Alternator, Cleaning and refurb questions

[Chris Green90]

Hi Guys. So on Monday I fired up Dirty Gal for the first time since Lincomb. She went in to have the clutch done on Monday and I have her back today feeling good as knew but my wallet is the best part of £500 lighter (turns out I had totally cooked the flywheel). On driving there I noticed that the dash lights (That indicate alternator failure) came on when she was sat at idle but as soon as you touch the throttle they go out. So I figured that the alternator must be full of clart from its dunking at Lincomb. I remember Ben having similar problems after his dunking in October and remember him stripping his down on the campsite so though I'd give it a go but I think I have got a bit stuck.

Oh yeah BTW I put this here as although I have a 90 I think the Alternator is from a 120 or the D4D (Its a 120A upgraded unit from the standard 90A one)

Firstly let's just see if I have got things right so far.

First take off alternator and remove the "chrome" Cover



Remove the Rubber Cover



Then take this bit out



And this is where my first question comes. I seem to remember Chris telling Ben that the (I think they are) Magnets should move in and out. These don't seem to have any movement whatsoever. So should they move???

Next take the heat sink thingy off



Then this rubber isolator



Followed by the rest



Then pull out the 4 rubber isolators



And pull to top off



and then a final thin washer/shim



So....There we are. Is there any more stripping that can or should be done on the bench. If so what and how please.

And Also How should I go about cleaning out the "Coils" of all the sand. Am I right in thinking that once all the electronicky stuff is out of the way it would be OK to just wash with water and after making sure its all dry give it a good dose of WD40.

Any help or advice would be great guys.

Thanks
Chris

 

[grantw]

First the disclaimer ... I don't have much experience in altnernators so take everything with a grain of salt.

Those things you think should move in and out to me look like brushes. In which case yes they definitely should in and out. Maybe a good squirt with WD40 and work them loose?

Stripping wise ... I'd expect the whole lot now just to lift out now. Maybe it's stuck in a bearing on the other side?

 

[TonyP]

Chris

Hey Chris, the metal bits in this item should be spring loaded allowing them to move in and out.

Give them a good clean and a squirt of WD40 should help

 

[Chris Green90]

Cheers Grant. Thanks Tony I thought that was the case.

I guess to get the rest of the gubbins out I have to undo this nut



it has a 10mm shank and a 22mm nut. Guess I need to hold the shank in place with a socket whilst I use an offset ring spanner on the nut. Just walked the 4 miles to halfarts and back as the website said they had some in. Glad I took the part with me as when I got there I found the offset was not deep enough so that scuppered that plan. Before I venture out on the long trek to Machine Mart tomorrow do anyone know if these are any better???

Cheers
Chris

 

[Ben]

Nice thread Chris.

That Lincomb sand really is terrible stuff!

I had to strip something else down yesterday that had seized up with Lincomb sand and stopped working.

Those little spring loaded bushes were seized solid on mine but after plenty of cleaning and wd40 I did manage to get them to move properly again.

As for the 10mm bolt head, can you not hold the pulley in a vice (with some blocks of wood between the jaws to prevent damage to the pulley) and then undo it with a socket, same as the big one?

An impact wrench will work well at loosing the bit nut if you don't have a vice handy. Thats how Chris got mine undone at Lincomb.

You may need a puller to get the pulley off. Sometimes they will just pull/fall off but other times they need carefully pulling off.

My alternator didnt work properly again, despite getting it super clean. But.....................................

Mine was a lot dirtier than yours and some of the copper coils were black and crispy, so it had obviously been shorting out.

I guess parking LJ in that bog hole for an hour and trying to go forwards and backwards repeatedly so the Lincomb sandy soup was nicely stirred up wasnt the best of ideas.

 

[AndyCook]

timely post!

I had noticed a "tinkling" noise recently coming from near the alternator.
tonight i investigated it more after i was changing the power steering fluid

i discovered its the metal mounting plate under the alternator (and not something worse ) - that the threaded adjuster bolt attaches to under the alternator its loose - at the bottom right end (looking from front)

i cant see where it is attached at the moment, i need to move the skid plate tomorrow to see better
i seem to remember there is a pivot bolt you need to loosen when adjusting tension on alternator ?
am i correct?
that must have come loose and even fallen out

Hope you get the alternator sorted Chris - that mud looks right grim stuff

 

[majic79]

ok, the alternator works without the use of permanent magnets - the power (stator - because they are static, non-moving) coils are around the outside of the case, the rotor (because they rotate) coil on the central core provide magnetic field when excited by a bit of current. Now the funky part: The regulator reads the voltage coming out and increases/decreases core current to maintain a set voltage. The brushes (the two soft metal parts that sit in the green housing) are sprung loaded to maintain contact with the contact rings on the rotor core. The three stators each provide a phase of alternating current, the diode pack (blebby semicircular insultated item with the main output terminal on it) will convert this to relatively smooth DC for output at the main terminal. The regulator (heat sink over an IC chip) picks up voltage from the output terminals, does some jiggery pokery and pumps current back into the rotor coil.

