Hi everyone been having the problem where my ASR light keeps coming on after 10 minutes. I first tried a new alternator and when tested had 14-14.5v going to battery when idle but my battery still keeps dying. Will the broken blue wire be the cause to this or could it be something else? I do quite a lot of short journeys and read up that it needs 2500rpm to charge with a broken load wire but then confused why I was still getting 14+ volts on idle.

Any help would be apreciated

Thanks

Edited 13 January, 20179 yr by Benattah

Blue wire needs fixing, but so does the other one which also appears to be broken (judging by the ASR light after 10 mins). Presumably your battery light doesn't come on with ignition at the moment?

Blue wire needs fixing, but so does the other one which also appears to be broken (judging by the ASR light after 10 mins). Presumably your battery light doesn't come on with ignition at the moment?

No I don't believe it does but charging battery as we speak so will see when it's charged.

Should I be getting 14 volts if it's broken though and is it not the blue one that causes the ASR light to come on then? Hoping it wasn't that wire as it's probably broken somewhere else along the wire then :/

You may or may not get the alternator start up correctly if the blue wire is broken. Unreliable is the word.

I believe it is not the blue one that causes the ASR light to come on, it's the other one, which I wouldn't mind betting you'll also find is broken.  Fix (only) the blue one first, and see if the ASR light starts behaving, if you really want to be scientific about it. I suspect you'll find that doing just the blue wire will fix your battery charging problem, the battery light will now come on with ignition, but your ASR light will still misbehave.

Edited 13 January, 20179 yr by Wino

You may or may not get the alternator start up correctly if the blue wire is broken. Unreliable is the word.

I believe it is not the blue one that causes the ASR light to come on, it's the other one, which I wouldn't mind betting you'll also find is broken.  Fix (only) the blue one first, and see if the ASR light starts behaving, if you really want to be scientific about it. I suspect you'll find that doing just the blue wire will fix your battery charging problem, the battery light will now come on with ignition, but your ASR light will still misbehave.

Thanks a lot for your help. What's the best way of fixing as it's snapped off from inside the loom. I'll see if I can get a multimeter on the other wire and test before fiddling about trying to see if it's broken.

Would these wires being snapped cause battery to constantly keep dying then? Even tried a new battery and still had no luck.

Cheers

Thanks a lot for your help. What's the best way of fixing as it's snapped off from inside the loom. I'll see if I can get a multimeter on the other wire and test before fiddling about trying to see if it's broken.

 

You'll have to cut back the trunking/wrapping until you find the end, sometimes you have to go a fair way back up the loom to find clean, uncorroded copper inside the insulation if it's been busted for some time.

 

Would these wires being snapped cause battery to constantly keep dying then? Even tried a new battery and still had no luck.

 

Yes.  There are other causes, like a battery drain, but these wires breaking is sooo common on these cars it's most likely to be the cause.

Cheers

Edited 13 January, 20179 yr by Wino

What actually causes the ASR light to come on is low voltage, and the car shutting down non-essential systems. It might also shut down the ABS, radio, interior fan...

Yeah my radio plays up and goes on and off, fan stops working, asr light comes on (handbrake light, power steering etc) when battery low.

Thanks a lot for your help Wino,

Will do my best to see if I can fix but I am useless with wiring!

Cheeers

What actually causes the ASR light to come on is low voltage, and the car shutting down non-essential systems. It might also shut down the ABS, radio, interior fan...

 

The load sense (DFM wire) the non-blue one, tells the various ECUs (starting with the engine ECU) how much of the available current (which varies with rpm) the alternator is delivering at any moment. In the absence of this information the ECUs are likely to be more 'panicky' about the voltage that is being sensed across the battery terminals, as no signal from DFM looks the same as '100% demand' due to a pull-up resistor inside the ECU. 

The load sense (DFM wire) the non-blue one, tells the various ECUs (starting with the engine ECU) how much of the available current (which varies with rpm) the alternator is delivering at any moment. In the absence of this information the ECUs are likely to be more 'panicky' about the voltage that is being sensed across the battery terminals, as no signal from DFM looks the same as '100% demand' due to a pull-up resistor inside the ECU. 

