Thread: alternaor output

G'day. I think the alternator on the 93 wreck was overhauled not long before, if those figures turn out to be a bit low - but seem ok to me. Cheers

Voltage looks fine but there could be something wrong. First up, go buy yourself a multi meter - something to check your battery with won't set you back more than $10. This way, you can check the battery first thing in the morning to see what it is charged to. The alternator may just need new brushes or regulator.

Check your earth lead is making good contact with both body, engine and chassis. Clean if necessary.

When using the multimeter test at the battery not the alternator terminal with the engine warmed up and the lights on. Should be 14 -14.5

Keep it on volts and with the engine running test between the pos terminal of the battery and the alternator output terminal (don't short anything to earth) there should be less than 0.5 volt. If more you have bad wire or connection.

Do the same test between the body of the alternator and the neg battery terminal. Again less than 0.5 volt or you have a bad earth somewhere.

Good luck Paul

I second that about buying a multimeter. One of most useful bits of kit particularly when dealing with older LRs You can check continuity/resistance/voltages etc.
So you have some idea of what might be wrong before going done path of spending $$$ if you haven't used them before, Youtube is your friend on this. Lots of DIY and how to use videos.

Stop procrastinating. ! - That's MY particular skill....

A good multimeter.... or a few cheapies that you can afford to lose/replace/lose/replace again... is the Very First gadget you NEED in your Land Rover.

YouTube, or any of us locals will teach you how to use it...if you have difficulty working it out. Rocket-Science it ain't.

When you get around to it, start here... Top quality, and most important of all, has DC (Direct current) 'AMPS', the species of electrical current that lives in cars, - outside of the Alternator.

Kyoritsu 2000 Digital Multimeter AC DC Clamp Tester 3400 Counts With Bargraph | eBay

But this one will get you started, it DOES have 'Dc-Amp', the funny symbol of an 'A' followed by two parallel lines, one solid the other dotted.

You NEED to be able to measure 'DC - Amps' so watch out for expensive & budget ones that do not have that facility !!!

UNI T UT203 Digital Clamp Multimeter AC DC Resistance Frequency Tester 400ABI152 | eBay

I paid over $70 for mine, (different brand, ) but it's got a little LED light inside the clamps so you can see what you're doing at midnight.... at the bottom of a coal mine...and you don't have ANY other light-source. Incredibly useful and worth $20 more....

J

The Lady Sarah, '95 Vogue SE with working Air Suspension...and electrics...

Thanks Everyone for your advice.

Thanks superquag for the links and the cheaper unit is more in my price bracket.
I'll order one and wait for it to arrive to track down the problem.

My call on your expertise as my electrical skills are limited

In the meantime I can clean all the earth contacts as suggested by Bundy.

I'll post results.

Cheers

Baggy