red light of battery comes on in my bolero?

[dev]

This year I have installed an Amaron maintenence free battery on the jeep. Two months ago the battery voltage indicator shows 16 volts while I am driving in the day...plus the red light comes on and goes off in the middle of the drive.

Otherwise there is no other hassle. What could the problem be? G.K.2 M-block market mechanic says replace the cutt off . What could it be?

Any ideas Big Gun since your whole clan owns jeeps. I am just trying to avoid my "favourite bolero dealer".


Regards,

Dev

[mundaire]

The fact that there is too much electricity with the engine running, leads me to agree with your mechanic that this is due to the excessive voltage caused by a damaged, or possibly partially connected or unconnected rectifier/ regulator ("cut out" in local parlance), so check for correct connections to the unit and to the alternator. If the connections are all right then you may most probably need to replace the rectifier/ regulator ("cut out").

Rule of thumb - start the engine, if the battery voltage rises to around 13.5 to 14.5 Volts, then the charging circuit is OK. If it stays at 12 Volts or lower after a short while, then the charging circuit is not working. If the battery voltage while running is over 16 volts then suspect the rectifier/ regulator.

HTH

Cheers!
Abhijeet

P.S. - This holds true for all 12 volt electrics based cars/ bikes... nothing specific to Jeeps really

[Mark]

OK, I've never even seen a Bolero, much less under the hood of one!

However, I'll take a couple stabs in the dark here-

First thing, is never believe a single electrical guage, you should verify it with something additional, another guage or other items.

Does it only read 16V during the day? What happens when you turn the lights on? Do the windshield wipers go extra-fast when you have this too? Are the headlights noticeably brighter? Have you burned out any other light bulbs recently? Of course the best thing would be to put a real voltmeter on the battery and see what it reads. Then put the meter on the negative post of the battery and the positive terminal of the alternator and compare the 2 readings. Then take a reading of the positive terminal of the alternator and the negative lead on the case of the alternator. If your wiring is good all the + - readings should be the same.

If you are getting 16V, take some jumper cables and clip one on the - terminal of the battery and clip the other to the alternator case and see if that brings it under control.

I'm sure there are other causes, but the 2 main culprits for overcharging are bad grounds in the charging circuit and a faulty mechanical voltage regulator. I find that interesting as I have not seen a mechanical voltage regulator in maybe 15 years. What is the total number of wires going into the back of your alternator? It is possible to sometimes adjust the regulators when they start overcharging.

Mark

[mehulkamdar]

Gentlemen,

Mark is a former Professor of Automotive Engineering and he should be able to tell you how to work on the 4x4s.

Mark

The Bolero is a strange but reliable beast - a Jeep chassis modified to run with an Austrian diesel engine and a full body on it. The things are nearly indestructible and much loved particularly in the Indian interior areas which have poor roads. The vehicle specific website is here and they must be really good because the company has managed to bveat Toyota in the Indian market with ease - no small feat for a local, Indian company.

I read somewhere that they had started selling tractors in the US and that their machines were appreciated by bread and butter type users and farmers in California. Will try to locate the link if possible.

Cheers!

Mehul

[dev]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all your inputs. I just checked and at a high speed above 50 or so the meter starrts to read 16 v. Mercifully no lights have blown and the windshield wiper went a little fast the last time i used it.

I am going to have some dings taken out this month and so I will have the regulator changed and thoroughly checked and done up.

Anyway winter is getting closer, the ideal killer time for batteries.

Regards,

Dev

[Mark]

I had another thought, are the caps removeable on your battery?

Here in the US some years ago, some marketing genius decided that low-maintenance batteries could be labelled maintenance free even though they were not truly 100% sealed batteries. If the caps remove on your battery check and see if it needs water in the cells.

[dev]

From my last look under the dash they weren't I'll confirm for me own good soon.

Thanks so much for helping.


Regards,

DEV

[Sakobav]

Mehul

In late 90s I saw Mahindra tractor ad in Iowa or Minnesota / Wisconsin. I was impressed and just shot an email and made some recommendation. These guys promptly replied and then followed it up with another email from one of the US directors on their expansion and marketing plans. Dev, has pointed out in separate thread how responsive these guys are and I can attest to it.

Rgds

[jonahpach]

A Hammer used to work fine on my previous army second CJ! Since the bolero is its latest sibling I dont know why it wouldnt work on it.

[Mark]

Does the battery look like this?


If so, try to carefully unscrew the caps to check for water level.

If you could take a digital picture of the alternator and voltage regulator I'd be curious to see it, I would like to see what sort of technology is being used there.

[dev]

Hi Mark,

Nope it doesn't have them caps is a totally sealed unit. I will take the pics that you want and attach them to this thread soon.

Thanks once again.

Regards,

Dev

Does the battery look like this?


If so, try to carefully unscrew the caps to check for water level.

If you could take a digital picture of the alternator and voltage regulator I'd be curious to see it, I would like to see what sort of technology is being used there.

[dev]

A hammer? Please elaborate when you can. I thought you always used the butt of your ivory handled 1856 colts. .

Dev

A Hammer used to work fine on my previous army second CJ! Since the bolero is its latest sibling I dont know why it wouldnt work on it.

[jonahpach]

A Colt would do the job alright dev! But it just might kill the engine too! A well placed shot with a hammer on the recalcitrant light should do the job just fine.
jonah