Hi,
I have a 2002 316i Compact and have recently found that while driving the battery light will come on and the engine will cut out, this only happens when driving and so far it's not happened when braking or coming to a stop. The car turns back on again straight away when I turn the engine on so I can keep driving and it might not happen again for a few days.
I've previously been told (about a year ago) that my alternator is "lazy" but that because it was still performing they didn't advise changing it because of the cost so this time I took it to another garage and they tested the alternator and found it to be running fine. The mechanic thought that it might be an intermittent fault with it so we decided to go ahead and get a new alternator fitted. This was last week and this morning while stuck in a traffic jam the battery light came on twice and the engine cut out each time.
I was pretty much tearing my hair out because apart from the alternator no one seems to have any idea what the problem could be!
Separately, I have also had problems with dashboard warning lights coming on at random times, it is always the handbrake, traction control and abs lights and they all come on at the same time for a few seconds. While they are on my wipers are very slow, the lights for the radio etc are dim/go off and my headlights dim. I was just wondering if the two things could be related?
Sorry for such a long post! I'm grateful for all help or advice anyone can give!
I also had diagnostics run on the car so I have a print out of the fault codes if they would be of any use!
Thanks,
Alison
I have a 2002 316i Compact and have recently found that while driving the battery light will come on and the engine will cut out, this only happens when driving and so far it's not happened when braking or coming to a stop. The car turns back on again straight away when I turn the engine on so I can keep driving and it might not happen again for a few days.
I've previously been told (about a year ago) that my alternator is "lazy" but that because it was still performing they didn't advise changing it because of the cost so this time I took it to another garage and they tested the alternator and found it to be running fine. The mechanic thought that it might be an intermittent fault with it so we decided to go ahead and get a new alternator fitted. This was last week and this morning while stuck in a traffic jam the battery light came on twice and the engine cut out each time.
I was pretty much tearing my hair out because apart from the alternator no one seems to have any idea what the problem could be!
Separately, I have also had problems with dashboard warning lights coming on at random times, it is always the handbrake, traction control and abs lights and they all come on at the same time for a few seconds. While they are on my wipers are very slow, the lights for the radio etc are dim/go off and my headlights dim. I was just wondering if the two things could be related?
Sorry for such a long post! I'm grateful for all help or advice anyone can give!
I also had diagnostics run on the car so I have a print out of the fault codes if they would be of any use!
Thanks,
Alison