Thread: How to test alternator 300tdi

I would advise you never to go back to them, any professional in the automotive industry does what you described should be shunned like the plague.
Most Mechanics nowadays have been trained only to remove and replace parts, they have no idea on how to diagnose a problem without a Nanocom and have never seen the inside of a gearbox.
Oil changes, sometimes a grease, but the rest is take it out and replace it and if that don't fix the problem, take out something else and replace it, bit hard I know.
My Son is a mechanic (28y.o.) and the only time he seen the inside of a gearbox or diff was at Tech. and a Korean Backyard mech. workshop that did everything from Bikes to Trucks. I have taught him more than he ever learned thru the car dealerships he worked for.
Find yourself an Auto Electrician over the age of 35 and get him to check it for you, if an auto tech whinges about the Brand (LR) any Brand it is because he has no Knowledge of the product, walk away and look for someone that has the knowledge.
BTW KarKraft in Silverwater has replacement MM alt. for around $300 to $400, sorry for the rant, Regards Frank.

depending on how you are with the spanners, most alternators are DIY to in and out and if your game and have a stuffed alternator, multimeter and a bith of a spririt of missadventure rebuildign an alternator is DIY too.

Unfortunately there are people as Charles describes, I witnessed one in an outback town that could not get a tubeless tyre of a D2 alloy. He said it several times that he should not have started on an LR job.

Apart from worn parts like brushes and bearings the only other bits that could be a problem are the rectifying diodes, regulator or broken wires in the windings. A bit dangerous to make such absolute statements so I better say that "in most cases" that is the likely fault. Brushes used to be a service component but I have heard that more recently mechanics treat the alternator as a one use item that is to be swapped for a new one. Been told that it is not economical to rebuild alternators.

I haven't done an MM alternator so can't help with specifics. You have nothing to lose by opening it up to have a look.

I started to dismantle my MM alt. to replace bearings when I noticed after loosening off the through bolts that the housing was cracked badly in several places.
It seems that the back plate has to be desoldered to remove to get to the rear bearing, so after getting a price from KarKraft I fitted a new one. A good Auto Elec. would know what it takes to dismantle a MM alt. and a $300+ new alt might be the way to go, Regards frank.

Hi Frank,
Unfortunately I have encountered the "the ****** Land Rover ****" response from mechanics and auto electricians several times when travelling away from home since I got my first Rangie in 1983 . Interestingly, it has only ever been for minor problems and the tradies have been older guys. Needless to say, I never give them my business.

On the plus side I get to enjoy the "flipside" on occasion like the guy in a Cruiser who gave me major crap about Range Rover reliability on the way up to the Cape in the mid 80s and then had to get me to tow him back to Cooktown after his frame / engine mounts cracked and the fan chewed his radiator to bits....

Cheers, Charles

Hi Dave & Slug,

Wouldn't be a major deal to fix this alternator - brushes worn down so far they have canted in the guides and dug furrows in the shaft. New bearings and a spin in lathe will sort out if I can find a brush set - any ideas on suppliers as I haven't had any luck tracking them down?

Annoying thing is the tdi was loaned to wife's brother while we were working on a project in the Pacific for a few years as he was going through a divorce etc.... What was a well maintained but high mileage car has now done an extra 100,000km + and has had zero maintenance as far as I can see, despite regular messages that car had been serviced and all was good - ahh, families!! That's my rant

Can be hard finding lr parts in the bush. Most outback places only have toyota n nissan bits stocked.

I've had the Landrover thing twice, both from auto electricians. Maybe they confuse d2 with d1s. Mine has always been pretty solid electrically.


PS. How much do alternator bits cost? I got a new Lucas or Delphi(not sure, but the quality one) for fairly cheap. Was a 20 min job to swap it over.

Besides damaging my alternator when I went to remove the pulley (I dont have a impact gun) pulling it apart and res assembly is a piece of cake. Even changing the bearings which is the reason I pulled mine apart was simple. I put the new ones in the freezer for an hour and they 'slid' into place. All the other bits are simply unscrew and replace as required. Rebuilding one would not be difficult.