Battery issues? Hopefully not Alternator or Voltage regulator.

[DREAMER NO2]

chirag you say the steering was hard this points to something else -- sliping belts,, this will also run down the battery it wont get enough charge

 

[Chirag]

Thanks Dreamer NO2. You are indeed correct as was kid-Jensen at the outset!

Annoyingly I left work on Friday afternoon to find my rear tyre flat. 2nd flat in two years both on en route to work in the fens!

Yesterday, I was about to head out to get that tyre repaired when the car didn't start again. I got it started after a couple of attempts with the battery reading 12.3v but suddenly as I reversed out my garage I heard a lot of squealing type sounds coming from the bonnet and then steam - in short if I had a belt driven car i'd have thought it was my cam-belt.

I looked under the bonnet and could see part of the alternator belt shredded and also part slipped off one pulley. To the touch it was oily. I actually inspected this belt last week after one member mentioned it in this thread. To my untrained non-mechanical eye it looked fine both whilst moving and whilst not moving. There were certainly no strange sounds last week.

I realised I had to move the car back into my garage as I was blocking another car and saw the alternator/battery red light come up and the steering went rock hard. I managed to move the car back in.

As I closed the garage door, I saw oil on the floor just where the belt area was.

So kinda stuck now!

I have left the local Merc indie a message but if I can get a tow then that may be the best option on Monday.

I don't regret changing the battery as I am sure it would have been on its way out after five years.

What does the red light mean - "Visit Workshop" Battery symbol? This came on last week when the steering also went hard but then cleared until yesterday.

Is there a battery drained warning lamp?

I'm now stuck in my garage, at least this is better then the side of the road. What are my options on getting the Merc to my indie who is only a couple of miles up the road?

What is the relationship between the steering system and the alternator belt?

What's the significance of a dump of oil on the floor?

What am I looking at in terms of costs, is it just the belt or does anyone know if its one of the pulleys not moving well enough?

Is this belt a service item - I've never been advised of a change, should you be changing it every few years?

I've mentioned in my posts earlier that the alternator readings seems to be erratic - they stay at 14.1v and then jump up to 14.8v during the journey and then going back down..is this normal behaviour?

Thanks all for your help!

 

[LostKiwi]

The red light is to indicate no charge.
The power steering pump is driven from the auxilliary belt (serpentine belt, fan belt - all the same) - the same belt that also drives the air conditioning compressor, water pump and alternator. If the belt fails you lose air con, power steering, alternator won't charge and the engine will over heat.
The alternator is so named because it produces alternating current (as opposed to direct current that the old generators used to produce). This is converted to DC (for the car electrical system) by a diode pack and controlled by the regulator (both normally internal to the alternator).
The oil is not a good sign. It's possible the air conditioning compressor has seized and broken dumping it's oil (which would explain the intermittent issues and shredded belt) but until inspected it's impossible to know.

 

[DREAMER NO2]

The belt also runs the power steering pump .If the belt slips it will reduce the fluid pressure to the PAS system and you get none assisted steering ,or very little . .You did say you could see oil .I bet thats from the power steering system like a split or leaking hose ,.As for the alternator the regulator inside it will regulat what power is put in to the battery . Without the regulator the battery would explode. I do think you need help on this one .

 

[Chirag]

Thanks both,

An Update. Spoke to the Indie, he said it pointed to a water pump malfunction and hence agreed its best to get the car towed to them due to overheating. Called up RAC who ended up sending a local lad from a company called AASP who was super helpful - thanks Anthony. He owns an ML with the same engine as mine.

he looked at the pulleys and hoses and said hoses were fine but it was the pulley at the top which isn't one that drives a specific ancillary device. We went out to a local motor factors and got a pulley and belt - both made by Gates. These were both on in about 20mins without any removal of front parts of the car.

All good, however, we could then see a dripping. This dripping, which was diesel coming from a small pipe in the centre of the engine - you can see it with the engine cover off, was almost the reason for the pulley having issues as it drips onto the belt.

