you can write up a how-to guide for other folks to follow

word out

Hmmm, good thinking..polo diesels - I'm having no luck finding a regulator on the internet. Not sure how handy I am with a spanner (much better with a hammer, which I often resort to :-)). I'll see what the scrapyards have.. Haynes manual gives the alternator a two spanners worth of difficulty - which can't be right as that's the same rating as removing the battery?? Although the battery is very heavy and tricky to get out.. The manual says to remove the wheel and the belt... sounds like it could be a challenge :S

Thanks again for the help.

Should be just a case of slackening off the bolts & popping off the belt, making note of how the belt goes round..Taking photos or drawing diagrams will help, as your motor will have power steering. Changing the belt at the same time could be wise too if its FUBAR

Thanks Sarah,

I'm going to have a look on the internet now :-)

Try these

http://www.autoelectrics.net/alternator.html

Radiotwo

yes you will need to take the drivers side wheel off because you need to remove the metal cover from the side/bottom of the engine bay which is held on with philips screws and the access is very tight without removing the wheel.. you do need to remove the belt also, just use a 16mm spanner (iirc) on the spring loaded tensioner and turn it anti-clockwise..

have you had any luck with the multimeter tests?

multimeter was useless and has gone back to Wilkos. I borrowed a neighbours and after charging the battery got 12v not running, and 12v running. After putting all the electrics on the reading went down to 11v - so I guess that means nothing from the alternator.

I'll try and get my hands on an alternator and give it a go :S .. I would probably not bother to fix the car, only I've just spent a whopping £390 on a new belt and water pump.

I suppose that's my weekend sorted.. I'll let you know how I get on. Fingers crossed and I'm sure I will be back in a bit asking for help!

Thanks for all the advice and help (and I'll be sure to take the pics!)x

if you ask jimbo (felicia16v) he might be able to find you an alternator from his secret stash

i'm pretty certain i do have a regulator here for one of those but it's a petrol engined one, i'm pretty certain it's the same regulator as a diesel alternator, i'll find out and get back to you

A quick update on my car. Nothing has happened. Except I removed the belt.. undid the two bolts mentioned in the haynes book of lies... and nothing. Alternator doesn't move a milli.. There must be more bolts somewhere. I read some old posts which mentioned draining the cooling system and moving the radiator...please say that doesn't have to happen!!!

Anyhow, I admitted failure and put the bolts and belt back on(that was SO much harder that getting it off). I'm having another go today. I'm not liking my car at the moment. If I hadn't just paid out nearly £400 for a new timing belt and water pump, I would have admitted defeat already :(

Thanks for all the help so far.

they can be quite stiff to get off tbh, two of the mounting lugs have threaded steel bushes in them and the action of the bolts tightening up pulls the threaded bushes in which holds it all tight together.. if you get a large flat bladed screwdriver in between the alternator and it's mounting bracket you should be able to lever it out.

ignore the little red arrows on the pic.. see on the mounting lug there is a rusty circular bush, it has a thread running through the centre, as the bolts tighten it pulls it through, the bush is not in a fixed position, it can move but it is a very tight fit so you won't do it with your fingers! i'd hazard a guess that this is what is stopping your alternator from coming off...

it can also be an absolute sod to get the alternator back on for the same reason, what you can do is rig up a long M8 bolts and some nuts and use some spanners to force the bush back out enough to get the alternator back on the bracket, or you could use a vice with a few spacers or large sockets.. be careful if you do this though because the alloy lugs can break off the alternator casting if you are brutal with them.

Thanks Tom, that was a very helpful thread. So far I've got two bolts off. Strangely the Haynes manual has the top bolt on the picture labelled as the bottom bolt - just to add to the confusion. ANyhow, I've got a slight wriggle on the alternator now, just need to get the middle bolt off, which is being very tricky! That's the one under the pully - I've tried it with the pully on and off, but still not figured it out yet. Oh well, that's one for tomorrow as it's going dark now - and I need to cheer myself up with some wine.

Thanks again - I've charged my camera up so hopefully I can add pictures if need be

out of idle curiosity i'm going to break out my haynes manual to see what it says (i'll have to find it first mind you )

how do i get the alternator off without the tool for the tension wheel?

Just use an open ended spanner on it..

soory,thats for a felicia.it doesnt look easy to get the alternator off or on again.thanks

the body work too close to the tension wheel to get any tool i have in there.i take it that i have to slacken that off before i start to take alternator out? i take it the felicia is the only skoda with this problem? they didn't make it easy.

for anyone else.got the tension wheel off.haynes said to undo the engine mounting. i just cut a three inch gap in the wheel arch, with a grinder, by the side of the tension wheel.could undo the nut that way