ianbin2012

The old instrument panel has been like that since i bought the car a couple of months ago, the old chap i got the car off said it was working fine until the was a big downpour of rain and the roads were saturated.

Took off the small plug to the back of the alternator red/blue wire measured voltages with ignition off and on:- ignition off red to ground no voltage " " blue to ground no voltage ignition on red to ground 11.80 volts " " blue to ground 10.40 volts Ive also noticed when the engine is running the belt tensioner is jumping around. Forgot to mention it is a 120 amp alternator.

When the old panel was in the battery light/airbag light/glow plug glowed dimly all the time with this panel in the airbag light is lit brightly and the battery light glows dimly all the time. I connected a voltmeter direct to the main feed from the back of the alternator it was only putting out 13.40v which dropped when all electrics turned on.

Also is the alternator model specific or will any alternator from either petrol/diesel fit?

Back to the cluster, put in a cluster from a petrol model with one red plug on the back all seems to be in order now apart from the airbag light on, hopefully an easy fix. Alternator/battery light dimly glows all the time so i checked battery voltages:- battery:-12.70v Battery engine running:- slowly climbs to 13.80v Battery engine running all electical`s turned on:- drops to 11.08v revving the engine only changes it by 00.20v Is my alternator going bad.

Thanks for that , i also had a look through the posts for vacuum canister the 1z and ahu engines dont have them but the newer models do.

Don`t know if my galaxy should have one of these or not, it show`s in the haynes manual it does but i have not got one on the vehicle. 1996 galaxy 19tdi glx manual.

Right had a look through a lot of posts and came across one that mentioned the big round multiplug on the front of the block as quite a few wires run through it, anyway popped the bonnet and had a look and instead of different coloured wires looking at me i could see plenty of copper, most of the wires had rub marks on them exposing the copper core. Most of the wires are going to the components that are causing my faults. My next plan of attack is to strip down the wiring and re-solder/heatshrink the lot and fingers crossed it will hopefuly cure the problems.

Little bit premature with the celebrations, took car out for a drive speedo is far from accurate registering 60 when doing 30 also airbag light on, washer fluid level light on and battery light dimly glowing apart from that illumination lights dont flicker and no clicking from ecu. If i wasnt confused i`am now.

Will do, i will let you know.

Problem sorted, picked up a set of seat alabama tdi clocks from scrappy today plugged them in job done, they are a bit different from mine as they have the bulb failure/door open panel but they work. Only thing is know the airbag light is on(oh joy)more head scratching. So if your clocks are playing silly buggers try a cheap donor set first, saves alot of swearing and head scatching. Thanks for everybody`s input, information is a good thing.

Thanks for the offer of the clocks but i think i can get a set from the local scrappy for a tenner. I got the vac pipes from a local diesel/petrol specialist the type being motorsport silicone tubing 3.5mm and 5mm 2 metres of each for a grand total of 7 quid, thats a saving of 127 quid as quoted for the same stuff from frauds. They recommend this stuff as it withstands temperature and increase/decrease in pressure better than the cotton/rubber tubing and it`s also cheaper. I will get a set of clocks as soon as i can and will let you know what happens.

I would have a hard job to log the boost whilst driving as i used my desktop pc in the car to use vcds whilst the car was stationary if i wanted to use it driving i would need a hell of a long extension lead. Still havent had a chance to check battery voltage. Do you think it may be worth grabbing a set of clocks and trying them to see if it still happens. Do they have to be tdi clocks as they are quite hard to come by?

Ive changed the maf and it still happens but just as a test i disconnected the maf with the engine running and it made no difference whilst standing still but as soon as you start driving the car runs flat with no power, reconnect the maf all is good until you hit a hill and put your foot down.

Have you checked the rim`s of your wheel`s to see if you have dropped any wheel weights.