Anyone know more about this issue? I'm not using the car until it goes in later this week, because I don't wish the damage that drive belt area.

The car reached 90 degrees on my drive and nothing more and the steering is the best I've ever known!

Pics of the pulley and belt below...Gates replacements were £47 inc VAT

 

[DREAMER NO2]

Good news Chirag .I would keep my eye on the repair for a short time ,..

 

[Chirag]

Good news Chirag .I would keep my eye on the repair for a short time ,..

Thanks DREAMER NO2, its due in Thursday and from what I can see this leak is present whilst the car is running. I am assuming its a pipe in the fuel line. I am leaving it in the garage for the next two days in the hope that its preventing more damage as opposed to driving it.

The alternator was showing 14.8 all the way during a short drive so that's good news.

Be interesting to know if anyone has had the same issue or knows what the pipe is.

 

[SL63 Mark]

What is leaking, is it diesel fuel, power steering hydraulic fluid, engine coolant, engine oil or something else.

Put a glove on, dip your finger in the fluid and have a sniff. Some people would taste it, but I am not advising that.

That will tell you what is leaking. Probably not power steering fluid, or your steering would have gone stiff by now, but we're just guessing.

 

[Chirag]

What is leaking, is it diesel fuel, power steering hydraulic fluid, engine coolant, engine oil or something else.

Put a glove on, dip your finger in the fluid and have a sniff. Some people would taste it, but I am not advising that.

That will tell you what is leaking. Probably not power steering fluid, or your steering would have gone stiff by now, but we're just guessing.

Hi Mark, its Diesel for sure!

 

[SL63 Mark]

That's good, should be fixable, surprised the "Indy" did not fix it.

 

[M80]

It wouldn't surprise me if it's from the pump, top and front of engine.

A few years ago but Larisa's did the same, a £45 service kit fixed that, myself so cheaper.

 

[Chirag]

That's good, should be fixable, surprised the "Indy" did not fix it.

Thanks Mark, he'll look at it on Thursday, as you say, hopefully its a quick fix (with a clamp of somekind). Yes, M80, I feel its from the fuel pump. Not sure how long it had been happening, although I had started to smell fuel when turning on the heaters.

 

[Chirag]

Hi All,



An update. So as you know the belt and pulley were replaced..looks like after 60k miles of driving by me the belt was on its way out and the pulley had given up.



The diesel leak onto the drive belt was the fuel pipe and so all 3 were replaced yesterday …all good until I drove home from the indy garage and the car just cuts out but can start again.



The car loses power where all the dash lights up and I can no longer accelerate and then wait for the stall at which point I lose my ability to steer. This feels like the car is being starved of fuel or something. I am able to start up and go further down the road for it to cut out again.



I called the RAC out last night and at that point I luckily had the EML come up and he read them as:



DTC: P1190,Rail pressure control valve

DTC: P1187,Rail pressure monitoring



Would these be linked to the fuel pipes being changed?



The chap at the RAC fiddled with two braided type material hoses at each end of the engine and on getting in the car, the EML light had gone away and he came with me for a drive. His scanner wasn’t giving him any bad live readings. I got home fine.



This morning is another story, all fine until ~10 miles into my 24 mile journey. Essentially after the car had warmed up each time I seemed to go into an incline or descent the car does exactly what it was doing last night – EML is back again and I seemed to have the best success when driving at 40mph in a 60, at ~1500-1700 RPM. I cut out about 4 or 5 times though, not pleasant with lorries behind you.



One thing I noticed last night whilst waiting for the RAC, each time I turned off the ignition, it took a clear 2 to 3 seconds for the engine to stop running! Never had that happen before!



Just as I was beaming about my CLK having done 225k (and 60k for me) over almost 5 years of trouble free motoring, it looks like its part after part that is dying!



From reading around it could be a fuel pressure control valve but I really don’t want to go on a spending spree of part after part for fun! Any ideas?



Thanks as always.

 

[mattkh]

Sounds like a Fuel Pump problem to me.