First, turn the core in the case by hand and feel for any grittyness in the bearings - if the bearings are shot, then you'll need to source new ones and press them into place (not sure about a supply of these, but you may be able to read the spec off the old bearings to get some timken or alternative replacements)
Check the length of the brushes - usually one wears more than the other, but they are a cheap part to replace (£20 or so from your friendly toyota dealership - €27 according to the price list I can see, I've not enquired directly - There's aftermarket replacements for about £6 on ebay, I don't know if they'll fit your alternator though, you may need to do some hunting on that) - The brushes should have a nice smooth, almost mirror finished, surface to them, if there's any graininess/scoring on the brush, then it should be replaced (indicates that it's arcing across a gap, so it's worn)
You can check all the coils for continuity and resistance - so long as the stator coils all have continuity and similar resistances (they should be continuous to the outer case) and the rotor coil has continuity (check across the two pickup rings) then it doesn't need re-winding.
Finally, clear all the clat out of the coils - they do get hot, and heat increases resistance and lowers output, in the worst case, overheating can lead to coils burning out (no continuity) or thinning as it starts to burn (rare, but seen as increased resistance) or insulation burning off and shorting the coil (low resistance)
The integral fan on the back of the rotor sucks air through the assembly to keep things cool, but the air paths need to be relatively clear - a simple blast with water should do it. Careful using WD40 as it can clear the grease out of the bearings and I'd honestly not bother with it.
There's no easy way to test the regulator unless you've got some sort of test rig - the toyota ones are pretty good these days, the early ones used to fail, the current type are about £150 for a new reg

Thought I had problems with mine last week, then the alternator belt snapped - turned out it was running loose and was well past it!

 

[Chris Green90]

Excellent write up there Majic. Very helpful. Just to confirm though when it come to cleaning am I right in thinking that what I have left in the photo below is ok to just be flushed out with water or do I really have to strip it down further. (could do without the walk and spending thirty odd quid on spanners at the moment)

 

[majic79]

You may get a bit better access to the coils to clean them out, but it'll probably be enough to wash water through until it comes clear - then I'd check the bearing and see if it's demanding attention

 

[Chris Green90]

Thanks for all the help guys. But Frankly it's had it. So next question is any recommendations for a new one????

 

[AndyCook]

Toyota?

 

[Chris Green90]

After shelling out the best part of £500 quid for a new clutch and flywheel I was hoping for somewhere a little lighter on the pocket

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Chas]

Try these peeps, I bought one for my 80, 120a for £125 IIRC.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/thestarte...h=item2c6ec47492&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

 

[Chris Green90]

Try these peeps, I bought one for my 80, 120a for £125 IIRC.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/thestartermotoralternatorco.ltd/m.html?item=190836929682&fits=Model%3ALand+Cruiser&pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2c6ec47492&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Cheers for that Chas

I have just bought this one from ebay and looks to be just what I am after and for the money lets hope it's spot on. Had a couple of mixed reviews about Load Boss but all of the lads my brother used to knock about with in their saxo's and corsa'a really rate them. 110 amps at tick over could really come in handy.

 

[Red Oktober]

just replaced mine with a 100amp unit from these guys ... http://stores.ebay.co.uk/thestartermotoralternatorcoltd

 

[Chas]

They're the ones I used, good service.

 

[Red Oktober]

They're the ones I used, good service.

took them a fecking week to get it 30 miles up the sodding road ....

could have walked there and back quicker

 

[Chris Green90]

IIRC I Used them for one I replaced in my old surf. All went well to be fair. Looking forward to seeing what difference if any having 110amps on tap will make

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[Chris Green90]

Just to wrap this one up. The new alternator arrived on thursday last. And wouldn't you know it, It was the wrong one. Looked I think to be for the 1KZ-T engine and as such I think it mounts on the other side. Well I decided that seeing as though it was here and cheep the best thing to do would be to strip both down and swap the new gubbins into the old casing.

Result. It works a treat.