ohms Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 hey guys so tonight i went out, parked, left her for a few hours, then got in to get home. had headlights, heat, seat heaters, and radio on (usually not a problem). at a red light i thought it felt drafty in the car, so, as ive done before, i flicked both front power window switches a sec to make sure they were both closed. just at that moment as i hit the switches, she stalled. she started back up no problem, but the radio and heated seat switch lights wouldnt come back on. totally dark (but my gauge cluster lights worked). i was able to drive home (i was a good distance away, about an hours drive). in stop and go traffic, her idle was a lil wobbly, and the tach needle would drop when i touched the brake pedal (and lit up the brake lights). turn signals wrent working either, but my hazards were, as i needed them at one light (was coasting to light, touched brakes, and she stalled - was able to restart her rolling in neutral with my starter relay button)...highway driving felt normal, but stop and go traffic/street light to street light, her idle was uneven, and i would pop her to neutral and give her a bit of pedal to keep her revs up (and smooth) while braking with my left foot. got her home, and just as i was pulling into my spot, i figured what the hell, lemme see how she'll handle it if i dont coddle her in neuttral while revving her, and as i was braking into my spot, she died again. and wont start. acts like the battery is nearly dead - enough juice to put on headlights and power the door locks, but not enough to start the car (not even enough to turn the starter). when the radio and seat heater switches and power wndows went out earlier, i thought she blew a fuse or 2, or a relay? but now i dunno, the battery is drained, so im wondering how my alt is now not working. its late, so tomorrow im gonna look at the fuses, and see if i can get a jump and atleast hobble her over to pepboys and get the alt tested (tho i dont think they do that for free like autozone - my closest autozone is still a bit of a drive away, about 30 mins). this sucks......i feel like its something simple tho - she was running fine b4 tonight. i knew i was taxing her system a bit tho when i had the seat heaters and radio going (and headlights) and then hit both front power window switches....any ideas what i did to her? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N9TE Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 Seeing that your battery appears to be not charged, verify this with a voltage reading. You have a digital VOM? What's the voltage of the battery? If it's not charged, see if the connection to the alternation is good. Nice and messy down there because of where Peugeot decided to locate the battery. Many auto chains will indeed test your alternator, but usually this is off-the-car. You did not put too much of a demand on the car. It was designed to have all the accessories you listed operating at once as needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohms Posted March 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 thanks dude hit her up this morning- and yup, scraped up my hands good getting to the alt's connections hehe so i used my voltmeter and the battery was at 9.xxx this morning - stronger than she was last night when i parked her. i said what the hell and bought a battery at pepboys and put it in. she started up fine, and ran well - my gf (who drives the car every day; i drive on the weekends, sometimes) said the console lights and dome lights were brighter than shes ever seen them before, and the windows were moving faster as well. im still wary that my alt could be dying, but i tested her again and the battery hadnt lost any power (after running her for about 30-45 mins), but im still a lil worried. gonna take her to autozone tomorrow for their free test anyway, for some reassurance. usually running all her accessories does dim the lights a bit - i went thru the grounding trees at the front, and one i found in the back in the trunk a while back, but also, in swapping the battery, i found one wire from batterys negative cable that goes to the nearby grounding tree - it was broken - and i cut out the burnt up dirty broken ends and rejoined it. possible that that ground was the culprit of the weakish electrics before. Kills me when i change more than one thing at a time (in this case, the battery, and reconnecting that lil ground wire) and cant be sure what it is that i did that rectified the situation! but anyway, i'll post back tomorrow if anything "new" happens. the way she acted last night was still really weird to me. besides the radio and power windows going out, i remember now the gas gauge needle dropped also, so i guess the gauge wasnt getting power (worked today just fine tho. actually worked b4 i did anything to the car this morning, same with the windows and radio. windows were weak, but worked. last night, nada.) Weird to me. also, i had posted b4 about thinking about selling the car - my gf says if i can get the car to never leave her stranded (and she hasnt yet, but last night/todays incident was a close call), she'd love to keep the pug. she loves the car and having something a lil different from everyone else, even if she has probably 80 hp haha. Seeing that your battery appears to be not charged, verify this with a voltage reading. You have a digital VOM? What's the voltage of the battery? If it's not charged, see if the connection to the alternation is good. Nice and messy down there because of where Peugeot decided to locate the battery. Many auto chains will indeed test your alternator, but usually this is off-the-car. You did not put too much of a demand on the car. It was designed to have all the accessories you listed operating at once as needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 also, i had posted b4 about thinking about selling the car - my gf says if i can get the car to never leave her stranded (and she hasnt yet, but last night/todays incident was a close call), she'd