elelctric Problem

adelelzomor

Guest
hi all
i have Cordoba 2009 1.4 , i have an electrial Problem that when any Device start to Consume Elelctric ( Electric Power , Fan , ...etc.) the lights of the Car ( Main Beam , interior light ) goes down for 1-2 seconds before getting back to normal. i Changed the Battery but it still exist.any ideas ?thanx
 

Pimped up vario

Cordy Cruizer
Nov 20, 2009
1,291
0
Belfast N Ireland
Does it happen when you put all devices on individually. Have you checked that the alternator is charging the battery. If it is and the car is starting then it would suggest that the components and/or switching gear are placing an overload on the battery.
 

adelelzomor

Guest
hi, i went ti Seat Service Center , they told me me it is normal Isuue, nothing is wrong ?!!!
why only Ibiza & Cordoba are having this problem . i have another Cheap car does not have this problem , also Seat Ibiza & Cordoba do not have this problem when they are new !!any Comment ?
 

adelelzomor

Guest
Does it happen when you put all devices on individually. Have you checked that the alternator is charging the battery. If it is and the car is starting then it would suggest that the components and/or switching gear are placing an overload on the battery.

HI VARIO , NO , IT HAPPENS Individually , i checked the alternator ,it is ok .
 

Pimped up vario

Cordy Cruizer
Nov 20, 2009
1,291
0
Belfast N Ireland
If it happens when the car is static and on the idle then the lights will dim for a moment, 1 sec. If it's a heavy load like the interior heater fan full pelt then the lights may stay dim. It's a combination of the characteristics of the engines energy output levels at idle speeds and the charging systems ablitiy to supply current at a voltage level which is sufficient to replace the charge being taken from the battery. Also battery capacity will have an influence as well. If it's happening at engine speeds above that of idle then I'd need to tickle the grey cells a bit harder. :) As for not doing it when new versus old. The only thing that I can think of would be degradation of components in the charging system. The bearings wearing and causing resistance. The efficiency of the alternator lowering due to dust and dirt ingress. The rectifying circuit breaking down via the cyclic nature of converting the ac into dc voltage especially when high loads are placed upon it in and in differing conditions, summer and winter.
 
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adelelzomor

Guest
Hi vario,first of all i'd like to thank you.i went to anther service center ,they noticed this problem in ibiza and cordoba .they showed me anther two car with the same problem.and mentioned they can do nothing about it?!anyway,it happens when the car is not moving or in slow speed low than 20km when I am not turning on any device also it happens when the fan start aoutomaticly.i guess it doses not consume high electricty.also when I push the accelrater while hand brake is up.do you think I should change the battery to a bigger one?i appreciate
 

Pimped up vario

Cordy Cruizer
Nov 20, 2009
1,291
0
Belfast N Ireland
Hi vario,first of all i'd like to thank you.i went to anther service center ,they noticed this problem in ibiza and cordoba .they showed me anther two car with the same problem.and mentioned they can do nothing about it?!anyway,it happens when the car is not moving or in slow speed low than 20km when I am not turning on any device also it happens when the fan start aoutomaticly.i guess it doses not consume high electricty.also when I push the accelrater while hand brake is up.do you think I should change the battery to a bigger one?i appreciate

It depends, when you say you changed the battery. Was it new or 2nd hand and what amp hour rating? I get the bit about driving slow and the fan starting automatically causing a drain. The fan would be a considerable load. The power steering would also cause a medium load. Using accelerator with the handbrake up, I'm not too sure about. Unless with the handbrake on, the engine is being taken to the stall point.

Have you got a multimeter? If you have then measure the voltage at the battery with the engine off. It'll be 12.2 - 12.6 volts. If it's lower than 12 volts then the battery ist kaput. Start the engine and the voltage at the battery terminals should now be about 13.5 volts on the idle. Get someone to bring the engine revs up to about 4000 rpm max when the engine has warmed up and without anyone getting run over, a few secs should be enough. Observe the voltage level during this operation, it should rise to about 14.3-14.8 volts. It should start to reach this level shortly after leaving the idle revs say at about 1500/1750 rpm. If it takes to about 3000 rpm before an appreciatable increase in voltage level is seen. Then the battery would be a strong suspect from my experience. I hope this helps. A 1.4 ibiza would have about a 50 amp hour battery at tops I would have thought. The problem with sticking a big battery in is that you would then be asking an alternator designed to charge a smaller battery to do more work. That is unless to cut down on manufacturing, design and sourcing parts cost that seat just decided to put the same alternator from the diesel ibiza into your car then that would work as they use a bigger battery.
 
