Outer Limits 4x4 Board

so story is had to hi-pressure clean the power steering pump. Alternator is approx 2 - 3 cm above power steer pump so i'm assuming it copped some water. Alternator was re-coed about a month ago.

Initially it charged fine but then kept cutting in and out, untill no charge. voltage at batt with car running and no acc is 12.25v with lights on 12.08

started this arvo and battery read 12.56 engine off and 12.18 engine on. Didn't try it with the lights this time.

have also sprayed alternator with wd40 so we'll see if that helps.

All wired are attached and plug looks fine, as well as fuse under bonnet any other fuses i should know about cars a 4.5l petrol

have car running with volt metre on the battery turn the headlights on hi beam does the voltage go up or down? electrical contact cleaner would be better tospray into alt as it drys dry

wd40 and the like is the worst thing you can spray in an alt , makes the brushes wear out real fast

too late now unfortunatly.

Any ideas on making alternator more water proof. Sitting near the bottom of the engine as it does i imagine it would cop a lot of mud / water

i rebuild mine about once a year in my 80 , usually worn out or stuck brushes from mud and crap, last time I put in stronger springs behind the brushes to try and stop them sticking, as for water proofing dont know if there is anything you can do , cant really water proof the brushes.

howsie wrote:too late now unfortunatly.

Any ideas on making alternator more water proof. Sitting near the bottom of the engine as it does i imagine it would cop a lot of mud / water

Why bother? Alternators can get wet with zero issues. Ive sprayed water on 1000's of them and never had a single issue. When you drive in the rain they get wet from the spray. water in them isnt the issue. If anything a good spray will get the dirt out of them and reduce wear.

Take it back to the guys that rebuilt it. Id say they used 2nd hand parts.

have you checked the voltage on the alternator itself? may just be the lead that goes to the batt? (the thick one thats bolted to top of alt)
if its putting out approx 14.4v and not making it to batt just run another wire from alt to bat.....

checked it at both battery and alternator get the smae reading so not the cable im currently tossing up whether or not to just buy a new one and get the old recoed so i got a spare.

just a thought maybe its the regulator thats gone as mines an internal regulator. Would a alternator of another 80 with an external regulator help. Especially if i waterproofed the regulator

regs are solid state type so dont really give much trouble never put a reg in mine yet only brushes , bearings and a slip ring. like mentioned before take it back to were u got it reco'd .

Like Brissie said mud and crap get into the slides of the brushes and jam them in position. When the brushes wear they eventually stop contacting. Happened on my 4.0 falcon powered 45 series umpteen times.

I think your problem was the high pressure spray. Better to just use garden hose pressure and degreaser. I generally avoid spraying anything into the alternator.
If you drive in mud then i would just run garden pressure through the alternator, and live with the fact that mud driving means regular alternator/starter problems..

well got a new bigger alternator from a diesel (110amp instead of 80amp) put it in and it seems problem is more serious fusible links blew on the am1 main line and car wont start. One of the lines from the am1 fusible link is going to dead earth so somethings earthing where it shouldn't and probably caused the alternator to die in the first place.

Post on alternator isnt hitting so looks like a lot of fun tracing the wires throughout the car to find out where the short is and install a circuit breaker instead of the fusible links

well its gotton above my head cant figure it all out. So off to the auto elecs it goes. Anyone know a good tow service in the penrith area. By good i mean cheap as well. Last time i got a car towed a similar distance it was 50 bucks or so

ok for those wanting to know diesel alternators bolt straight in just need longer belts to clear power steering pump 1170 instead of 1130 from memory.

howsie wrote:ok for those wanting to know diesel alternators bolt straight in just need longer belts to clear power steering pump 1170 instead of 1130 from memory.

They were 11 A 1155 the 1170 was that fraction too slack.

howesy wrote:

howsie wrote:ok for those wanting to know diesel alternators bolt straight in just need longer belts to clear power steering pump 1170 instead of 1130 from memory.

They were 11 A 1155 the 1170 was that fraction too slack.

Also when using the diesel one take care to disconnect the positive terminal first and reconnect after tightening as the alternators charge post runs close to the pump.