repeated major let-down of the old Subes

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sat Nov 21, 2015 7:15 am

Once again for about the fourth time in 17 years I have been caught out by no warning the alternator has given up on its duties

No warning light, no weird lights to indicate something is wrong - just a struggling battery on a cold start, third start of the day, needed a half hour wait to just get things going again.

I had a few of those cig lighter socket plug in readers - gave them away to needy individuals, and just as I was thinking was time to get more , the other day, another alternator fails on me.

Swapped in another battery that kicked things to life, drove 10kms, with thermo fans at 91C engine temps for just minutes. Lucky for steppy, he met Ralph with jumper leads

Slapped a 190 dollar Denso reco Hitachi look-alike, charged the 2 month old battery overnight - all good

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Sat Nov 21, 2015 2:09 pm

I find that a bit weird, if the alt isn't charging all the dash warning lights should come on

The way they work is there's a little device in the alt that switches to earth when there's no charge happening (like before you start the engine) And 12v + coming out of the warning lights, a few diodes, then to the earth switch thingy in the alt.

Has me a little worried now!

I think the alt in my ute is getting a bit tired. Maybe this is a fault that develops in the wiring of these cars after 20 or 30 years

purp · Post by **purp** » Sat Nov 21, 2015 4:20 pm

I've had two alternators die in 15 years. Both times I noticed when putting the headlights on dropped the voltage enough to kill the ignition.

No warning lights appeared in my 'L'.

Cliff R · Post by **Cliff R** » Sat Nov 21, 2015 7:29 pm

I am seeing these alternator posts as a wake up call for me.
My volts gauge seems to be reading lower than it used to and this is a 2nd hand wreckers supplied alternator anyway that has been in the car for about 15 years.
I still have my old (original ?) alternator.
Is it worth replacing the bearings and regulator in the old alternator ?
With the regulator being internal to the alternator there is a bit of work to fit it with a decent soldering iron but I don't know the price of a new regulator or if a new regulator can still be bought.
Anyone gone down the road of rebuilding an alternator, in my case, for an MY ?

Subydoug · Post by **Subydoug** » Sat Nov 21, 2015 10:03 pm

dont trust the volt gauges in the clusters too much. Certainly mine has a mind of its own. Took me 3 or 4 times stopping and checking the voltage at the battery before I was convinced though. Often a poor alternator will need a short rev after starting before it kicks in, though if your alternator light is working then you will see it stay on until you rev it. Poor key barrel can also play havok on those gauges.

Jonno, slap a newer subie alternator in there. 80A outa a foz or something. Aint too hard to do and they work great.

Regards

Doug

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 7:24 am

You know, I may be a bit silly - I think I have an EJ16 alternator down in the sauna (garden shed in 36 degrees in the shade)

An alternative suggestion by the CoolDrive guys was a mid to late 80's Nissan Petrol would also do - still 60A apparently, but had a different plug hole so not so interswapable between my Subes if needed - not have a Nissan plug for starters.

I have gone down the fifty dollar wrecker alt maybe thrice before - get some years I suppose, got them from my wrecks, had a so called reco fail within warranty maybe due to the white plug was out on the rear ??

I have had the dim dash lights on a few that maybe punched out (limp wristed punch) of about 10 or 11 V and things were a bit dodgy. Another that gave out 12V that maintained reliability so long as was driven every day - leave a week and needed some help.

I dont think have ever had just one light come on ever ! Must try run without belt and see ....

Post by **TOONGA** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 7:42 am

The hardest part about using an EJ alternator is getting the wiring right

The don't like having permanent power to them on the small wire, and must use ignition sourced power, otherwise they are on all the time. you can actually hear a high pitched noise coming from them and eventually they flatten the battery.

this is how Bennie did it for his L series with a 3 wire EJ alternator

TOONGA

phantomD · Post by **phantomD** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 11:48 pm

Ahhh alternators...

A failing alternator in an old car (Brumby etc) as far as I know won't necessarily throw a warning light (I had issues with worn out brushes etc etc) unless the charge output voltage goes nothing. Basically requires the alternator to stop spinning (belt gone) to trigger the battery warning light. I had alternator issues for ages and the first sign that it was cropping up again used to be that my stereo would cut out...multimeter across the battery would show ~6 volts, enough to move only a short distance without losing ignition. I knew I had a bad exciter diode (alternator doing +12V and -12V = zero) which failed to trigger the warning light and failed to charge the battery and revving the hell out of the engine would generally persuade it to kick in until I could get it fixed.

Maxima alternator in mine for a couple of years now, rewound with new bearings and bulletproof so far. Has an external voltage regulator (factory is internal) which I accidentally disconnected when playing with the a/c (no warning light), aside from that no issues and certainly a heck of a lot more reliable than the 50-55A standard equipment I should say.