It can also be caused by "sprague clutch stuck open" (not in this case though). The point I'm making is that the ASR warning light is a symptom of a charge fault, and not a "real fault" in its own right. Similarly with the other kit I mentioned being shut down automatically.

A bit of detective work is required.

I've had 2 faults on mine, this one originally with load wire

 

but a long time later (only last year or so) a completely separate issue with the alternator one ( problem being intermittent starting despite what I know now with regard to the battery condition wasn't suspect but I thought it was related )

 

If you start probing around in the right places and minor pulling/prodding is all that is required.

 

Car wiring has to be pretty robust for the challenging environment

 

The mk1 eyeball often isn't always enough, it was clear for problem 1 like this but for no2 I actually had to really look beyond my eye and determine the wiring was broken into and corroded beneath the surface but didn't require that much prodding to tell.

Could be like that.

 

I'm no electrician but a bit of wiring /.soldering and insulating up and no issues yet for many a year. But having seen these issue 1st hand less likely to panic and can deal with them next time around.

My car had those 2 wires cut out.
But I did not come on the ASR light or anything else.
Alternator will begin to charge when the engine reaches about 2000rpm. After this, the alternator load in idle also normally
So it is normal to get a plus 14 volt even if those wires would be broken.

My car broke down recently so that the alternator charge sometimes and sometimes not ...
Result was when  left to drive .... First, the ASR light came out a while to get ABS, from about 20 minutes later, powersteering lost ...

The problem fixet when alternator exchange.
I was amazed when I watched the VCDS and the voltage fluctuation of all N / a Always TO 14.3 Voltages ...

 

Fabia Montecarlo Mk2 TSI 1.2  I am having similar problems with the ASR light coming on after about 20 miles with no apparent reason, it stays on until the engine is turned off then repeats after a similar mileage. I've looked at similar threads which mention broken wiring to the alternator. But as yet not been able to find any broken or corroded wires, How does the 2 pin connector on the alternator un plug?

6 hours ago, EMF said:

Fabia Montecarlo Mk2 TSI 1.2  I am having similar problems with the ASR light coming on after about 20 miles with no apparent reason, it stays on until the engine is turned off then repeats after a similar mileage. I've looked at similar threads which mention broken wiring to the alternator. But as yet not been able to find any broken or corroded wires, How does the 2 pin connector on the alternator un plug?

Why do you assume this is not an ABS(ASR) sensor (wire) failing?

@EMF push connector body towards alternator then lift the latch in the opposite direction while maintaining this push. You should hear the latch click open, then pull connector away.

I don't think this is the same situation as described earlier in this thread though.

In the mk1, it always seems to be 10 mins until ASR light appears when DFM wire is broken.

20 miles must take longer than that, I hope.

3 hours ago, Paws4Thot said:

Why do you assume this is not an ABS(ASR) sensor (wire) failing?

Thanks for the reply

Because many of the symptoms fit. I've had the OBD fault codes checked, nothing came up that links it to ESC, wheel sensors, angle sensor or ABS. I understand it could be low voltage issues, but nothing apparent on other systems at present

35 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

@EMF push connector body towards alternator then lift the latch in the opposite direction while maintaining this push. You should hear the latch click open, then pull connector away.

I don't think this is the same situation as described earlier in this thread though.

In the mk1, it always seems to be 10 mins until ASR light appears when DFM wire is broken.

20 miles must take longer than that, I hope.

Thanks for that, its in a tight spot unplugging connectors can be a pain if you are not sure how they  come apart

Quote:20 miles must take longer than that, I hope. Ah Ah yes Im no boy racer!, just saying it comes on again after a while. This happens with  careful driving in good weather no chance of wheel spins or loss of control

This guy has a good idea with the screwdriver, but omits to push the connector first, which does increase the risk of breaking the latch. The reason for  this is that there is a seal within the connector which needs to be compressed to remove the friction in the latch parts.