Danage

I don't have another meter, but have checked it against some other batteries and mains voltage and for those it is accurate. I'm tempted to think it is running on 8 volts because if I put the headlights on, and then the heater at full blast the headlights will dim for a second before coming back up to full brightness. I've worked through the service manual trouble shooting for the charging system and it says to replace the alternator. Terribly tempted just to do nothing. Tomorrow morning it's meant to be minus 4 degrees outside. If it still starts when it's that cold then there's no way I'm shelling out for a new alternator! D.

All I can advise is that my Micra was originally my Grandfathers. He had an oil leak from the gear box. He took it to the garage. They did the usual, tightened up all the bolts, cleaned things out, etc. All of this did no good. He paid for the gearbox to be removed, striped, cleaned, re-greased, reassemble and put back in place. Problem fixed, but was costly.

The K11's were meant to be one of the most reliable Micra's ever. But now that they're all at least 14 years old, I'd be wary. I've got a K12 (55 plate). It's an 11 year old car that's never failed an MOT. Have only ever replaced filters, discs and pads at services. Radiator needed replaced as a result of a chance stone, just bad luck The boot release catch got water ingress and got flaky, but replaced it with a 60 plate part, which is the model on which they fixed that particular problem. Dunno about the K13's. The 20178 Micra looks pretty cool!

I love my Micra too. Or, "the pinnacle of Japanese engineering" as I like to call it. It's Silica Gold (or metallic a beige as I like to call it). With an oatmeal coloured interior. Or beige, as others may say. 11 year old car that's never failed an MOT. Love it.

Hi all, Got a bit of a mystery. Micra went in for a service in the local garage in the new town I've just moved to, instead of the usual place in the wife's home town which her Dad is the accountant for ;) They advise that the battery needs replacing. I think this is odd as the battery was replaced when I was gifted the Micra around 3 years ago. I ignore the garage and drive it home. Once home I put a multimeter across the battery. It registers around 7.2 volts. Slightly concerned I fire up the engine and measure across the terminals again to find out what the alternator is putting out. Voltage measure at around 7.8 volts. Now, if the readings had been 12.2 volts and 12.8 volts I wouldn't have batted an eyelid. The mystery is that the charge waring light on the dash never comes on when the engine is running... the car is perfectly happy running on sub 8 volts. When turning the ignition, but not fully on, the battery charge warning light is illuminated to show that it does function, just like all the other warning lights. So there are two outcomes of this story: 1) The battery charge warning system is broken 2) K12 1.2L petrol Micras are designed to run on sub 8 volts. Can anyone confirm? Does anyone else have a K12 that is happy with a battery and alternator combo running just under 8 volts? It occurs to me that if the system that detects that the battery is under charged is not working, then the system that tells the alternator to let loose with full voltage is also probably broken. I've still to check all connections to the alternator and measure the voltage drop across alternator casing and battery negative terminal, so I'll do this at the weekend. But I'm thinking it'll pass this test fine. Danage.