After the previous weekend and it's electrical problems we were pretty relieved to get home. Annoyingly, we probably relaxed a little too much, parked the van down the side of the house as usual, went inside and tried to forget about it for a day or so.
Some helpful feedback from users of the Brickyard forum pointed us towards possible problems - it's usually at this point you start to see pound-signs!!!
With the van booked in for an MOT at the end of the week we left it, knowing that we'd only have to limp it half a mile down the road to Aire Valley Workshop. Not so easy... a quick check of battery status on the electrical control panel in the van read; Leisure Battery 13.2v, Vehicle Battery 0.8v. No flashing red light on the door top indicated a stone-dead battery, no alarm, no central locking.
Time to call out the AA. Once again another great show of customer service; from initial phone call and text message updates, to the chap arriving with a friendly smile and a love of T5s, the experience was faultless. On a side note he did mention that he'd just come from another T5 - broken driveshaft! That brought back some memories.
With the help of a heavy-duty jump-starter he had the van up and running straight away and with the help of a multi-meter spotted the alternator was delivering 16v to the van battery. He kindly followed us 'round to the garage and brought us home again, with a helpful description of the problem for further investigation - and handy paperwork to claim back on the AA Parts & Labour cover.
A phone call the next day from the garage reveals it is the voltage regulator and alternator at fault. A new battery will also be fitted. Then MOT and service. We should have a healthy van back within the next couple of days.
Hopefully that won't be too expensive a repair. The AA sound brilliant compared to Green Flag. When my steering pump finally failed on my Vauxhall end of last year, Green Flag called out another recovery company, who took me to a garage of THEIR choice. Unloaded the car hten dumped me in the middle of the road. The driver said good luck and drove off. I had to push it to safety myself. Think I will change to The AA next time.
ReplyDeleteCheers Jase, I really can't fault the AA - I know some people have said their patrol guys can be grumpy but I tend to think it's how you approach the situation of a breakdown or recovery situation.
DeleteThey may not be the cheapest either but it seems you get what you pay for!
Was going to recommend David Peels in Keighley they would have repaired the alternator for you it's usually a lot cheaper, but seen as you have cover forget I said anything.
ReplyDeletePaul