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New alternator good battery no charge

20K views 19 replies 12 participants last post by  Nicol4ae 
#1 ·
Hi all. Can anybody help me. It’s had a new alternator and the battery is good.
I can charge it and this morning on the way to work my alternator kicked in and started giving me 13.7v when I stopped it and started it again it won’t kick back in so running the battery down continuously.
Can anybody help please
Regards
Mark
 
#2 ·
I'm not an expert on alternators but my first thought would be to check the basics such as fuses and relays. Have you done these basic checks?


ps: this is the correct location for this question; you appeared confused by also posting elsewhere.

pps: which year/Series Captiva is it?
 
#4 ·
Hi it’s a 2010 captiva
Just got a scan done and came up with
heating element control circuit B357A
And
Unknown fault code B57D
I’m lost. Can put any light on the issues. All fuses checked and good.
Alternator not charging unless straight after a charge. When I switch the engine off once then it won’t charge at 14v it just starts at 12v and drops as if the alternator is not kicking in.


If there is any experts out there could you please help me
Thanks in advance
 
#5 ·
Re your DTC’s B357A and B57D, seems you’ve got it wrong, there is no B57D so think you mean B357D. In any case both of these DTC’s refer to an auxiliary PTC heater which your car doesn’t have if it’s a standard UK spec.

Your problem could be as simple as a faulty voltage regulator in your new alternator or it may be related to poor connection(s) and/or high resistance within the control and charging circuits.

This is not a comprehensive list but it’s a start:

Simple things first, how clean and secure are your battery terminals?

On the series 2 Antara / Captiva there is a multi-earth point connection on the bulkhead just aft of the vehicle battery. If yours has the same, loosen the main connection, move the wires around to make sure of their grounding and re-tighten.

I believe there was an issue with the alternator plug on these vehicles, you may find the connector is breaking up internally especially if it was roughly refitted at the time of alternator replacement.

Check the cabling between the starter feed solenoid which continues to the alternator output terminal, it’s a particularly cheap and nasty arrangement and prone to poor connection/overheating and high resistance.
 
#6 ·
Hi all. Can anybody help me. It’s had a new alternator and the battery is good.
I can charge it and this morning on the way to work my alternator kicked in and started giving me 13.7v when I stopped it and started it again it won’t kick back in so running the battery down continuously.
Can anybody help please
Regards
Mark
Hi did you get this resolved as I am now having the same issue?
 
#8 ·
I am also having same problem fitted new alternator and battery and got an hour down the motorway and dash lights and needles all started playing up I turned of my head lights and dash sorted it's self out got me another hours drive then battery give up meter on the battery says its not charging any ideas
 
#7 ·
Wratford, Welcome to the Forum.
Have you followed through the recommendations (entry #5 above) by Victor?

There are some Helpful Tips and Guidance using the Forum on the attached link. Completion of location and details of your vehicle are important.
.
 
#9 ·
Get the Alternator, relay(s), fuse(s) and belt checked. Any diagnostic codes ?

The Forum System is identifying you as being in UK (?). It helps to complete your Sign-Up. Useful info on the following link:-

.
 
#10 ·
Hi all. Can anybody help me. It’s had a new alternator and the battery is good.
I can charge it and this morning on the way to work my alternator kicked in and started giving me 13.7v when I stopped it and started it again it won’t kick back in so running the battery down continuously.
Can anybody help please
Regards
Mark
Hallo you find out what was wrong. I have the same problem,and the garasje have big problem to fine out.can you help me,thank you.
 
#11 ·
Steinar, Please complete your Sign-Up by identifying your World Country (Forum system thinks Iceland?) and details of your vehicle.

Guidance here :- Helpful Guidance Using the Forum
 
#12 ·
I know this is a very old thread but it's the only one I've found that is exactly the same problem as I have.

I've found the wires behind the battery and I can't see a problem with the alternator connector.

Background, battery died and the AA cane out to us. Tested the alternator and battery and said the alternator was putting out 12v while idling and 10v when all lights heated seats etc were on. So he said we needed a new alternator. We had the garage parts and labour cover with them so they booked us into a halfords (yes I know!). But hardly any garages accept the AA garage cover now as they wait to long for their payment. Halfords took 2 weeks to change it! They had the wrong alternator arrive the first time. Then after changing it and us picking it up the manager said an odd thing at the time about how he thought there was an electrical fault as the nee alternator was only putting out 11.5v and was showing a higher reading when the car was off that when it was running. But they didn't know why and it should be OK! if not get it looked at somewhere else because they "don't deal with electrics". Went out to the car and it wouldn't start. The battery had drained since they finished working on it 3 hours before I got there. They kept the car and changed the battery. Assured me all was good and I took thd car home. Drove fine, parked up gif the night. Next morning battery dead and wrong start. Charge the battery to full and it drains it over night. The AA and Halfords have washed their hands of the problem and I've already considered the legal route and I'm not going to do it.

