17volts from the alternator?

[emmet_gti]

earlier on i push started my car and i took out the battery i measured th voltage acroos the terminals and its 17volts and that was with headlights hazard lights and rear demistor on, is this the reason my distributor stopped working all of a sudden?


also with the car running i tried to turn the starter by twisting the key to see if the starter was working and the car cut out? what does this mean

 

[frank]

you should,nt run it without the battery emmet it partly acts as a ballast to hold the voltage down to a (ecu) safe level

 

[emmet_gti]

it reads the same with a battery

 

[frank]

it reads the same with a battery

and what does the battery read when not running ?

 

[emmet_gti]

13-14 volts

 

[frank]

17v sounds way too high to me emmet fwn the ecu aint gonna like that sort of abuse, so have you lost the spark now ?

 

[emmet_gti]

i havent lost anything yet, but thats because i have to push start the car everytime so i dont start it that often