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adelelzomor

Guest
i think you put your hand in the correct place.yes when i changed the battery i changed to a more bigger battery.so i may be putting the alternator in position to generate more electricity to match with the new battery.
any way , i will check your a/m points and get back to you.
by the way , my car is 1.4 petrol not diesel
many thanks for your experince.
 
Feb 26, 2009
5,275
1
Wolverhampton
My Toledo does the same, and I seem to remember another Toledo owner very recently posted the same symptoms. It's never caused me any issue, although it must look like I'm flashing someone if I do it while I'm driving!
 

Pimped up vario

Cordy Cruizer
Nov 20, 2009
1,291
0
Belfast N Ireland
I checked out the alternator ratings on eurocarparts and the 1.4 ltr alternator is rated at 110 amps. The 1.9 tdi is showing two different types one rated at 90 amps and one at 120 amps. So that said going from 45 amp hour to the likes of 60/65 amp hour isn't going to hurt your alternator worth talking about. The larger amp hour battery would have more capacity so that a load creates less of a voltage drop at the battery terminals and less dimming of the lights.

Are the lights dimming down badly? Could it be a problem then associated with the lights itelf then if the battery and charging system is as it should be?
 

adelelzomor

Guest
It seems that many seat owners having the same issue.anyway I checked the new battery it is 70 amp while the old one (genuine seat battery)was only 50 or maybe 55 amp.maybe it means I am asking the alternator to do more work to match the bigger battery especially in the first two seconds? All lights of the car ,(front,rear,interior,cd changer...) dimming down badly in these seconds.
 

adelelzomor

Guest
Should I try with smaller battery 50_55 amp as the old original one?
 
Feb 26, 2009
5,275
1
Wolverhampton
I think you've misunderstood what those numbers actually mean. In basic terms they are the storage capacity, actually measured in Ah (ampere hours). They don't have any bearing on charging requirements.

When a battery is charging, it only takes the power it needs. So for example if a battery is 99% charged, the power it draws from the alternator is almost nothing. That is the case regardless of the size of the battery. It may only be an issue when the battery is almost flat, in which case the larger battery may try to draw more power than a smaller battery. But at that point you wouldn't have been able to start your car anyway, and you're best off putting it on a proper battery charger.

So don't worry about using the larger battery, it's not affecting things. If anything a larger battery is better as it's cold cranking capacity will be higher, therefore using less effort to start the car. And as PUV says, the larger capacity means it shouldn't be as affected by load.
 

adelelzomor

Guest
Thank you slimy for ur explanation to me what puv tried to tell me..you know,i wonder why many seat owners having this issue with no answer? Even seat itself did not try to solve it and ask for recall?,thanks
 

Pimped up vario

Cordy Cruizer
Nov 20, 2009
1,291
0
Belfast N Ireland
So is the alternator sweet then? Have you measured the voltage when putting the interior fan on or lights on to see if a voltage drop is being seen at the battery terminals? I'm wandering to if you could put an external load onto the battery to see if it's not a module or anything in the car causing a excessive load or diverting power away from the other circuits. Jump leads on to another car from yours and run their lights, heated screen, fan. And again check the voltage at your terminals with your engine running and the other cars engine off.
 

adelelzomor

Guest
Yes I had measured the voltage at battery terminals,it goes down when I start to put any load in the car but for 1-2 seconds only then it goes back to normal and stable even the loads are on.
Also I tried with another new battery with no change.thanks vario
 

adelelzomor

Guest
Yes I had measured the voltage at battery terminals,it goes down when I start to put any load in the car but for 1-2 seconds only then it goes back to normal and stable even the loads are on.
Also I tried with another new battery with no change.thanks vario
 

adelelzomor

Guest
If you want me to send you the exact numbers,i will arrange to send them for you
 

Pimped up vario

Cordy Cruizer
Nov 20, 2009
1,291
0
Belfast N Ireland
If you can connect another cars electrical system to your car via jumps leads and then place a load on your charging system via the other cars electrical components with your engine runing and the other cars engine off it would give a good indication of the health of your charging system. At that point I would focus on the voltages values seen as opposed to lights dimming and look at the lights dimming as a secondary observation.

It'd be good to isolate the charging system as a suspect.

Yes pm me the values if you like and I'll see if it makes any sense.
 
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