So now I'm hear hoping the real experts (you lot) cam actually give me some good advice.

Added car info to signature as it won't save in the account part before anyone brings that up.
 
#14 ·
I know this is a very old thread but it's the only one I've found that is exactly the same problem as I have.

I've found the wires behind the battery and I can't see a problem with the alternator connector.

Background, battery died and the AA cane out to us. Tested the alternator and battery and said the alternator was putting out 12v while idling and 10v when all lights heated seats etc were on. So he said we needed a new alternator. We had the garage parts and labour cover with them so they booked us into a halfords (yes I know!). But hardly any garages accept the AA garage cover now as they wait to long for their payment. Halfords took 2 weeks to change it! They had the wrong alternator arrive the first time. Then after changing it and us picking it up the manager said an odd thing at the time about how he thought there was an electrical fault as the nee alternator was only putting out 11.5v and was showing a higher reading when the car was off that when it was running. But they didn't know why and it should be OK! if not get it looked at somewhere else because they "don't deal with electrics". Went out to the car and it wouldn't start. The battery had drained since they finished working on it 3 hours before I got there. They kept the car and changed the battery. Assured me all was good and I took thd car home. Drove fine, parked up gif the night. Next morning battery dead and wrong start. Charge the battery to full and it drains it over night. The AA and Halfords have washed their hands of the problem and I've already considered the legal route and I'm not going to do it.

So now I'm hear hoping the real experts (you lot) cam actually give me some good advice.

Added car info to signature as it won't save in the account part before anyone brings that up.

I had almost exactly the same symptoms and it was plain and simple the battery connector was broken on the negative side.
 
#13 ·
There is a similar topic of battery draining when engine not running. Member Victor suggested the following. "No quick snappy answer. Could be a faulty module staying active and not going into sleep mode (alarm, EVAP, keyless entry, central locking etc) or a faulty alternator diode pack. Suggest you carry out a parasitic drain test first then start pulling fuses / relays to see if you can narrow it down".
 
#16 ·
@Deanopud first thing I would recommend is checking that neither battery connector is cracked, my negative was cracked underneath and was causing these exact symptoms. Once replaced all gone away for the sake of a cheap replacement.
 
#17 ·
Other possibility is defective crimping on one of the main cables. (defective crimping was a recall on some models).
It does however sound very much like parasitic drain. Member Victor has mentioned this circumstance in his previous posts. See my post # 13 above.
 
#18 ·
Did anyone get to the source of the problem? I have a 2013 Antara 2.2 with the same issue. The previous owner fitted a new battery and alternator presuming it was fixed, he sold it as a fully working vehicle. Second day gauges lights etc started playing up then a mile or two later it died and wouldn't start again with a flat battery. Changed battery to start it, and did a voltage test to find it wasn't charging. Also there was no battery warning light, either with the ignition on, or after the engine is running. So i stripped down the instrument cluster to see if it was a blown led. Someone had covered 4 led's with black mastic. The battery, service, hill decent and traction control led's were all blanked out for some strange reason. Cleaned them up and the only one staying on is the battery one for the charging. I can only presume there has been issues with the others in the past. Anyway the car is booked into the garage to check the problem. It's just to say while looking up the possible causes with mine, one comment i found was that he had changed the alternator and battery, every garage he took it to couldn't find the problem. It ended up being a problem with the starter. Because the alternator lead goes to the same post as the battery lead to the starter solenoid, a short in the solenoid was preventing the alternator from charging for some reason. New starter and everything was fine. Another one was that a signal is sent to the alternator through one of the small wires to start it charging (from the ECU from what i gather), without that signal it wont kick in to charge. Worth checking for any broken wires or corroded connections on those wires as well as the main wires. Others were saying the connection bolts for the main cables don't have any lock washers, and some were finding they had worked loose enough to cause a bad connection preventing the alternator from charging. Hope this helps someone, and i'll post up the outcome from mine.
 
#20 ·
Hi all. Can anybody help me. It’s had a new alternator and the battery is good.
I can charge it and this morning on the way to work my alternator kicked in and started giving me 13.7v when I stopped it and started it again it won’t kick back in so running the battery down continuously.
Can anybody help please
Regards
Mark
Any updates on this issue?! Has anyone solved the mystery?
 
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