Battery Charge or electrical supply fault. Peugeot 308

[Momo80]

Totally new to forums but my mechanic is scratching his head so I need some advice. So he changed my thermostat a couple of weeks back £356. Apparently thermostats are very tricky/intricate on these models. Anyway picked up the "fixed" car and was immediately presented with abs and eps faulty light...also check engine oil (there was oil).
Anyhow a week later "battery charge or electrical supply fault" car managed to carry on driving and warning went off. Happened again the next day. That evening I left the house in the dark (lights on)...same battery error, steering got stiff. Pulled over and it shut off. Got a jump start and left it at the garage.
He called an electrician, they tried 3 diagnostic machines.(not sure what they are called) but the car/computer/ecu Would NOT communicate with any of them. Blank screens.
Now I am sure that some wiring must have been damaged/blown/disconnected during the thermostat change. Mechanic is veering towards alternator HOWEVER he is reluctant to buy an alternator blindly if the diagnostic machine hasn't told him to.
The car runs fine but after 10-20 minutes drive. Same battery/electrical fault error it goes off again after about 5 minutes. Luckily it hasn't cut out yet on 2 journeys so I presume it's an intermittent fault.
So my question...do you think that it simply needs a new alternator....or is this more of an electrical issue as the ecu is not communicating with the diagnostic machine? (If so...any idea what this electrical fault may be)? And could it have happened during thermostat change.

[xantia_v6]

You need to tell us at least which variety of engine is fitted to the cr, and preferably give the VIN of the car so that we can identify what components are fitted.

[moizeau]

Has anyone gone back to basics and got a multimeter out?
Just because a diagnostic says 'x is knackered' it's not always the case. Diagnostics are a tool, like a spanner, that help you to pinpoint the problem area.
No disrespect to your's, but many mechanics are fitters these days.
Start simple, it's a lot cheaper.

[myglaren]

Also worth removing the battery and giving it a full charge to eliminate that as a problem, ideally over a few days to let it stand and see if it is self-discharging due to an internal fault.

[GiveMeABreak]

Agree with all that - I can't believe they haven't tested the alternator on the vehicle! It should be easy enough to test whether it is charging.

If the car is idling, put a load onto the system - switch the A/C on, put the heated rear windscreen on, the fan up full, switch the headlights on and then see if the engine revs increase to generate more power - they should be able to check the alternator is providing the power needed consistently. If it is doing its job, then your problem may be from there to the battery or from the battery to the engine fuse box. Check all the terminals there too.

The power steering is electrically powered - so if there has been no charge getting to the battery then it is only a matter of time before the battery becomes discharged and you lose PS assistance. So regardless you need to test the battery and see if it is end of life (how long has it been in use)?

Next check the charging circuit and the alternator belt isn't shot or loose - then the battery terminals are clean and the wiring are is intact.

[xantia_v6]

If it has a thp engine, there is an alternator control module that shares a fuse with the turbo cooling pump, the failure of which is quite common.

[turbo1600]

with the alternator control module that shares a fuse with the turbo cooling pump, is this module the unit that holds the brushes etc , in the alternator , ? or is it mounted some where else ?

[duarte550]

Hello. I'm having a similar problem with my car (Peugeot RCZ 1.6Thp), did you find out the cause? Thanks

[xantia_v6]

First check the fuse for the auxiliary coolant pump. The fuse is in the BSI in the glove box, I don't recall the fuse number, but I think that it is a 5A fuse.

If it is blown, try replacing it and temporarily disconnect the auxiliary coolant pump to see if the charging error is gone, then replace the pump.

[duarte550]

Hello, thanks. I'm Portuguese, I'm not very good with English but I'll try to tell my story.
The symptoms of my car started a few weeks ago and have since gotten worse. The first thing I noticed was one day I was driving at night and the front lights started to give more light and less light, more light, less light.... I didn't care much. But when I got home and was maneuvering to put the car in the garage, the message "Battery charge or faulty eletrical supply" appeared. I stopped the car and went home. From then on, whenever I drove the car past a bit, that same message appeared, and when I accelerated the car the interior lights changed in intensity with acceleration. (Sometimes when I started the car I also got the message "Energy saving mode activated")
The next time I drove the car when I got home and started to do the maneuver to put the car in the garage the power steering started to fail and the message "missed connection" appeared, I stopped the car, the next day I saw the oil level of the power steering and it was fine. I put the car to work and the power steering was normal, I tried to do the maneuver to get the car out of the garage and the steering started to fail again.... I left the car running for a few minutes and then turned it off. After a few hours I tried to start the car and it didn't start... I changed the battery, started the car, the car started and the steering returned to normal. The next day I started the car, let it work again for a few minutes, the power steering started to fail again, the messages "missed connection, abs defect, esp defect, etc..." and the car lights started to flicker . I turned off the car, tried to turn it on again and it wouldn't start... I put the battery to charge, put the battery back in the car, the car started, the steering was normal, but the story repeats itself, after a few minutes (maybe about 10 minutes) the steering fails, the fault messages appear and that's it.... Always like that....
Sorry for the long and maybe a little confusing story

[xantia_v6]

See viewtopic.php?p=516873#p516873 for a description of which fuse to check.

[AdelaidePug]

I'm experiencing the same error message of Battery charge or electrical supply fault. It's been happening for a couple of months now and so far I've had 2 mechanics look at it with the result that I've spent over $4K on a new battery, 2 new alternators, 1 new auxiliary coolant fuse and 1 new auxiliary coolant pump! But still the message comes up intermittently along with the STOP warning lamp and a warning battery icon.
It's now starting to affect some of the displays on the instrument panel small central screen with the km/l display erratic and displaying 999,9 as well as the petrol usage display currently showing a number that I know is not correct. Also, on two occasions my speed limiter has engaged with no warning. When I say that the message / icons appear intermittently, it's pretty much every 2nd trip I make and sometimes continuously (especially if the air-con is on).
I've owned the car from new and love it. It has just hit 90,000 km mileage, VIN : B5FV8BS173320
Any advice on next steps would be appreciated.
Thanks