So my alternator died. It was the last thing I expected but it IS a Land Rover after all.
The first thing to do was to hit the phone and try and source the bits to repair it. They’re available from overseas, at a price of course. The delay in getting them was going to be weeks rather than days. Scratch that idea. Next step was to call around the auto electricians around the area to get it repaired. Oh, it’s a pretty old alternator and we don’t have the parts or yep, we have a replacement but it’ll cost nearly a thousand bucks. Neither of them were viable options either.
Ring the wreckers and I transpired that I could a second hand and tested alternator for about a hundred bucks. That was the solution I went with and duly got my hands on an alternator. All needed to do was change it over.
How had can it be ? It’s only an alternator and the last one I changed years and years ago, on a Land Rover SIII diesel took about half an hour.
It looked easy if the fan was first removed but I couldn’t because some nit-wit ad decided that Loctite was required to keep it from coming off. Bugger.
Anyway here’s how to change it without taking the fan off.
Mine’s a 10P without the EGR cooler but my EGR is in place.
- Remove the ECU. Probably a good idea to unplug it and give the red plug a GOOD clean while it’s out.
- Remove the battery tray.
- Remove the intercooler to manifold hose. Give it a clean while it’s out if needed.
- Put a bit of cardboard between the fan and intercooler to save it from any damage and to keep at least some knuckle skin.
- Slacken the belt tensioner and get the belt off the alternator pulley.
- Remove the belt tensioner. Check the pulley bearing and if it’s a bit sus just replace the whole tensioner.
- Remove the oil feed fittings from the alternator and engine being VERY careful to not lose the copper washers at the alternator end and the o-ring at the engine end.
- Remove the top bracket (both alternator and engine end).
- Get under the car and just cut the oil return hose that runs from the bottom of the vacuum pump to the engine. It’s a LOT easier than trying to get the hose clamp undone with fan in situ.
- You should now be able to rotate the alternator away from the inlet manifold which will give you enough room (just) to undo the alternator output terminal.
- Disconnect the vacuum hose.
- Undo the bottom mounting bolt which is a T50 Torx head. The nut rests in a recess and it’s good to just leave it there.
- With a bit of wiigling and heaving and shoving you can move the alternator towards the drivers side guard and the a little bit forward.
- At the back of the alternator there is a connector which needs to be disconnected. You should be able to just squeeze it and it’ll pull out. Of course you won’t be able to squeeze it because it’ll be full of red dirt and other grunge. Pick as much as you can out with a toothpick and eventually you’ll be able to release it.
- Now comes the fun part. Looking from the front, rotate the alternator clockwise and at the same time tilt the front up and you’ll get to a point where you can lift it out. If it’s in the right position it’ll come out without forcing it past anything.
Fitting the alternator is a reversal of the above apart from the fiddling about getting the oil return hose in position. Don’t forget to put the hose clamps on the hose before you connect it all up. Lubricating the inside of the hose makes life a lot easier too. Put the hose on the engine end and tighten the hose clamp before you do anything else – it’s a lot easier to get to without the alternator there.
Do NOT forget to remove the cardboard behind the fan.
After it’s all done and tested roundly curse the bastard that loctited the fan nut and then have a couple of beers, wines, scotches, whatever.