Outer Limits 4x4 Board

This morning when i started my car the battery light stayed on a bit longer than normal. As i drive around 65kms to work i just didnt worry and thought battery would charge enough. I drove to work without lights or radio on and sitting on the highway at 100 she was fine. Once i got near to work sitting at a set of traffic light idling with the indicator on i noticed my volts guage was flicking up and down in beat with the indicator. Is my altinator dying or do i have a short somewhere?

drop into an autospark, they will test it for you in seconds and tell u.

could be bad connections/earth on battery, or alternator.

see if it starts thisarvo will also tell

thanks bogged i hope it starts this arvo otherwise i'm stuck i dont think anyone here at work with their gay little cars will start the beast. lol
hopefully it is just a short i'll get the multimeter onto it when i get home tonight if it is the altinator you got any idea on the cost of one?

Hi mate bought my alternator from a wreckers for $175 and it was of a GU 100 amp also looks like new...

Cheers Chris

so they are all the same then? Mine is a td42 with that funny looking pump thing on the back of it i have done alternators in cars before but never on a diesel as this is my first if i do have to change it is there anything i should do special or is it just straight forward take off put on?

the pump on the back is a vacuum pump, if its stuffed you'll either need to get another one with a pump, pull your pump off and just get the alternator(with provision for pump) and refit your pump or have your alternator rebuilt,
do as bogged says first as it could be something simple get the autospark to check, if its stuffed just price all the options, i'd probably go for the rebuild tho as then you know you've got new parts - bearings brushes etc
You'd be surprised what a little car can help start, have jumped my old sd33 with a corolla and it needs waaay more cranking than a td42!!

MPRZIV wrote:so they are all the same then? Mine is a td42 with that funny looking pump thing on the back of it i have done alternators in cars before but never on a diesel as this is my first if i do have to change it is there anything i should do special or is it just straight forward take off put on?

where are you at at the moment, do u got jumper leads?

bogged wrote:

MPRZIV wrote:so they are all the same then? Mine is a td42 with that funny looking pump thing on the back of it i have done alternators in cars before but never on a diesel as this is my first if i do have to change it is there anything i should do special or is it just straight forward take off put on?

where are you at at the moment, do u got jumper leads?

yeah i got leads and one of the guys here bought his gq into work today instead of his hyudai so i'll get a jump off him tonight. Thanks for asking though. I work in the city bogged. Pain in the ass city traffic. You reckon it could just be brushes or the reg?

from my chats with an auto elecy, alternators are almost to the point of working or not working.
if you put the lights on, at night obviously, at idle, and rev it a little do the lights get brighter?

if your belt is old and hard it can be slipping, this can cause the symptoms your describing, and replacing the belt is the cheap easy option

My bet is brushes. Either stuck from too much mud/dust, or just worn out. When the battery warning light is on (and motor is running), give the alternator a tap on the body with a wooden hammer handle or a big screwdriver handle. If the brushes are stuck, this should free them, if they're worn, it'll probly fix it for a couple of minutes then come back on.

Coxy

basically all I can see is that your light stayed on a little longer then usual. On startup. Your battery might be getting sick and not accepting the full voltage. I dont know if this can cause the charge light to stay on longer.

but when your indicating your pulling a load (those flashy lights do pull some power). This current will drop the voltage at your battery and cause your voltage to drop up and down in time with your indicator. this is completely normal. (I dont think anyone has answered this - can also depend on where your volt meter reads from i believe)

If you can drive around with lights, defoger, spotlights, thermofans, interior fan air con, whatever else you can throw at it on the highway, and it still stays above 13 volts, theres probably nothing wrong with it.. (provided your not overloading it with some extra 6 spotties I dont know about) If your pulling more then it can handle IT WILL drop below 12 obviously..

However, if your voltage drops right back to 12 or less at idol, and wont go happily to 13 volts under no load at say 1400 rpm, then theres an issue with it. It should be able to pump in 13-14 volts around idol, or a tiny bit above.

on my other post to someone reciently, as I said, you can get a brand spankin new hitachi with vac pump and all, 70amp for 396 bucks... I wouldn't waste any money on rebuilds or any other brands made in china etc.. Ive been there done that, with 2 rebuilds and 2 crappy cheap brands. and they are wastes of money! Wish i had spent the money sooner to get a hitachi! Before I stuffed my battery with crappy alternator rebuilds!

Sorry this doesn't really contribute to answering your query but I think the others have given you most options. But was just wondering what alternator they come with stock as my GU has a 100A Hitachi which I presumed was stock...is this right or not so?

John.

There's nothing wrong with getting you alternator or starter motor re-conditioned, but keep in mind that there are several "versions" of re-conditioned, and alot of the newer replacement parts are nowhere near the quality of some of the older parts. I get my auto electrical stuff recoed at one place - and one place only (i won't even take it to the workshop i used to work at). The feller is about 60 odd, and had to put an extension on his workshop to accomodate the various awards he's earned over the years. To watch him work is just incredible - very miticulous. He supplies a full five year warranty on any parts fitted (within reason), and 7 years warranty on labour. You get what you pay for. But as i said before, if you car's done 200,000km or above - it will be the brushes for sure.

Coxy

thanks for all the reply's everyone some handy info there.