battery not charging

[andymn]

help,
my 325 comes out on a w/end , went to drive it other day and she started chugging a bit....it was raining and the wipers you would have thought were half soaked...( Ooops pardon the pun )

for the past week or two, i have had a couple of ignition lights outm but thought nothing of it.

i have checked the bulbs and they seem fine, plugs weren't loose.

i could probably jump the car off but if she wont charge is a bit pointless.

bearing in mind i am non technical.....what checking procedures should i take...

cheers
Andy

[whipsey]

first off take your battery out and give it a full charge
do you have an alarm on the car and how far do you normally go when you use the car cause the alarm may be draining the battery and not enough charge is put back into the battery while your driving
failing that get under the car and check all your earth leads
next possibility might be your alternators given up the ghost
hope this helps

[andymn]

cheers mate
i sometimes do 200 miles and maybe only 50 at other times

only has immob connected.......

if alternators packed up, will that stop the batt light from going on the dash??

[whipsey]

if the batterys completly flat the lights wont come on the dash anyway

[andymn]

battery isn't completely flat......ignition lights show, except the battery light

it has been like this for a couple of weeks .

checked earths, they seem ok, connections on alternator seem ok.....there is a small connector like thing at end of alt.....anyway this seems a bit loose....is it a push on pull off connector?

[Brianmoooore]

Can't really understand what your symtoms are.
Is charging light not lighting at all with ignition switch, or staying on all the time?
Connections to altenator are bolt on. Nothing should be loose.
Charging circuit is fairly simple - just the altenator and some wire basically, although on early E30s the charge light has an important role as well.

[andymn]

i know it sounds like a strange one.....

i think it stems back to installing the OBC.....

i noticed 2 out of the 4 ignition lights didn't come on when i turned on the ignition......(handbrake and oil light came on)

i thought it was bulbs so i ignored it, couple of weeks later battery didn't have enough power to start car.....

i know normally if there is a charging problem the battery light illuminates....but was is the cause for it not to come on with the ignition??

[Brianmoooore]

Remove the air filter/AFM to give some working room and take the smaller blue wire off the altenator. Turn the ignition on and earth this blue wire to the engine block. Charge lamp should light. If it doesn't, then sort that first.
Now disconnect the battery and remove the large red lead from the altenator.
Next remove the altenator completely, clean up all the mounting points and then put everything back and start the car.
Measure the voltage across the battery with a meter. Should be 14 volts plus.
If not, then your altenator is probably U/S.

[andymn]

cheers mate , i'll try that