love to keep the pug. i just upgraded my auto club membership so i get more free service calls andre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N9TE Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Yep, AAA and a fully charged smartphone are required items when using an old Peugeot as a daily driver... Omar, 'cause of the age of our cars, everything you touch will need a "go-through". When I was a kid reading about the Titanic (before Leo ruined it for all time) I remember thinking "why can't they raise it and restore it"? Time changes things and although the changes are not as dramatic when metal sits in sea water, real changes do occur. Our cars are nowhere near the cars that people drove off the lots in the mid 80s. It's our job to sort the systems out. One by one. This isn't a Peugeot problem. I read of 928 and Alfa guys going through this exact same drill. Even Ferrari 308s. The 80s were the first years of computer driven cars and they'll take more smarts and determination to keep running than our dads did with their 50s and 60s cars. Really those cars are cake compared to our cars. Peugeot owners who keep their cars on the road during the next decade will be the toughest of the lot. I've already seen dozens of decent guys bail on the cars in the last 10 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 Hi Andre, First thing you need to do is verify that the battery is showing 13 - 14.5V at idle. That will prove the car is charging, rev the motor and make sure it doesn't fluctuate too much - this will show that the power is regulated properly. From your symptom recount - I'm betting the alternator is done, and it had stopped charging your battery. This can also happen if the battery light in the dash burns out - so make sure that illuminates when you go to start the car - it should be on with the ignition on before you start. A new battery can run quite a long time without the alternator charging it, especially when new and with a ton of cranking amps... If the alternator isn't charging, swap in a generic GM 2 wire alternator. Cheap - available at any parts store, and it's just *slightly* off in pulley alignment - nothing to worry about though. It shouldn't be buried on the XN6 though - should be right on top on the right side on the XN6. (N9Txx bury them though) As for your wife's request - there isn't a car in the world that you could make that promise with! Hell - even a new car can leave her stranded. I work with MANY people driving new cars that are WAY more troublesome than my 89' 505 Turbo - so it really comes down to how well you can keep it maintained. One thing for sure - that XN6 is LEGENDARY for it's longevity, so if you take car of it, only the odd thing can take it down, and that applies to any car new or used, and of any make ever made. Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohms Posted March 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 hehe, its me omar, not andre =) but anyway, yup, i know, the funky 505 will need its systems gone thru one by one, over time. the alt itself is easy to get to, but the wires and connections were below it, and that was tight all these things considered tho, its still such a hardy car. gets driven as a daily commuter thru jersey, and hasnt missed a beat yet. and im wondering if i already have a gm 2 wire alt in there, actually...ill take another look this weekend, gonna be a car weekend - moving my camaro to another friend's driveway (free storage, hurrah) to finish my brake lines and sorting out the dash cluster. another alt would be cheap, relatively - i'll look around, may get a new one for puggy anyway Hi Andre, First thing you need to do is verify that the battery is showing 13 - 14.5V at idle. That will prove the car is charging, rev the motor and make sure it doesn't fluctuate too much - this will show that the power is regulated properly. From your symptom recount - I'm betting the alternator is done, and it had stopped charging your battery. This can also happen if the battery light in the dash burns out - so make sure that illuminates when you go to start the car - it should be on with the ignition on before you start. A new battery can run quite a long time without the alternator charging it, especially when new and with a ton of cranking amps... If the alternator isn't charging, swap in a generic GM 2 wire alternator. Cheap - available at any parts store, and it's just *slightly* off in pulley alignment - nothing to worry about though. It shouldn't be buried on the XN6 though - should be right on top on the right side on the XN6. (N9Txx bury them though) As for your wife's request - there isn't a car in the world that you could make that promise with! Hell - even a new car can leave her stranded. I work with MANY people driving new cars that are WAY more troublesome than my 89' 505 Turbo - so it really comes down to how well you can keep it maintained. One thing for sure - that XN6 is LEGENDARY for it's longevity, so if you take car of it, only the odd thing can take it down, and that applies to any car new or used, and of any make ever made. Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 Damn - I posted in a hurry as work was ending so my apologies Omar for not reading very well! Funny thing about the alternator is that it's likely the same one your Camaro uses. The basic once is 80A, and you can get upgraded ones to 100 or even 130A pretty easy. 80A is plenty for your car though, and will be a nice bump up from the stocker that came with it. Wiring is easy with one of the two wires coming back to the post the battery cable goes too, the other wire is the signal wire from the car. Should be pretty straight forward to hook up. Good luck and keep us posted... Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohms Posted April 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 lil update - shes been tip top ever since. and yup shes got a GM alt on her right now - but if i come across a good deal on a new one, i'll replace it anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.