running without alternator?

one time when i was at swansea uni, me and some mates when to the bristol classic car show.
I was driving in my 2cv.
the morning we left the battery was dead so i got a bump start and off we went.
around cardiff area i turned the radio on, but it wouldn't come on.
then i glanced at the voltmeter on the dash and it was showing nothing.

after stopping at a services, it became apparent that the fanbelt had broken, and it must have happened the day before cos the battery was flat when we started.

took quite a bit of random driving around till we found a place that sold the right size fanbelt.

the car kept on running but we had to bump start it each time we stopped.
 
If you don't use anything, i,e lights, stereo, then all the battery has to do is keep the pump solenoid energized, something i'm going to guess needs very little current :P

Feeling brave? Pull the solenoid plunger, tow or jump start after bleeding the fuel system, it'll never stop, not even without a battery connected ;)

This all depends on it being an old nasp ford diesel.
 
agw_01 said:
Must have been something seriously wrong with that battery then... or a drain.

The starter is the only thing (which you'd use on a hot summers day) that'll drain the battery significantly.
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unless it has an electric fan on the rad. On a hot summers day that would be on almost constantly trying to cool the engine.
 
helpimcrap said:
how long do you think the battery will last without lights on? 15 miles?

what about with lights on? 5 miles?

im gonna answer this question tomorrow as my alternator on the escort packed up today... sigh.

12.6v across the battery when running or turned off. was reading 13.5v when off and 14.1v when running yesterday with battery light on.
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I drove the cerbera from Ashby to Melton (about 30 miles, or so) at night, in the rain, on Monday (as you have probably read in my thread, alternator failure). I made it to the garage, but it wouldn't start once I shut it off. I think anouther couple of miles and I'd have been knackered :D

The battery is a 550Aen in that, the wipers were not on constantly and the air temperature was quite cold, so the car never really got hot enough to trigger the fans... although I did have the blower on all the way too, first on air con to clear the windscreen, then on hot as the air-con was freezing me to death :D
 
Only a small battery in mine but I did 100 miles with no lights and I have done about 3/4 of an hour with the lights on before. I am the king of dead alternator experience, I have owned cars with dynamos and they are really unreliable. I wouldn't want to speculate how many times I have had to limp home with no charging :D

My triumphant day was the day I learned how to convert a dynamo to an alternator :D
 
Jonny69 said:
Only a small battery in mine but I did 100 miles with no lights and I have done about 3/4 of an hour with the lights on before. I am the king of dead alternator experience, I have owned cars with dynamos and they are really unreliable. I wouldn't want to speculate how many times I have had to limp home with no charging :D

My triumphant day was the day I learned how to convert a dynamo to an alternator :D
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i can't be TOO far behind, at least not number of dead alternators to number of years driving ratio anyway :p

the alternator died on my sisters clio when i borrowed it and that lasted about 150 miles! I'm on my 6th alternator in my v6 mondeo (wiring fault that my first mechanic didnt bloody see and just kept replacing the alternator) and that'd get about 20 miles from a fresh battery with the lights on.

Tom.
 
well it made it there and back - about 25 miles. included 2 cold starts and 2 hot starts as well.... still feels fine and had to have lights on when coming back. :)

now to go charge it up again....

btw its an old m reg 1.8 nasp escort diesel.

nothing electric in the car bar the lights lol.
 
I managed over 240 miles in a VW Beetle with no alternator, or should I say generator.

6 starts one long journey approx 130 miles and then a week of driving. I knew it had gone and finally got worse when on the way home in the rain the wipers gradually slowed to a stop. :(

Modern cars just wont run, not least because most have sensors which will shut the engine down if the sensor looses power.

My old MK4 Astra lit up its battery light on the M4 and I had about 30 miles to cover. Going back out late that night I managed a further 16 miles before she shut down. Very clevel too as the ECU systematically withdrew power from things not needed to keep the engine running and the sensors active. My heater shut down, my stereo turned off, then my power steering, then my indicators. I could use hazards OK and my lights were still on. Eventually however, they too died. I'd already pulled up onto the drive way by then.
 
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