Electrical / mechanical issues - help please!

stockport_hatter

Wondered if anyone could offer some guidance with an issue I am encountering? I own a Peugeot 106 (16 years old) and recently I have been having some electrical / mechanical issues.

When I am driving along the electrical power to the radio can cut out completely and at the same time there is a slight sluggishness to the engine. This power cut can last from a few seconds to a few minutes and regularly happens during my daily commute to work. I was keen to see if it affected any other electrical things in the car and I have noticed that when the power goes to the radio that other electrical items in the car become more intense. For example the speed of the windscreen wipers increases and the power from the fans increases.

All the earthing points in the car have been checked by a relative who knows his way around a car and he says they are fine. The spark plug leads have also been checked in case they were shorting and causing the problem but everything seems okay. The battery is 4 years old but the car starts first time and I have been told my regular mechanic that if it was the battery causing a problem then this wouldn’t be the case.

My mechanic is stumped and says he would need to have a drive and to take a look at it to find out the problem so it is booked in for next week. I have changed over the radio to a spare I had to see if the radio was causing the problem but it is still happening.

Anyone else ever encountered something similar? Would love to know what the problem could be.

=rizla=

I'd say its the alternator regulator gone bad, giving you an intermittent over voltage. The radio switches off as it senses the over voltage, the wipers increase because of the over voltage, and the engine is sluggish either due to the increased alternator load or the ECU not liking the voltage.


I could be very wrong of course, but get your relative to check it with a voltmeter.

stockport_hatter

Thanks for the advice! The alternator was mentioned as a possible cause of the problems so i'll get this checked out. I've just done a quick Google search on a failing alternator regulator and it does sound like it is the cause of the issues i've been experiencing.