[Lionsurftrip]

Hey my i30 people!!
So happy with my 2009 i30 cw wagon here in Queensland Australia, best car ever. I recently had the engine bay quickly pressure washed with little water. The next day I drove for over 6 hours then for the last hour of the trip I had the battery light on the dashboard come up, kept driving and then had the esp light show up, then the abs light then the airbag light then the engine would only run on high revs and then lighting in the car started diminishing and finally what caused me to stop driving was power steering loss. I imagine the alternator must not be charging so I’m just inquiring to see if there would could be another issue other then a burnt out alternator, perhaps a fuse or rusted connection. I just don’t have the money to replace a alternator at the moment. Any ideas or thoughts would be amazing. Cheers guys!! 

[elantraelite]

The regulator is built into the alternator, so either way you might need to replace it.

Does sound like an alternator/ regulator.

If it is the regulator, lucky it's not over charging.

The regulator on my old X3 Excel overcharged the battery and it exploded. Heaps of fuses and lights blew

[Lionsurftrip]

Thank you my friend!!!
I borrowed a battery which was a little bit smaller to make it home and 10 minutes into the drive the battery light showed up again so I’m sure it has to be the alternator bc if the alternator was working I would still have power to the steering at least I would imagine, I just hoped it might have been a simple fuse change or bad/ corroded connection caused by water. Thank you again my friend!!!!!

[Surferdude]

Just make sure the connections to the alternator are clean and tight before you spend any money.

[Lionsurftrip]

Thanks surfer dude I was thinking the same thing! Clean the connector with electric cleaner spray! 

[nzenigma]

If the alt is not working the battery / charge light will come on immediately. But, you seem to say this is not the case. Good chance that the water has caused an issue with a connection or fuse. Checking and WD40 may save the day.
To check the alternator operation, start the motor then remove one battery lead. The motor will still operate if its charging, die if its not.

[Lionsurftrip]

  thank you nzenigma!! I will clean them out!! Hopefully a clean is all it needs the car does have 270,000km on it so corrosion can be a problem!! I have faith in your words

[tw2005]

With that kind of K's if it's original unit worn out brushes are also on the cards and can make intermittent contact when they get to that point.

To replace those disassembly would be required and it would be foolish not to refurb it with new bearings and also likely the commutator will have wear also.

A new one genuine approx $320 delivered off ebay or take a shot with a low K unit off a wreck if you can find one.

37300 23650







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I'm a little skeptical of a water issue after 6 hours of run time prior to the lamp coming on and that plug arrangement should make water ingress difficult .

[eye30]

Have the alternator checked to see if charge output before you go any further.

Depending on result, will guide you as whether alt at fault or another issue

[The Gonz]

Having eliminated the battery as the culprit, there are two broad options to check, which accords with all the advice you've read so far.

1. The alternator starts out OK (no dashboard warning light) then deteriorates and fails to charge, possibly heat related.

2. There's a partial, heat or vibration related, short in your circuit, which drives down the alternator's voltage to that which is lower than your battery voltage (which is what triggers the warning lamp in the simplest of systems).

Either way, I think the swapping out of the alternator would be needed to work through the possibilities.

[Lionsurftrip]

  you guys are legends!! This world is full of good!! Don’t know how more to thank you then with a simple thank you and heaps of blessings! I have run some tests like I was advised and cleaned the connectors and ran the engine and while running disconnected the battery and the car turns off, so the alternator definitely has issues, also checked alternator fuses and all seem to be in good condition, no broken bits. I have looked for a alternator and found one off a i30 for $100 but not the wagon wrecker says it’s got the same amperage but cannot find anywhere on the net about the amperage for the i30 cw wagon. Luckily there are as good people as you guys willing to help me change it over for a beer. Seems easy as access to the alternator is right there. Cheers again for all the help and knowledge amazing

[Dazzler]

you guys are legends!! This world is full of good!! Don’t know how more to thank you then with a simple thank you and heaps of blessings! I have run some tests like I was advised and cleaned the connectors and ran the engine and while running disconnected the battery and the car turns off, so the alternator definitely has issues, also checked alternator fuses and all seem to be in good condition, no broken bits. I have looked for a alternator and found one off a i30 for $100 but not the wagon wrecker says it’s got the same amperage but cannot find anywhere on the net about the amperage for the i30 cw wagon. Luckily there are as good people as you guys willing to help me change it over for a beer. Seems easy as access to the alternator is right there. Cheers again for all the help and knowledge amazing

I'm no mechanic but I can't see why the CW would be different from the hatch.. I would be 99.9% certain the alternator would be exactly the same for both versions. 

[nzenigma]

you guys are legends!! This world is full of good!! Don’t know how more to thank you then with a simple thank you and heaps of blessings! I have run some tests like I was advised and cleaned the connectors and ran the engine and while running disconnected the battery and the car turns off, so the alternator definitely has issues, also checked alternator fuses and all seem to be in good condition, no broken bits. I have looked for a alternator and found one off a i30 for $100 but not the wagon wrecker says it’s got the same amperage but cannot find anywhere on the net about the amperage for the i30 cw wagon. Luckily there are as good people as you guys willing to help me change it over for a beer. Seems easy as access to the alternator is right there. Cheers again for all the help and knowledge amazing

I'm no mechanic but I can't see why the CW would be different from the hatch.. I would be 99.9% certain the alternator would be exactly the same for both versions. 

We only do this so that good people like you will say thanks    Thankyou.

Now our Dazz is correct, hatch and wagon will be the same. But, I don't think you mentioned if you are running petrol or diesel. Alternator off Petrol motor has a different mount and pulley to the one off a diesel.

[elantraelite]

Great to hear!

As long as it is from the same engine you'll be fine.

The diesel alternator does have a higher amperage than the petrol.

I had the Petrol beta engine in my Elantra and it was easy to work on.

Similar design to the alpha motor in my X3 Excel. Alternator swap was easy.

All the best

[tw2005]

Part number is on the item  easy to compare to the replacement

[nzenigma]

Part number is on the item  easy to compare to the replacement

  obviously from someone who has never got his hands dirty at a wrecking yard.

 

[Surferdude]

Part number is on the item  easy to compare to the replacement

  obviously from someone who has never got his hands dirty at a wrecking yard.