Hi all,

Ive noticed over the last few days on start up from cold that my headlights and dash lights dim for a few seconds every 10 seconds or so that it is sitting idle at about 1200 rpm. i'm thinking the alternator maybe????

Has anyone else had this problem as it is starting to anoy me, have tried searching the forum but cant find much.

cheers

Russ

Dunno about Octy's but that's a generic sign of the voltage reg on the alternator cutting in and out. You need to check the battery voltage with a multimeter as it's happening. It could be doing that because your battery is on the way out, but the voltage will reveal all. It should be well in excess of 13 V (13.4-13.6) and steady ish. If it's going 12.0 to 14.0 turn the engine off , disconnect neg on battery and let it stand for at least 45 mins before measuring battery voltage.

Hi

Cheers for the advce but now my engine management light has come on, Could it be something more serious??

Russ

Now beyond my knowledge... you need to wait for someone else to chime in...

my wife owns a 1.9 sdi fabia same promlem with the lights,

Main dealer puts it down to a common fault on the power steering pump

Yeah, but the Fabia has electric power steering, whereas the Octy has conventional PS...

Looks like a possible alternator failure. An auto electrician will test it for free if he gets the job of replacing the unit if required.

i would agree... alternator or possibly the regular. The latter being the cheaper option to fix.

Does the Octy alternator have a separate regulator?

I think that are part of the alt, but can be changed seperately, but I might be wrong.....

That's what I meant by separate.