Persistent EML in Zafira

[lisbon_road]

My wife's Zafira A has the engine management light on very frequently.  Generally the one that is the non generic codes.

 

If I scan it, there's all sorts of stuff.  A code from the auto transmission and various from the engine.  Pretty obvious that there isn't all that much wrong with it.  Drives fine.  X18XE runs on lpg or petrol, and lights come on for either.

 

I got an improvement from tightening the battery terminals.  Wondered about system voltage.  The battery reads 12.8 volts when not running, which should be ok I think?  But the system voltage can drop right down.  I tried switching on everything I can find and it can get down to below 13 volts, even saw 12.6 briefly.

 

That suggests a tired alternator.  

 

Any suggestions?  

 

And if I get an alternator, are the recon ones from Eurocarparts ok?

 

Thanks.

[scaryoldcortina]

Get it read properly instead of guessing.

[Guest Hooli]

Earth leads etc? only takes a manky one to make it act like a dodgy alt. I once replaced the alt twice on a manta for that exact reason.

[lisbon_road]

I asked my local garage.  He said that the voltage figures sound ok but suggested cleaning any earth leads and the alternator connection as tightening and cleaning the battery posts has increased the time until the EML comes on.  I can't see the earth lead but will find it eventually.  He had a 4WD BMW with stacks of codes that was fixed with a new alternator despite no voltage codes.  

 

He said that if there are a lot of codes, best to try and scan it quickly to find out the first code to come up.  Also, if the codes vary, try to see which one is consistently on the list.  

 

He also said that this is time consuming stuff and he isn't keen to take them on, as it is hard to charge enough for the time.