Alternator or Battery?

[jadefox]

Dieselman, it's because unfortunately I had been folding the mirrors in and out automatically (coz i'm often parked up in car parks and it's easier to do that) but it seems like the wiring inside the wing mirror has broken. The indy said that he could attempt to fix it internally but that from experience in the MB stealership where he works, they hardly ever last, they are fiddly to fix and so for that reason it's better and more cost effective to replace the whole thing instead of doing a temporary fix and then end up doing the real repair some months later.

 

[jadefox]

Ouch ouch and OUCH.

So the indy says that he STILL can't get it to replicate the issue - so as many of the people on the forum suggested to begin with, it may just have been a faulty battery resulting in a power drain on the ignition etc and eventually because the battery was on its way out anyway, it just went dead.
(sorry, wasn't this what I thought right from the word go too..... but the mechanics argued with me?! )

So - he said he's going to keep the new battery on it till the morning, test it again and see what he finds.

I guess I just have to keep my fingers crossed that it was really as simple as an old battery and that as soon as I get it home, or even a month down the line, it doesn't decide to do it again

Mind you, the little fact finding mission will have still cost me a load.
£200 for the battery, £310 for the wing mirror - I suppose the only justification of the price is that he has had it for the past three days.

 

[Howard]

Batteries aren't £200

 

[BlackC55]

That price may include diagnosis as well as fitting. The MB batteris are about £120.

The mirror repairs do last if they are done properly and the wire is in good condition (not corroded). I have repaired many many mirror looms and replaced some too if the wiring is in a poor state.

The loom comes with the mirror frame too BTW.

 

[tagnut]

Ouch ouch and OUCH.

So the indy says that he STILL can't get it to replicate the issue - so as many of the people on the forum suggested to begin with, it may just have been a faulty battery resulting in a power drain on the ignition etc and eventually because the battery was on its way out anyway, it just went dead.
(sorry, wasn't this what I thought right from the word go too..... but the mechanics argued with me?! )

So - he said he's going to keep the new battery on it till the morning, test it again and see what he finds.

I guess I just have to keep my fingers crossed that it was really as simple as an old battery and that as soon as I get it home, or even a month down the line, it doesn't decide to do it again

Mind you, the little fact finding mission will have still cost me a load.
£200 for the battery, £310 for the wing mirror - I suppose the only justification of the price is that he has had it for the past three days.

Jadefox I'm sorry to say I don't think you're getting good service or good value here. He's had it three days because he couldn't identify a faulty battery . A new battery should not cost £200 and your mechanic should have been able to identify that it was faulty at the initial test, not say it was fine and then claim it was faulty some time later. and how come the mirror is now £310 instead of the £200 you posted earlier? If he hasn't repaired this already I would take your car elsewhere.

 

[Danny DeVito]

What are sam's ? And wouldn't a 'temporary' indicator repair get you through the mot ? MB here seem to sell regular batteries at reasonable prices too i think. You would think that the wiring could be replaced cheaper than the whole mirror too like Black c said there

 

[cobra7]

Just read all this and now really worried about my motor too. Consumers switched off warning at the weekend, finally failed half way up the M1 with a Visit Workshop warning / STOP NOW message - brakes then failed too..!! Pulled over, waited 3 hours for free recovery, finally got home some 8 hours later with the help of the AA(

Anyway, car had a new battery earlier this year so not that. AA chap said battery not charging so is more than likely the alternator.

Indy has quoted £650 to fit 'reconditioned' MB alternator and I'm now wondering, having read various threads on here, whether it's the alternator that's at fault. No test has been carried out on the alternator - is this a simple thing to do..?