BATTERY FLASHING ON IDLE

Mar 23, 2019
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Hi guys, please could you help me on this one, i have recently purchased a Seat Ibiza 1.2 TSI DSG 2014 FR MK5.
I keep on getting a battery/alternator light flash when on idle i have replaced the battery and the alternator has told and it still flashes i have checked the belt and it is perfect. I have heard people talking about how it could be a fuse? If it is which fuse am i replacing and where is it located.

Any assistance would be great thank you!!
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
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South Scotland
I think that you have either investigated this at the beginning or got a qualified workshop to investigate this issue for you, it sounds like you or someone else has just been identifying the more obvious/possible faulty components and replaced them one at a time, that will have cost you quite a bit of money!

So, now start from scratch and get the root cause of this issue identified.

If it is a fuse that has cracked, it will be one of the large bolted on fuses above the battery - examine them all very closely to see if you can see a crack/fracture and replace with the correct value if you find any cracked/fractured.

Edit:- with a car at that age and having a charging issue, I would have hoped that anyone replacing the alternator would also have checked the belt idler and tensioner - and probably even replaced the belt as they do not last for ever and fitting a new one while replacing the alternator makes sense to me.
 
Mar 23, 2019
12
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Hello, thank you for the reply, i have been dealing with this with a garage which has advised to change the parts, you are correct it has cost me quite a bit so far and i honestly am exhausted with what could the causing it to trigger, i cannot seem to find the fuse box above my battery as you instructed. Our next guess is that some of the wiring may be loose or correded as it being a Cat N car and the damage was on the passanger side i can only imagine its done something to one of the wires, car drives perfect though.
 

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RUM4MO

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Jun 4, 2008
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Open the lid of that small plastic box on top of the battery that has the wires coming out of it - the fuses are under that cover and the ones of main interest should be the 2 at the end that has the bigger sizes of cable coming out.

Edit:- other thing to check is the main earth lead from battery to body, and the batteries own terminals
 
Mar 23, 2019
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Hello, please see pictures below. The fuses all seem to be okay what do you think? Which leads is it that contains the main earth lead to body ( sorry im not good with electrics ) Batteries own terminals you are referring to the terminals that connect to the negative and positive of the battery correct? I have attached a picture at the end do you know what this is as it has the holder for it as broken off.
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RUM4MO

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Jun 4, 2008
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That connector on the last picture that is not mounted onto anything is probably okay.(I tried unsuccessfully to get that connector back into its storage/mounting clip after a SEAT dealer had been working on the late 2009 Ibiza and sort of failed to get it right!)
Yes check both battery terminals to make sure that they are tight enough and so making a good contact.
Now, to do that, you will need to unclip the plastic and hinge it back to expose the +ve battery terminal, but before doing that, open up that cover that covers the bolt in fuse strips, and that is the small cover that is on the RHS of the first picture in this posting - the cover that has the 4 or 5 or 6 leads, some heavier than other coming away from it, once that cover is opened you will see the bolt in fuses that I was initially talking about.

Edit:- thinking more about this, you don't need to unclip the complete battery top cover too reach the +ve battery terminal, I think that all you need to do is to unclip the small plastic cover that protects the +ve terminal, so that plastic battery cover has on it 2 opening "hatches", one too get access to the battery +ve terminal and one to get access to the bolt in fuses.

Another Edit:- if you look back at the picture you posted in the 3rd posting, you will see the 2 arrows pointing to where someone has already opened that fuse cover, so just insert screwdriver to open each clip., for the smaller battery +ve terminal cover just take care not to break the clips and hinge when opening it, using your finger is good enough too open that one up.
 
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RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
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South Scotland
After checking all the areas I've suggested, you really do need to get a digital voltmeter out and check what the voltage is across the battery terminals when this car is idling to see if that voltage should be switching on/off etc the charge warning light. After that, switch on the headlights inc main beam and rear window heater, then recheck the voltage, if that light is flickering at idle with "nothing" on then it should be hard on when heavily loaded. Also when heavily loaded check the voltage between the alternator metal work (body) and the main body earth near the battery and again between the alternator body and the battery -ve, and report back with the results.

Not having a multimeter/digital voltmeter will mean that you hands are a bit tied on this fault finding lark.
 
