Hi All, I have just checked the battery and alternator on my 1.3L 1998 Felicia and the Alternator test showed that the output was High (the cheapo tester I used has 3 lights and the Red one >14.0v or more lit up!). Is this something to worry about? & how would I go about fixing it? Thanks for your help guys - really useful site:O

Yes!!! This is well known for frying the ECU and writing off many Favorits and Felicias.

You just need a new voltage regulator, under £20 and a few minutes to fit...

13.8 to 14.2 would be ok...Is it higher than this?

The tester I have only showed that it was over 14v, but does not give a full reading. Would anyone be able to advise me how to fit a voltage regulator? Thanks for your advice!!

You'll also boil the battery :eek::eek:

The tester I have only showed that it was over 14v, but does not give a full reading. Would anyone be able to advise me how to fit a voltage regulator? Thanks for your advice!!

Before going to the expence and hard work of changing to regulator, you need check some thing out first!

1, check out the exact voltage (not just over 14 volts)

2, also is the battery its self ok ?

right if the battery is faulty then the alternator voltage will be higher than with a good battery, and as been mentioned the voltage is critical 13.8-14.5Volts is fine !

another test is start the engine, turn on everything and you should get more than 12.8 Volts then turn off everything and you should still get the same reading !

But the main thing read the values with a decent Digital multimeter not a LED tester !

Radiotwo

Is the airbag warning light illuminated? If it is, your voltage regulator is worn out (70,000 miles or thereabout). As stated above, they are about £20 each and need the removal of two screws on the back of the alternator. Once you have done that, find a friendly Skoda garage or VW specialist. They can reset the airbag light and you are OK again.

Have a lookat this thread on the Felicia Forum; Felicia airbag light & voltage regulator - Common fault, easy fix.

Before going to the expence and hard work of changing to regulator, you need check some thing out first!

1, check out the exact voltage (not just over 14 volts)

2, also is the battery its self ok ?

right if the battery is faulty then the alternator voltage will be higher than with a good battery, and as been mentioned the voltage is critical 13.8-14.5Volts is fine !

another test is start the engine, turn on everything and you should get more than 12.8 Volts then turn off everything and you should still get the same reading !

But the main thing read the values with a decent Digital multimeter not a LED tester !

Radiotwo

:iagree: A duff battery can suck more juice than is healthy for it and it ends up dying in a spectacular - and expensive - way!

Also the posts about the air bag light & regulator sound relevent too...

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/technical-guides/felicia-airbag-light-voltage-regulator-common-fault-easy-fix/76011/

Is the airbag warning light illuminated? If it is, your voltage regulator is worn out (70,000 miles or thereabout). As stated above, they are about £20 each and need the removal of two screws on the back of the alternator. Once you have done that, find a friendly Skoda garage or VW specialist. They can reset the airbag light and you are OK again.

I've stumbled upon this thread via Google, my airbag light being on, my headlights seeming rather dim and my wipers going stupidly fast - this has all happened spookily at the same time so I assume they're connected.

In all honesty should I take my little Felicia to the garage or could I fix this myself, bearing in mind I don't actually know what an alternator is

Edited to add that the courtesy light has just stopped working (although I've not really driven much at night recently so that could have given up the ghost a while back) AND the lightbulb icon is somewhat subdued. Oh, and the buzz you get when you open the doors with the headlights on is suddenly kinda feeble. Hmmmmmm.

Edited 7 October, 200817 yr by LotsOfOtters

LotsOfOtters - which engine does your felicia have?

If it's the 1.3, as you face the engine, the alternator is a cylindrical thing bolted to the left hand side at the front and will have a belt around the left hand side. The voltage regulator will be on the right hand side face, and is held with two screws and has a wire coming out of it with a spade connector. All you have to do is pull off the spade connector then undo the two screws the regulator will come out easily. Put the new one in the way the old one came out, the brushes on the end are sprung so that end needs to go in first. As a precaution, before you start this I would undo and remove the negative battery terminal from the battery. It's no more difficult than changing a light bulb

If you're interested in doing maintenance yourself it may be worth getting the haynes manual. The Hut.com: Skoda Felicia Service And Repair Manual Books - Mark Coombs is probably the cheapest place to get hold of a new one, and used ones pop up on ebay.

If you dont know what an alternator is and how it looks, i dont think you should be doing electrical by yourself, now...

Normal voltage oputput for an alternator is `14volts, this is to supply enough power for the battery to charge while keepng the engine and other electrical system going

the voltage regulator on the alternator does two things, one is control the output voltage so it doent fluctuate, imagine a normal alternator guiving ok power at idle (750rp) and the accelerating over 4000rpm, it would toast everything

the seccond thing is that it sences the batery charged and cuts of the alternator, so it doent overcharge the batery.

that being said, 14volts is a ok, question isis it constant, rev up the engine and let us know if it increases, if not, that part is ok, seccond if the battery is fully charge the voltage should drop to 13 or 12, if not, the regulator is not cutting off

anything else, check the ground, is the one to blame for most electrical problems

Well, the nominal (not the same thing as normal; nominal is more like average than typical) output from the alternator is 14v; the range of acceptable is probably about 13.5v to 14.5v.

That said, the critical points are whether or not the control box cuts out and caps voltage when appropriate.

anything else, check the ground, is the one to blame for most electrical problems

You do know that i'll be literally looking at the ground at this point, as in at the Tarmac

Thanks everyone for your advice. I think I'll take her to the garage. Other than the lights (all of them, inside and out it seems!) she *sounds* great, better than ever (had a new exhaust recently). She starts no problem, goes fine.

I was a little alarmed to see quite so many spiders under the bonnet but I don't imagine they've been pulling out any cables or anything. Or do they...? :eek:

Too many spiders can be detrimental to the health of your car. The extra weight can seriously affect fuel consumption, also, the spiders web gossamer is stronger and more electrically conductive than steel. If it gets near a wire it can short it out.

Too many spiders can be detrimental to the health of your car. The extra weight can seriously affect fuel consumption, also, the spiders web gossamer is stronger and more electrically conductive than steel. If it gets near a wire it can short it out.

The second bit sounds a tiny bit possible. Really. Is it? You know it could be...

Anyway, I drove all of about half a mile (maybe less), stopped off at the shop, got back in and she wouldn't start.

Recovery chap arrives after an hour or so, jump starts car and tell me to take her for a spin to charge up the engine. Job done as far as he's concerned.

Less than a mile away bizarre noises through the speakers when I indicate (the stereo is off by the way).

I start to head for the garage. Seconds later she cuts out in the middle of a rather busy road. Completely.:shocked:

90 minutes later recovery chap #2 arrives and tows her to the garage, where she sleeps tonight

Not a good day!

A friend's 97 Felicia regulator quit working, fried the Battery, the ECU, the Radio. Got parts from a breaker and car ran for 2 seconds ....Needed an ECU re-code by the dealer at a cost of £80 !!

if you are testing this with the engine running 14.5v is correct, its using 12v to run the cars electronics and 2.5v is used to keep charging the battery. the battery itself isnt actually being used as such when the car is running as the alternator is doing the work, the batterys real work is when it comes to starting the car.

A friend's 97 Felicia regulator quit working, fried the Battery, the ECU, the Radio. Got parts from a breaker and car ran for 2 seconds ....Needed an ECU re-code by the dealer at a cost of £80 !!

Not with the Felicia, all that you do when using a used ECU is go into the engine 01, adaptation 10, channel 00 and erase the learned values - job done. That's £80 worth?

Unfortunately did not have VAG COM back then .......DAMM the deal sure knew how to make a killing !!!

I will know next time I come accross this