|
The other night I took my winter-beater 142E out while it was snowing and the temperature at about 28° F, so, in addition to my recently installed halogen headlights, I had the heater fan and the windshield wipers going. After about two miles, I noticed that my turn signals were only working sporadically. I pulled into a parking lot to investigate and finding nothing obviously wrong tried to start the car, but it wouldn't. I got a jump, drove home, and swapped cars. On the way home, the turn signals worked until, just before turning into my driveway, I turned on the the heater fan again. After parking, I tried to start the car again, and again it refused. The amp warning light works, but never came on while I was on the road, not even after I turned the blower on.
Next day, I charged the battery, started the car, and checked the charging current, which turned out to be 13.2 volt. I drove the car a couple of miles, headlights off, blower on, and it behaved normally. Battery (6 months old) held its charge at 12V, although, after two days sitting it showed 11.8V.
The alternator is one of the Bosch K1 35 amp things. Would upgrading be a good idea? What has me baffled is that the amp light isn't coming on, eventhough the charge is obviously not keeping up with the load. My next step will be cleaning battery and alternator connections, although I doubt the problem lies there because I went through that exercise when I put in the new battery this summer, but being a bit of an ignoramous in matters electrical, I could do with advice, please.
Bob S.
|
