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Alternator failed in France

Paul

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Just getting off the tunnel on my way to Paris and all the dreaded lights came on the dash :icon-rolleyes: it was nothing obvious like belts/fuses/circuit breakers/connections etc so kept the engine running and got straight back on the next train without switching it off and made it to Folkstone services (after a jump start on the train) but it took 6 hours to get a recovery truck to bring me home as apparently there were no services available in the whole south east and the breakdown people (Equity Red Star) told me to look in the yellow pages to find someone who could help. They eventually found a local company who charged them £600. This is the breakdown cover supplied with my Adrian Flux Insurance.

All the basics look good so will need an alternator, any recommendations for a replacement as Im sure one from Mr T will be expensive but don't want a cheap Chinese one.

A good second hand genuine would be good as I will have this one rebuilt to keep as a spare.
 
My alternator failed last winter and I purchased a new Toyota one at £197+vat for a Genuine Denso exchange unit with a 2 year warranty, I fitted it myself which was a bit of a srtuggle as I had to drain the coolant and remove the bottom hose to extract the unit but I did it in about 2 hours.
 
Just taken the unit out with only the usual issues of cutting the intercooler and air filter hose clips off as they don't appear to have ever been removed. Did everything from the top though, no need to drain coolant, it was a little tricky manoeuvring it after unbolting to get it past the battery but came out ok. Going to get it reconditioned and replace as no rush. The Toyota dealer did give the same offer as above for a recon service exchange unit.
 
Yes, it is a bit of a wrestle to get the alternator out of the car, I dropped mine out from underneath hence having to drain the system down to remove the bottom hose, it just looked a bit less work only having to remove one end of the lower rad hose gave me just enough room.

Glad you got it sorted tho.

Did you check the brushes before sending it away for re con?

I checked mine and they were fine but the "pack" was obviously burnt so I opted for a complete new unit due to pressure of time, but I believe that Denso sell the parts separately to service the unit yourself if needed, a brush swap is very easy on this alternator and it might save you a few quid.
 
find a better breakdown cover might be a good idea
 
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On the 1hd engine, the easiest is to undo the a/c compressor, 4 bolts, swing it out of the way, then the alternator is free and easy.
 
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Well, all back together. I had the unit rebuilt at http://burghfieldstarterandalternatorcentre.co.uk/

First class service, old fashioned and very helpful. Worth checking out if you need anything done. The only downside is that you are without the Cruiser while he does it but was turned around in two days with a call on the same day with what needs doing.
 
At what sort of mileages are alternators failing? I'm assuming north of 100k miles?
 
At what sort of mileages are alternators failing? I'm assuming north of 100k miles?
160,000ish on the 100 and about the same on the 80

Sent from my GT-I9295 using Tapatalk
 
Just out of interest my 2.2E 1989 Audi Coupe alternator was still OK when I sold the car 5 years ago with 240K on the clock. I did strip it to check at 200K and put new Audi/Bosch brushes in as a precaution. Better than my Montego which had 5 new alternators in 120K.
 
Probably Bosch on the one car and Lucas on the other was it Frank?
 
I had mine fail a couple of years back. At the time I was completely unaware that the state of your batteries will affect alternator life. Anyway, a mate of mine (bit of a rocket scientist) explained things I fitted new batteries with the alternator and I don't even attempt to start the truck if the batteries aren't fully charged.
 
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