Car dead. DSC, Brake, ABS and TPMS lights on

Was driving home yesterday and the DSC, Brake, ABS and TPMS lights were coming on and off, then the Nav display turned off and radio fading in and out. Turning car off and these lights were staying on. Tried starting and was just getting the clicking noise.

This morning had another go and was just continually ticking over (not cranking) and there were electrical ticking noises coming from the fuse box behind glove box. Car is completley dead now, no lights or power.

For the last 2 days when car was cold there was a squeling noise coming on from about 2500rpm and higher. Either Alternator or the pulley.

Given this noise just a day ago and now the car is dead would it be my alternator? It was only replaced 3 months ago with a rebuilt bosh unit from Clickable and the battery is only about 7 months old too.

My front passenger indicator bulb was not working the other day and it seemed like a wiring issue? when wiggling or bending the wire the indicator would start flashing. I taped the wire in a position that allowed the indicator to flash and then the next day I have these light on dash issues and now car dead, so I'm not sure if this is related too?

Any ideas?

Cheers.

Go check the voltage of the battery and report back.

Originally Posted by Chewy

Go check the voltage of the battery and report back.

+1

Unlock the OBC, and proceed to menu 9

https://

Dont have access to voltmeter and cannot even do cluster test its that dead.

Originally Posted by Hazey82

Dont have access to voltmeter and cannot even do cluster test its that dead.

Damn...charge the battery, autozone does it for free, takes about an hour, then cluster test.

I assume you checked connections at the battery too.

Sorry to hear mate. There is a good chance it is the alternator and your battery would need a good charge.

As others have said, sounds like the alternator has failed, draining your power and upsetting a few systems with the low voltage. Not sure what the best course of action is to diagnose... I'd probably get a battery charger, charge the battery then see if it goes flat again? It could be the battery failing but because it's so new and the sounds you heard prior I'd say it's unlikely.

Ok just picked up a decent battery charger from supercheap on special from $219 to $129..

Only been on charge for 10min but was enough to get me a start. I was seeing 12.1 while off but charger still.connected and getting 11.1 when running. I tried with charger off and got 11.4 with car off and 11.1 running.

During all of this i no longer had the yellow and red warning lights of the above mentioned systems

Alternator is bad if the car is running and you're only reading 11V.

Should be 14.3 ish.

The car will run on as little as 11V so thats why your cluster lights went away.


At least you know the culprit. cheers!

Sounds like alternator, but unlucky if it was rebuilt just 3 months ago

OP, i didnt read far enough down see that it was rebuilt 3 months ago, was it a new voltage regulator, or a refurbished alternator is it possible the power cable is loose at the back of the alternator, or something with install, as straightforward as the job is, it seems suspicious that it failed so damn quickly.

It was a refurbed alternator. Ive checked connection its ok. Given the squeling noises prior and the findings from today its looking like alternator.
Cheers all

Do not make any assumptions until you have an auto elec check the voltage at the alternator terminals, not the battery. You could have a voltage leak somewhere. Do you have any electrical modifications?

No mods.. After a full charge of battery im getting 13.0/13.1 while car is off and 13.3/13.4 while running.
The good guy Lucas@clickable has already sent me a replacement alternator.

I will look into testing at the alternator before replacing though its in such a tough spot to get to the terminals. There is a positive terminal in the engine bay up on the driver side I wonder if that can be used

Given that you have been hearing squealing sounds maybe alternator is fine but is not charging properly as belt loose or more likely tensioner faulty?

Yes possible will look into that aswell. Whats makes it more confusing is after the full charge when i took the car out, the squeeling noises were no longer there

I have had a similar problem - 2003 330xi - 93,000 miles
My car will be completely dead or will die right after unlocking it, or sometimes right after I turn it off from driving. All I've had to do to fix it though is access the battery and touch the wires connected to the negative terminal and all power is restored. I have had the ABS, DSC, and Brake indicators come on but goes away once I start driving. Same with drivers side turn signal.
It started this spring, didn't happen all summer, but has been frequent now that it's Fall and is cooler outside. I am getting a feeling it is a little temp related but something else is the underlying issue.

Originally Posted by Hazey82

No mods.. After a full charge of battery im getting 13.0/13.1 while car is off and 13.3/13.4 while running.
The good guy Lucas@clickable has already sent me a replacement alternator.

I will look into testing at the alternator before replacing though its in such a tough spot to get to the terminals. There is a positive terminal in the engine bay up on the driver side I wonder if that can be used

As stated before, you should be getting about 14 volts when charging from the alternator, so it looks like something is suspect in the charging system. Could be the alternator, belt slipping, or a charging sub-system. An auto electrician should be able to diagnose the problem fairly quickly.

The + terminal in the engine bay is just a a battery terminal link for jump starting etc.