I have a citroen xsara picasso 51 plate, the display says "battery fault" do I need to replace alternator?

Colin, March 2010

battery charge fault lights up all electrical components fail then citoen comes to a halt

dexy, January 2016

HI I HAVE ONE PICASSO XSARA 1.6 and i have problem with one messege battery charge fault and not working to air condition

rento.john, March 2013

HI I HAVE ONE PICASSO XSARA 1.6 and i have problem with one messege battery charge fault and working to air condition

rento.john, March 2013

I have a very similar fault where my Battery charge fault comes on during driving, this then disables the rear window heater and cigarette lighter. I have checked the battery nd it seems fine (not losing charge) this has been happenin for quite a while so I'm thinking that the battery should have gone flat by now. So is this an intermittent fault or is something maybe shorting out sometimes?

kevs1963, March 2012

Last year my xsara picasso 2.0 hdi displayed Battery Charge Fault on dashboard. After checking battery terminals were still tight it was still displayed so took it to mechanic at end of my street. He put a diagnostic on car n it showed no fault so he started looking around n found the fault as the alternator plug connector had come loose. Reconnecting it solved the problem. A year later occasionally Battery charge fault displays itself when I start car but it does go out after bout a minute. If alternator is faulty a diagnostic should show this n whilst car is running the battery light will b on faintly. Hope this helps

Firebladeblonde, March 2010

I don't know but be aware - many cars use the fillament of the Battery Charging light to supply excitation current to the alternator - if the lamp fails the alternator does not work and the battery soon runs flat - I have seen several cases on here where people have fitted multiple alternators to solve a battery not charging problem (££££££) when all that was needed was a new lamp (£)!

With the ignition on and the engine not running the battery charging light should be ON. The light will go out as soon as the alternator begins supplying power. If the light stays on when you rev the motor then the alternator may be defective.

You may also test with a multimeter set to DC Volts - with the engine on fast idle the voltage at the battery terminals should be in the range of 13.5 to 14.4.
Obviously needs a meter and two people to make this test.

Good luck...

Peccavi, March 2010