Alternator again.

herbie

Member
Hello All,

Whilst I sit waiting for the AA with what i suspect is a duff alternator, does anyone have any suggestions for a decent replacement, this is my 3rd reconditioned one in 10 years which seems a bit much!. 2200 sc auto.

Thanks,

Richard.
 
Whilst I was waiting I found that a wire had detached itself from said alternator, the connections look pretty poor. I re-made it and when the AA turned up they put the booster on the battery and I was away. Could have been worse, I usually carry my battery pack but had left it in my van (lesson learned).

I need to renew all the connections on the alternator and keep the plastic outer, guessing a good autofactors will have the right connections.
 
It's always worth a look under the bonnet when things like this happen. OK, so you still needed the AA for the jump start, but you'd probably be still sitting there if they had to diagnose the problem.
 
Strangely the idle became really really smooth the whole way home after remaking connection.
I recently replaced my failing alternator with a new one and found I had a smoother idle and more power at highway speeds. I put it down to having the right voltage and amperage when fixed giving me a stronger spark.
 
Looking under the bonnet... Was 100km from Riyadh in a Disco heading for the southwest for a 10 day trip, and it just died. WTF?? Dont do this!!! Open the bonnet...12V supply to the coil had fallen off! Tightened the spade connector a little, never fell off again. Series 2 3.9 Disco with R380 - in hot climes these were upgraded (free) with a 120A alternator (bypassing the normal main fuse), and a mesh grille.
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Looking under the bonnet... Was 100km from Riyadh in a Disco heading for the southwest for a 10 day trip, and it just died. WTF?? Dont do this!!! Open the bonnet...12V supply to the coil had fallen off! Tightened the spade connector a little, never fell off again. Series 2 3.9 Disco with R380 - in hot climes these were upgraded (free) with a 120A alternator (bypassing the normal main fuse), and a mesh grille.
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as simple as that. Knowing what to look for is the tricky bit.
 
We have a colleague at work, lets just say a gentleman of advancing years, he is quite opinionated on a lot of things so gets quite a lot of stick - which he takes in good heart, and the day rolls on.
He is however very good at spotting things that if left unattended will cause an issue. I like to have him around when we are doing a PDI on a car because if a wiring connection looks less than optimal, or maybe will rub on a corner he will spot it. His experience with building and maintaining rally cars has opened my eyes to the pitfalls of routing wires and pipes etc, and the need to examine connections that we otherwise would take for granted to be good.
 
I learned similar stuff from an experienced guy when building computer racks/cabinets. Once you have had a few injuries from sharp ends of cable ties you will start to wonder. There are cutters specifically made for cable ties that when used correctly (ie correct side to the end being removed) produce a blunt flat end on the retained tie.
 
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