Xsara Picasso Battery/Alternator?

chrissyfp1

Hi, I'm looking for some ideas.


We have a Citroen Xsara Picasso 1.6 petrol '03 reg.

On Wednesday the dashboard battery warning light came on and 'Battery Charge Fault' on the display. It was going on and off.
OH carried on driving it and got it home as it was intermittent. He thinks cars fix themselves so he decided to drive it Thur morn (Battery Light and Warning permanently on now). Oddly enough it stopped!!

FIL came out and tried to jump start him, it started so OH turned it off & left FIL's car running to try to charge battery. Then it wouldn't start again.

The car is quite far away now and the last thing I can afford is it having to be towed as well.
My Dad took OH over to it this morn and he's taken out the battery. Put it to charge and it was saying it was 60%. It's now charged to nearly full and the voltmeter says it's putting out 11.93v. If it was 60% I would've expected it to start the car at least??
We're going to go in a while and put the battery back. I'm assuming it's the alternator, but the 'non' start on 60% battery has thrown me a bit.
OH didn't check any belts and has fiddled around with wires underneath the alternator!!

If it starts with full batt and then dies, does that mean its the alternator? If it doesn't start with full batt, does that make it a dead batt even though it's still measuring at nearly 12v?
What else should I be looking at? I'm confused and panicked as the car is used for work, no car = no money but we're in the usual situation of having no money to fix the car! Sorry for my waffling!
Many thanks in advance :0)

BeenThroughItAll

chrissyfp1 wrote: »

Hi, I'm looking for some ideas.


We have a Citroen Xsara Picasso 1.6 petrol '03 reg.

On Wednesday the dashboard battery warning light came on and 'Battery Charge Fault' on the display. It was going on and off.
OH carried on driving it and got it home as it was intermittent. He thinks cars fix themselves so he decided to drive it Thur morn (Battery Light and Warning permanently on now). Oddly enough it stopped!!

FIL came out and tried to jump start him, it started so OH turned it off & left FIL's car running to try to charge battery. Then it wouldn't start again.

The car is quite far away now and the last thing I can afford is it having to be towed as well.
My Dad took OH over to it this morn and he's taken out the battery. Put it to charge and it was saying it was 60%. It's now charged to nearly full and the voltmeter says it's putting out 11.93v. If it was 60% I would've expected it to start the car at least??
We're going to go in a while and put the battery back. I'm assuming it's the alternator, but the 'non' start on 60% battery has thrown me a bit.
OH didn't check any belts and has fiddled around with wires underneath the alternator!!

If it starts with full batt and then dies, does that mean its the alternator? If it doesn't start with full batt, does that make it a dead batt even though it's still measuring at nearly 12v?
What else should I be looking at? I'm confused and panicked as the car is used for work, no car = no money but we're in the usual situation of having no money to fix the car! Sorry for my waffling!
Many thanks in advance :0)

I'd say without any major doubts that it's the alternator. I'd ignore any '60% charged' light you might find on a charger. If the battery's showing under 12v it's pretty damn flat, and flat enough that a modern car probably wouldn't even try and start.

Strider590

chrissyfp1 wrote: »

My Dad took OH over to it this morn and he's taken out the battery. Put it to charge and it was saying it was 60%. It's now charged to nearly full and the voltmeter says it's putting out 11.93v.

Fully charged it should be at least 12.6v (after being left to stand), directly off charge it should read 13.6 to 14.2v and gradually drop to 12.6v.

11.93v after charging off car, means its completely shot!!

STOP trying to charge it, charging a battery that won't hold a charge will cause it to vent explosive gas (hydrogen), one spark and you could shower yourself and your car in molten plastic, lead and sulphuric acid.



The first mistake was leaving it this long, cars DO NOT fix themselves, ignoring early earning signs will only cost your more money in the long run.

societys_child

11.93v.? Does sound like a goosed battery.

angrycrow

don't be tempted to put in a new battery and hope for the best. If the alternators shot you will rapidly kill the new battery. Also make sure whoever replaces the battery knows the correct process as the ecu's on the early shape picassos are known to be sensitive to the voltage surge when the systems power back up.

Strider590

angrycrow wrote: »

don't be tempted to put in a new battery and hope for the best. If the alternators shot you will rapidly kill the new battery. Also make sure whoever replaces the battery knows the correct process as the ecu's on the early shape picassos are known to be sensitive to the voltage surge when the systems power back up.

Yes, but it won't be easy to diagnose the alternator if one cannot get the car running.

Once running the battery voltage should be 14.2v, if this is not the case, then the alternator is not putting out a charge.

My suggestion is fit new battery, get it running, test the voltage and if the alternator isn't working then take the battery off, put it on charge until full again and then replace the alternator.

arcon5

A new battery may get you home at least. Or just hook a jump pack on it and leave it in the engine bay.