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Mar 23, 2019
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After checking all the areas I've suggested, you really do need to get a digital voltmeter out and check what the voltage is across the battery terminals when this car is idling to see if that voltage should be switching on/off etc the charge warning light. After that, switch on the headlights inc main beam and rear window heater, then recheck the voltage, if that light is flickering at idle with "nothing" on then it should be hard on when heavily loaded. Also when heavily loaded check the voltage between the alternator metal work (body) and the main body earth near the battery and again between the alternator body and the battery -ve, and report back with the results.

Not having a multimeter/digital voltmeter will mean that you hands are a bit tied on this fault finding lark.


I see i see, we/i have tested the battery and alternator with the multi meter and the only time that the battery light will come on its on idle and when the lights are on. Even then when we tried with the multimeter, it all looks okay on the voltage as said by the auto electrician.

On the picture attached you would like me to open it and check to see if the bolts with the wires are free of damage? I will shortly send you a photo of what it looks like underneath. Which wire am i supposed to look at? The +VE is the positive terminal correct? I will check now both battery terminals and make sure that they are making good contact and on properly.
 

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Mar 23, 2019
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Please see attached picture. On one of the pictures you can see that the left black cable as a bit of corrosion of some sort on thr metal bit, could this be the cause? Also on number 4 the bolt with wires is not alligned properly?
 

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Mar 23, 2019
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its very strange as following from what i previously said.when on idle and no headlights are on the light wont come on but when i put on my main headlight then it starts to flash at weird intervals ( not all the same time intervals ) sometimes it takes 5 seconds to come on then sometimes it takes 1 second. only time that the light disappeared is when the mechanic connected the multimeter to one another and then it went off for as long as he had the multimeter thingy connected. i heard someone saying about adding some more earth leads in order for the light to not appear again is this correct?
 
Mar 23, 2019
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Hello, thanks for the reply but the below does not match what i am experiencing mate.

'' if your Traction control or ESP warning light comes on after about 10 minutes of driving and won't go off until you turn the engine off, then there is a Strong possibility that your "Load Signal" cable has snapped.''
 

dm222

Active Member
Dec 7, 2013
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with the engine not running but ignition turned on does your battery ligth turns on? (it should, please check to see if the load wire is ok)
 
Mar 23, 2019
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Hello, i will double check this when i get into my vehicle? if it is on what does this mean if it is not on what does it also mean?
 

dm222

Active Member
Dec 7, 2013
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Hello, i will double check this when i get into my vehicle? if it is on what does this mean if it is not on what does it also mean?

if it turns on means the cable I mentioned should be OK (it could also mean nothing because it could be intermitent.), if not means the opposite.

this cable tells the aternator how hard to work, when idle tells the alternator to work at 100% and on high rpm tells the alternator to work at much less.

if this cable breaks it is always working at the minimum.


you should also check the engine to ground cable if it is ok. some engines it's in the starter motor, orthers it is on the left side.

you should also do a volatage drop test for the alternator, both positive and negative side.
 
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Mar 23, 2019
12
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I turnedd the ignition on but not the engine and the light is on so thats ok. Right i see where would i find it? Do i need to look underneath the car? Where abouts is it underneath the car? Engine to ground cable? What does it look like please do you have a pic? I have done the tests and it all is has it should be on and off.
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
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983
South Scotland
One thing that might cause you trouble is if the wrong model of alternator was fitted as a replacement at some time in the life of this car, that might have happened some time ago and you have got someone to fit exactly the same wrong alternator. When this version of Ibiza appeared, it had alternators with a slightly smaller diameter of drive pulley than the previous model of Ibiza, this newer version of alternator always seems to be more expensive than the identical alternator for the earlier Ibiza, I know this because I fitted a qenuine Bosch reconditioned exchange alternator to my daughter’s late 2009 Ibiza, but I got away with doing that and so saving quite a lot of money!
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
Sorry for missing making any comments on your posting, so it seems that I have forgotten that these cars now have a “combo fuse” assembly and not individual bolt on fuse strips!
So, just checking that all these leads are bolted to that combi fuse assembly is all you can do, any leads not looking like they are sitting central in their “slots” is not a worry, just cosmetic.

Edit:- I think that solving this issue can only be done “on the spot” and not guessed by anyone remotely. That light switching should only be controlled by the alternator and if I was you, I’d be checking very deeply as to what brand, what model and what pulley diameter that alternator has, and then take it from there.
 
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