Charging System Problem

[avila84]

HELP!
I have an 85 325e, and my battery keeps on dying! I replaced the brushes in my alternator, and it runs fine for awhile everything is bright.. And then all the juice the car is getting comes from the battery! The alternator is not recharging the battery! I though it might be the belt, since it was streched out.. So I bought a new belt, and I have to same problem... I need to get this car up and running befor school starts, because thats the car I drive! Plz help guys! Any sugestions on what else it could be?
Also, I had just recently replaced the bulb in the Instrument Panel, with the little battery picture in it.. Could that be causing it?? Please help! thanks guys!

JP

[bmwworld]

Sounds like the alternator or the voltage regulator. The alternator could have a bad coil and may need to be replaced. A bad voltage regulator will also drain juice.

Have the electrical system checked or, if you're on a budget, you can get a volt/ohm meter and do some things yourself.

[85bmer]

Hey my friend i have the same prob with my 1985 325e. Its been a nightmare. I had my alternator checked and it was good. Just for the heck of it i replaced it. It still wont charge the battery. My battery is good to. I have torn my whole dash apart looking for shorts in wires haven't found anything. I replaced my SI board cause a BMW enthusiast thought that could be it. still the prob is exists. let my know if you find something out if you would please, and i will let you know if i find anything out.

[ricebike]

weird, after 8 years, he didn't update us... so i doubt that the original poster would be back to give you what he found out... which was probably a parasitic load, something was draining his battery while the vehicles sits parked on the driveway

google how to do the parasitic load test: basically you put your multimeter in milli amp mode, put it "in series" between the + battery post and the battery cable, read how many milliamps it is while the vehcile is off... pull one fuse at a time to see any changes, replace fuse, go to the next one down the line until you found the parasitic load...