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[Marks DTM Calib]

I thought all car manufacturers do extreme climate tests on cars, and mostly use the same components on the cars, no matter what the market.

And it wasn't that hot really.  Hot for the UK, but 45C isn't unheard of in the Med, and the Astra is a fairly common car there...

Temperatures in the IP area can hit 75 degC in the middle east midday sun, just under the roof its 85degC so not, what we had is not hot at all.

I expect the Intrument panel might be loose in its fixed connector, or a wire has rubber through and shorting out.

[pscocoa]

Damn - it did it again today- managed to get it to Eden with fault lights on - after 3 hours they just phoned to say narrowed down to some problem with air conditioning electrics  - plot thickens as it was regassed 2 days before but had been fine.

[pscocoa]

Eden are stumped - it has now been referred to Vauxhall Technical Assistance HQ

[STEMO]

Eden are stumped - it has now been referred to Vauxhall Technical Assistance HQ

I take it it's an astra K, Phil?


Sorry, just seen it's a J.

[pscocoa]

Eden are stumped - it has now been referred to Vauxhall Technical Assistance HQ

I take it it's an astra K, Phil?


Sorry, just seen it's a J.

It runs fine if you don't turn AC on!!

[Doctor Gollum]

Failing compressor putting too much load on the engine at low rpm conditions 

[Marks DTM Calib]

Grounding issue then

[pscocoa]

Well Vauxhall and Eden were of tremendous help. They said they were completely stumped and could only recommend a change of a control unit at a cost of £2000 but would not guarantee that this would be a fix. Terrible customer service. Took car away and it is now with a local auto electrician who believes it is the alternator and possibly battery as well. His meter showed replace battery but also alternator not delivering enough power. Hope to know more tomorrow.

[pscocoa]

New WAI alternator seems to have fixed everything. Driving it all afternoon and no problems. He will recheck battery performance on Monday as it must have been drained after events of past 2 weeks so maybe no need to replace. Eden are just a joke. They told me 2 weeks ago alternator was fine despite AA saying that was most likely culprit

[Marks DTM Calib]

I don't buy that one, the systems would be full of low or high volt codes.

I expect this issue to return

[pscocoa]

Astra still driving fine with ac on and absolutely no issues after nearly a week. Eden maintain that it could not be that as the engine was revving erratically when they had it. They gave me so much bullshit as to why they could not diagnose. Independent Auto Electrician was adamant from get go that it was the alternator.

Bad alternators seem to be able to manifest themselves in many ways but would high revving at idle as opposed to low revs /cutting out (which seems more the norm for an alternator issue) be a sign when coupled with other electrical issues?

[STEMO]

Astra still driving fine with ac on and absolutely no issues after nearly a week. Eden maintain that it could not be that as the engine was revving erratically when they had it. They gave me so much bullshit as to why they could not diagnose. Independent Auto Electrician was adamant from get go that it was the alternator.

Bad alternators seem to be able to manifest themselves in many ways but would high revving at idle as opposed to low revs /cutting out (which seems more the norm for an alternator issue) be a sign when coupled with other electrical issues?

It appears to be fixed, Phil. Personally, I wouldn't worry about the whys and wherefores.

[pscocoa]

Astra still driving fine with ac on and absolutely no issues after nearly a week. Eden maintain that it could not be that as the engine was revving erratically when they had it. They gave me so much bullshit as to why they could not diagnose. Independent Auto Electrician was adamant from get go that it was the alternator.

Bad alternators seem to be able to manifest themselves in many ways but would high revving at idle as opposed to low revs /cutting out (which seems more the norm for an alternator issue) be a sign when coupled with other electrical issues?

It appears to be fixed, Phil. Personally, I wouldn't worry about the whys and wherefores.

cheers Steve - I want my diagnostic fee back and some beer money.

[Doctor Gollum]

Astra still driving fine with ac on and absolutely no issues after nearly a week. Eden maintain that it could not be that as the engine was revving erratically when they had it. They gave me so much bullshit as to why they could not diagnose. Independent Auto Electrician was adamant from get go that it was the alternator.

Bad alternators seem to be able to manifest themselves in many ways but would high revving at idle as opposed to low revs /cutting out (which seems more the norm for an alternator issue) be a sign when coupled with other electrical issues?

It appears to be fixed, Phil. Personally, I wouldn't worry about the whys and wherefores.

cheers Steve - I want my diagnostic fee back and some beer money.

Not unreasonable, considering that Kevin's excellent starting/charging diagnostic guide is almost idiot proof, and it shouldn't be too much to expect a degree of competency from a franchised dealer... 

[LC0112G]

Bad alternators seem to be able to manifest themselves in many ways but would high revving at idle as opposed to low revs /cutting out (which seems more the norm for an alternator issue) be a sign when coupled with other electrical issues?

It depends on the ECU. I don't know if your ECU does it, but, ECU's do monitor battery voltage. They also control idle speed (via the idle air control valve). Normally idle speed is mostly dependent on engine temperature - so on a cold engine it'll be 1000+ rpm, and then as the engine warms up it slowly reduced to 600RPM ish. However, it's entirely possible that your ECU also has a mode where it increases RPM if it detects low battery voltage, in order to increase the charging current generated by the alternator. If it's actually the alternator that's faulty, then battery voltage may never increase, so you get permanently high idle speed.

ECU's also often increase idle RPM when A/C is enabled - to compensate for the extra load the A/C compressor puts on the engine.

I don't know if the Ashtray ECU does any of these things, but it is at least possible, and could explain what was going on.