Thread: Alternator failure without warning - can it be anything else?

Originally Posted by MelbD3

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Here are my questions:

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3 My car has now driven 97,000 km ... have others had alternator failures at such a low distance?

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Any suggestions much appreciated.

Gday...

The alternator died (and the 'sensor'? or something like that) on my 2006 D3 at 88,000km.

Dealer indicated alternator's in D3s have been a bit like a light globes - will last 10 secs or 10 years.

Thankfully I did get the in-dash indicator regarding 'not charging'.

New (exchange) alternator and 'sensor' installed and so far no further problems.

Cheers
John

Hiya Melb... my '05 D3 alternator carked it at about 145 thou but the warning light did have bursts to indicate things were dying... about an $800 job by the repair mob for a low k one from a D4. Not cheap for an alternator alas.

The lack of warning is curious in your case... perhaps sudden failure but it sure seems a bit harsh. The D3 is a power hungry beast so the alternator has to cope with a lot but I'd have to wonder at the cause of your failure. Sounds like the car was just dead? No dash lights etc? Have to wonder where the little power that should have been in the battery has drained to (if this was the case).

Hope it works out.

Originally Posted by MelbD3

Without any warning my 2005 TDV6 would not start. The call out road-side mechanic said the battery was flat and suspected the alternator was faulty. Strangely, there has been no dash-board warning light indicating that the alternator is not charging. Today another mechanic has confirmed the alternator is not charging.

I have a Traxide dual battery system fitted (did not check whether the second battery was flat).

Car has driven just 97,000 km

Here are my questions:

1 Does it seem strange to have an alternator fail without the charging warning light illuminating first while driving?

2 Could it be anything else that controls the alternator that could cause this? I know in the D1 if the dashboard charging warning light-globe fails the charging circuit does not work ... does the D3 have a similar quirk?

3 My car has now driven 97,000 km ... have others had alternator failures at such a low distance?

4 Are there any traps that might make the alternator seem to be the problem, when in fact it is some other matter? Last century, when I was just a lad, my VW beetle had a problem that the regulator would play up and cause charging problems. These were fixed by tapping the regulator!! Any such tricks with the D3?

Any suggestions much appreciated.

..... I have been reading other posts on the AULRO website - the discussion about leaking voltage mentions a broken engine to body earth strap. Could this cause a failure of the alternator to charge without there being any dash-board warning light?

From my reading about this problem it seems that if your battery gets a bit "low" - or has been in the vehicle for too many years (how long is a matter of debate) it can fail and take the alternator with it !!!
I've recently had a brand new battery fitted in my 2007 TDV6 - the workshop I used did mention the "old battery - dead alternator" syndrome to me so it seemed like a small price to pay for peace of mind - not to mention avoiding a long walk home if it failed in the back of beyond !!!
If you search DISCO3 - UK you will find much discussion about this subject.
cheers

Trouble with that is vehicles have been driving around for decades with dual battery systems wired up with solenoids and haven't had sudden alternator failure.I've had to change alternators on brand new vehicles that have never had anything run off them and at the same time seen 30 year old Kingswoods with the original still going strong.Alternators fail for lots of reasons as do batteries,thats life. Pat

Originally Posted by PAT303

Trouble with that is vehicles have been driving around for decades with dual battery systems wired up with solenoids and haven't had sudden alternator failure.I've had to change alternators on brand new vehicles that have never had anything run off them and at the same time seen 30 year old Kingswoods with the original still going strong.Alternators fail for lots of reasons as do batteries,thats life. Pat

True Pat, but times have changed. Todays batteries can draw much larger currents than older types did, hence they can place a much greater load on the alternator. Like most things, alternators last longer if they are not used to their maximum.

Also, unlike the case with Kingswoods, failure of an alternator in a modern electronic vehicle can be catastrophic as Drivesafe has shown.

Hi MelbD3, it seems that alternator failures are a bit of a common problem on the D3s.

I’ve been following a few threads on UKD3 and there have been a few failures, some with relatively low mileage.

Not sure what the problem is but it is looking like the brand of alternator being used by LR on the D3s is possibly not all that reliable.

Does anyone know if they changed suppliers over the D3 life cycle?