Alternator issue ?

I fitted a new battery two weeks ago and I noticed that the car wasn’t turning over with the ease I would expect; in fact it felt like the battery was flat as with the first turn of the key it just clicked.
So, I’ve just connected a multimeter and it indicates 12.57 volts with the engine at idle and the same when it’s rev’d. To me that sounds like the alternator is not operating, however I haven’t got any warning lamps on. (They come on as normal when I first turn the key to position II)
At least my old Ford use to tell me it was not charging.
I may also try to put the multimeter on the output directly off the alternator to confirm if there is a voltage present.

Can anyone confirm if the alternator can fail without the BATT warning lamp illuminating?

Any recommendations on where to buy alternators or is it any motor factor as it shares the same engine as Volvos, Peugeot etc..

Well you should get about 13.5/ 13.8v at the bat when the engine is running at 1500/2000 rpm if not there may be a problem with the charging. However I would look at your earthing befor going any ferther.

Check the obvious first, but I can confirm - yes the alternator can fail without the battery light illuminating I'm afraid.

I had mine rebuilt years ago and I queried it at the time. The answer I got was: 'depending on how / where the alternator fails you don't always get a warning light' It's not just an Alpine thing.

Paul,

I can recommend a local place in Wimborne if you want to get it rebuilt... Will look for their details and will let you know

Ced

I recently had an embarrassing breakdown due to none charging ( roundabout, traffic, people having to push me! ) just before I took it in for the repaint, so I just fitted a spare charged battery for the time being and looked at it when I brought it the short distance home.
Clee had advised me to check the two small two pin plug on the back of the alternator, which I had given a quick roadside check when it died and it seemed to in OK
I have been having charging issues on a old bike and one point I have never really pursued was the need for absolutely clean connections, using a mild acid to clean them and then using dialectric grease ( I had never heard of it and admit just used Vaseline ) anyway I used some neat alloy wheel cleaner sprayed on the connector, then washed in a little water, then WD40 and used a small screwdriver to tighten up the spades and some Vaseline on it, then similar on the alternator male spades but with the acid on a cotton bud.

Hey presto a peak of 14.6 V when off idle, I think there should be some sort of locking tab that may be missing on the connector, and having tidied up my engine loom, wrapping and shrinking that part of the loom I think I had left the weight of the large red lead pulling down on the small two pin connector.
When I have found somewhere to mount it I'm thinking of putting one of these in,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161270154323? ... EBIDX%3AIT

When you think about engine affected breakdowns, you either lose juice ( so you have a fuel gauge as a minimum)
you overheat ( so you have a temp gauge) loose oil pressure and hence engine damage ( so you have a pressure gauge) so a simple volt meter allows you to keep an eye on charging.
A warning light will usually only tell you when its nearly too late, I had no warning light and ended up flat as a witches tit.

Well, I disconnected both the connectors behind the rear wheel and sprayed them with switch cleaner - I'm thinking one of these connectors has the alternator wired through it.
I now have 12.5 V on the battery with the engine off and the 13.01 V with the engine at idle. The voltage doesn't rise when the engine revs. Also took off the main earth just underneath the battery tray and cleaned that up.
In two minds on whether it is a bad earth or just that the alternator is on the way out.; prob the latter
Did try to find the connectors on the back of the alternator to check the voltage at source, but the connector is well hidden and out of sight.

Had a look to see how easy / difficult it will be to remove the Alt. In keeping with most things on this car is the access or lack of it.
I cant see how you get a spanner or socket on the nut closest to the heat shield. Anyone got any tips ?

[Alpineandy]

Alternators in an Alpine live in a pretty harsh environment. I'm not 100% on where it's positioned in a GTA but on an A310 (V6) it's very close to the OSide exhaust, with a decent air flow when moving but none in slow traffic/stationary (I think the GTA is the same).
A310 ones get the grease literally baked out of them and need regular refurbishing. I wrapped the manifolds on the previous yellow A310 and jubilee clipped a piece of old domestic heating ally boiler flew (the expandable/concertina stuff) over the manifold/backbox joint, which seemed to be beneficial.
I think the GTAs have air funnelled into the back of their alternator but they often go missing. Is it present on yours?
Mogster, how much did your refurb cost?

Yes I'd agree that anything in the engine bay cooks.
Yes I still have the grey crappy piece of pipe that supposedly helps cool the alternator.
I've looked up previous threads and 16mm spanner / socket on the top nut closest to the heat shield seems to be a pig to get to. I guess removing the heat shield is necessary.

It's not too bad.You should be able to get spanners on without removing .Just make sure you disconnect the bat before you start poking big lumps of metal in at it

Hi Paul

A.J.W. / A.C.W. Electrics
220 Leigh Road, Wimborne, BH21 2BZ
Tel: 01202 885200

Just round the corner from yours

Andy,

A friend of mine had his megane sport alternator for a full rebuild last week and it cost him £120 turned around in 2 days, came out as new... It was totally cooked and smoking so needed pretty much every bits replaced....

I had my starter motor rebuilt there last year for £60

[BIG_MVS]

Hey Paul,

Just spotted this and it's the higher 105 amp model too. Looks good value for a brand new unit.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/351547103603? ... EBIDX%3AIT

Thanks Martin,
I'm going to take it off the car and see what condition its in. If its just the brushes and rectifier that have worn, i'll see if I can get away with a service pack first.

Well, after two hours of faffing around I finally got the alternator off. Only trouble is that the large lead that terminates on the positive post sheared off, the 2 pin connector looks quite corroded, the ‘cable loom tidy’ fixing screws sheared off and the negative lead broke. Oh , and the air cooling hose disintegrated in my hand.

Got it on the bench and tried to undo the 8mm nuts but two are so rusted up that I cant cleanly remove them.

Going to take it to a local firm that Cedric recommended and see what they can do. I did relay most of the above over the phone to them and they didn’t seem fazed by any of it.

It was in a bad state when I presented it to the local engineering firm....
[url][URL=http://s297.photobucket.com/user/pgoldsmith_photo/media/Alter%20old2.jpg.html][/url][/url]

[url][URL=http://s297.photobucket.com/user/pgoldsmith_photo/media/Alter%20old1.jpg.html][/url][/url]

And this is it after they did their stuff...
[url][/[URL=http://s297.photobucket.com/user/pgoldsmith_photo/media/Alt%20new%201.jpg.html][/url]url]

[url][/[URL=http://s297.photobucket.com/user/pgoldsmith_photo/media/Alt%20new2.jpg.html][/url]url]

And the cost was £80 which included a complete strip down, clean and rebuild. New bearings, slip ring, brushes and regulator, plus they kindly painted the rusty old bracket that the loom sits on....
It would have cost less, but they said every bolt / nut had to be cut off and replaced.