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TD42 Alternator question

Tech Talk for Nissan owners.

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TD42 Alternator question

Post by SmithyGQ »

Im 99% sure that my alternator is spewing oil out, as I am getting oil all down the passenger side chasis rail and its just enough to leave an anoying couple of drips overnight on the drive. I have replaced the washers/seals on the oil feed to the alt and that did not stop it.
The trouble is that I can not see exactly where its coming from, the alternator and aircon compressor are the only things there that contain oil and the aircon works sweet and it would be shot if the oil/gas had come out of that. If it was an oil leak at the turbo the oil would be around it and behind it.
This Alt is now 217,000 ks old has had 2 rebuilds from mud contamination over the years and I don't know if its worth fixing the seals or just getting a new one, what do you guys reckon?
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Post by MyGQ »

Air con oil is usually green in colour so you can tell if its the air con.
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Post by SmithyGQ »

Yeah oil is black and aircon still cool so kinda thought it wasn't that.
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Post by monstr »

Have you checked the oil return hose from the vacum pump on the rear of the Alt as they have a habit of getting brittle and cracking ..Cheers
scorpion695

Post by scorpion695 »

Hi I will bet heaps it is the rear seal on the alternater.I just went through what you described and the problem is that the oil travels down the splines on the vacumn pump and comes out on the rear of the alternater.You may also find that the shaft on the alternater has some wear which may pose another problem.If you want to know more just ask.
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Post by Ibsn »

I know my old alternator leaked a little bit of oil, on the oil return hose at the bottom side of the vac pump. which goes down a hose about 15cm long and into the side of the engine.. I would check that, or give everything a good degrease, go for a drive and then look...

also note If the oil leak leaks past the shaft internally from the vac pump and into the alternator consider it dead.

Hows your charge voltage? 14.3 ish volts? on or above idol

I just replaced my alternator. DO NOT waste your time with rebuilds I know many mates, my father, and my self, who have stuffed around with moderately expensive rebuilds. around 200 bucks...

You can pick up a brand new Hitachi 70amp one for 396 bucks.. As thats what I paid last week... I can drive around with high beams, spotlights, rear dimister, air con, thermo fan, break lights, dash lights, Stereo and amps and UHF on.. and still manage to hold 13.4 ish volts...

If you track down the leak and or its not charging right, dont waste your money with rebuilds!!! And don't buy a cheap Chinese alternator that fits the TD42, I went through 2 diff cheap brands before I then decided to get someone to rebuild it, and took them both back cause they couldn't hold 14 + volts at idol, even with no load...

If you sus it out, and its time for a new one, thats what i would be doin!
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Post by nastytroll »

I pais $640 for a 120amp atl, I also agree with Ibsn.
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Post by SmithyGQ »

You can pick up a brand new Hitachi 70amp one for 396 bucks.. As thats what I paid last week... I can drive around with high beams, spotlights, rear dimister, air con, thermo fan, break lights, dash lights, Stereo and amps and UHF on.. and still manage to hold 13.4 ish volts...


Where did you get that from Ibsn sounds like a good price for a Hitachi Alt.
Im over here in Wait Awhile so our options are limited.
I will check the return hose this weekend but I'm fairly sure that the seals in the vac pump are shot.
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Post by Ibsn »

I got it from auto electrics Australia.

They are based at archerfield, which is south Brisbane.
I bartered over the phone, their trade price is 440 inc tax. however I have no trade ticket. I told the lady this, but i said I wanted it for 396 inc tax (plucked a number outa my ass, said I would happily pick it up that afternoon if they could sell it for this price) they did it. So i picked it up that afternoon.

They seem to deal mostly wholesale stuff and truck electrics by what I saw. AND they do do postage, infact I think that 90% of their sales are sent out via postage/couriers.

they will also do the 120Amp (which is bolt in) no probs with installation i believe.

(and an 80Amp) But apparently reading on other forums the 80amp is only semi compatible it doesn't line up with your pulleys etc and you have to muck around a little to make it work... supposedly?? (so i would steer clear of it) I reackon I coulda goten the 120amp one for high 500's if your good on the phone.

07-3277 45 6 6 is their number.

I would recommend them to anyone after the customer care they provided to me - just someone off the street. They seem to take extreme pride in providing good quality and reliable parts. And I would assume that if you had warranty issues you would be looked after just as well. After all a good business is built on a good reputation, they seem to uphold this motto.
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Post by GOT MUD »

after reading this thread im thinking of replacing my alt as the other night i notice with everything on ie lights,spots,rocklights,uhf,stereo,cabin fan,thermo fan my volts dropped to under 12 :shock:

so my Q is if you can buy an 70amp one what is the amps of a factory one,

cheers
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Post by Ibsn »

I think factory is 60, I watch my volt meter fairly vigourisly...

A battery at rest voltage should be on 12.6 ish.. anything below this it is seriously discharging esp if its on 11 volts. Float voltage ie maintained charge while driving should be 14-14.5

I would also be willing to bet that even a 120amp alternator will not hold a sustainable voltage at heavy load under normal slow idol, I personally watch my volts at the traffic lights or 4x4ing, and if your idol is slow enough you see the volts almost flickering up and down, this is at the point that the revs at the alt are too slow to output sufficient voltage. So it goes from 12-13 volts on and off (only if its at that specific rpm that the alternator cant make up its mind)

so i use the idol up to bring it up juuuuust maybe 100ish rpm which kicks it back in and puts in 13-14 volts. You will notice this is an issue if your idol is normally fairly low rpm, then your aircon kicks in, and the revs drop even more the alt stops charging and then thermo fan kicks in. so more load, but the alternators revs are too slow to put in any charge. This is when I use the idol up to kick up the voltage.. After all I like to look after my batteries, they ain't cheep, and you don't tend to go too far without em when your out bush!

(PS another important thing in looking after batteries is protecting them from heat, I made up an insulated barrier, thats silver and surrounds the battery. (cut up windscreen sun visors and cardboard from outside layer to inside layer work well if all sealed up with silver aircon ducting tape)) - most modern cars are opting to put batteries in the boot to not only balance out the weight distribution, but also keep them away from the extreme temps in the engine bay... Either that they have a separate firewall for them to go where conventional windscreen wiper motors go. once again away from the heat.
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