Unbelievable!! Turns out that my suspect battery which was causing various electrical issues was not actually properly connected at the positive terminal by the stealers when they replaced the alternator. 
Ever since the Alternator broke and had to be replaced the electrics on my car have suffered gremlins. Normally loss of power steering or some other warning light(s) momentarily when crawling in traffic or reverse parking. Garage had told me the battery, when leaned on to its full capability (i.e. run totally flat) when the alternator gave out, had a dodgy cell and was no longer at 100% efficiency. But I refused to take them at their diagnosis (had already taken them 2 days to discover what I told them was wrong with the car) and pay them an extortionate sum for the replacement battery at the time.
I had been planning on sorting a replacement battery myself but it had got put off several times. Anyway, today gave me the shove I needed - traffic on the way to work and DSC and DBC lights came on and stayed on. So I get to Halfrauds this evening, get the new battery fitted and the bloke goes "erm, this isn't connected properly" and shows me the connector flapping around the positive terminal. I was absolutely fuming, couldn't believe what fricking idiots had been taking care of my car. Halfrauds bloke was about to run a check on the old battery and offer me a refund on the one I bought but I thought it was about time I treated the car to new power anyway so didn't take him up (although it would have been interesting what their diagnosis would have been). Only thing is the new Bosch battery is a bit smaller than the original - do I need to worry about filling the gap so it doesn't shift around?
Also, anyone recommend an indy in West London? Car is due a service shortly and I think its about time I stopped taking it to the usual stealer. They used to be pretty good but seem to have gone downhill recently.
Ever since the Alternator broke and had to be replaced the electrics on my car have suffered gremlins. Normally loss of power steering or some other warning light(s) momentarily when crawling in traffic or reverse parking. Garage had told me the battery, when leaned on to its full capability (i.e. run totally flat) when the alternator gave out, had a dodgy cell and was no longer at 100% efficiency. But I refused to take them at their diagnosis (had already taken them 2 days to discover what I told them was wrong with the car) and pay them an extortionate sum for the replacement battery at the time.
I had been planning on sorting a replacement battery myself but it had got put off several times. Anyway, today gave me the shove I needed - traffic on the way to work and DSC and DBC lights came on and stayed on. So I get to Halfrauds this evening, get the new battery fitted and the bloke goes "erm, this isn't connected properly" and shows me the connector flapping around the positive terminal. I was absolutely fuming, couldn't believe what fricking idiots had been taking care of my car. Halfrauds bloke was about to run a check on the old battery and offer me a refund on the one I bought but I thought it was about time I treated the car to new power anyway so didn't take him up (although it would have been interesting what their diagnosis would have been). Only thing is the new Bosch battery is a bit smaller than the original - do I need to worry about filling the gap so it doesn't shift around?
Also, anyone recommend an indy in West London? Car is due a service shortly and I think its about time I stopped taking it to the usual stealer. They used to be pretty good but seem to have gone downhill recently.
