Need help!! Car broke down during road trip

[leafsrule531]

I was on a road trip to Canada and the red battery sign came on. Car drove fine but then afterwards I started getting lot more signs, I got the awd sign dsc abs then trans malfunction then the screen turned off and car did not accelerate at all. I turned it off and then the car doesn’t turn on at all anymore. I’m going to get it tower but what should I do ?! Have no idea what it could be. Battery ? Alternator ?

[pshovest]

Originally Posted by leafsrule531

......... the red battery sign came on. Car drove fine but then afterwards I started getting lot more signs..........]

Alternator quit providing enough energy to sustain vehicles electrical loads.
You continued to drive depleting the battery's charge.
Error msg's are likely due to falling system voltage.

[crystalworks]

Could be a few things. In my order of likelihood:

1. Drive belt snapped (could be the belt, but usually because of a pulley/tensioner problem) causing no alternator charging to the battery, eventually battery ran low on voltage causing modules to report errors. Eventually battery got too weak to start car.

2. Alternator crapped out (either electrically or mechanically) causing above symptoms after battery couldn't support the car anymore electrically by outputting enough voltage/amperage.

3. Battery completely died causing above electrical problems.

Good luck. Hopefully it is just a snapped drive belt... but seldom am I that lucky so I wouldn't count on it.

[leafsrule531]

Thanks for everyone’s quick reply! Is there a way I could check if it is the alternator or battery ? I will check if the drive belt snapped once it gets off the tow truck.

[newb2bimmer]

If the drive belt snapped you would have lost power steering also and most likely wouldn't have been able to drive further. In order to check charging you need to jump start the X5, hook up a voltmeter to the connection points in the engine bay (one under the red plastic cover the other to the body). The voltage should be in the 13.7-14.7 range but typically around 14.0 volts.
If it does not charge even with a brand new or newly charged battery you won't make it far.

[13brian]

Agree with new2bimmer, interested to hear how it goes. Sorry it happened on road trip, esp one out of the country.

[ard]

Originally Posted by pshovest

Alternator quit providing enough energy to sustain vehicles electrical loads.
You continued to drive depleting the battery's charge.
Error msg's are likely due to falling system voltage.

My vote as well.


As the voltage drops the car tries to segregate load to the most essential stuff, triggering more errors.... then finally death.


Friday afternoon too. What a PITA.

[leafsrule531]

Thanks for all the input guys. Unfortunately now I need to figure out how to replace the alternator in Canada during a long weekend . Do you know if the alternators actually go bad or is it just the voltage regulator? I replaced a voltage regular in a Porsche 997 and it fixed the issue. Assuming the process is still the same though.

[leafsrule531]

Does anyone know if need to remove the ac belt to remove the serpentine belt ? I read that I need a special tool to remove and install the ac belt which I just don’t want to deal with right now. Just need to know if it’s possible to remove the serpentine belt enough for me to remove the alternator and I’ll replace the ac belt later when I get back home.

[pshovest]

Which year & engine?