Knackered alternator bearings

[NaCl]

My alternator bearings are beginning to scheech and rumble - a sure sign that they are on the way out. It's still working fine though at the moment, albeit very noisily. Has anyone ever changed the bearings to save buying a complete new unit?

Andy

[big geoff]

Take it off and send it to a auto electrics for refurb £70 ish it wll give you years of service

[Alexdaredevilz]

I just squirt some wd40 in whilst it going round, works for me :-)

[phillpot]

Can be done, but Alternators can be a bit tempremental and fiddly in my (limited) experienece, but to a fully qualified Sagger Maker probably no problem !

ETA see you're West Mids ?

Company called "Walsall Battery Services (funnily enough in Walsall) will actually repair your unit with only what it needs, not a blanket re-con charge, they're a bit "oldy worldy" can't find web address but tel [phone]

Edited by phillpot on Tuesday 4th January 22:16

[NaCl]

Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated. Helped me to decide on a course of action...
First thing I'll do it squirt some oil on it - if that don't work, I'll take it off and see if it looks possible to dismantle it - if not, I'll take it to Walsall.

Ta everso.

[jim.2007]

i wouldnt squirt oil on it? elecs and heat not a good idea, do what the previous bloke and i did, take it to a smaller outlet bargains to be had! 54 quid guarenteed for 1 year, i changed 3 in 10 months all covered, think the message was heard as the 4th one has lasted 2 1/2 years and not shaking itself to bits!! only takes 5mins to change so nothing to loose!

[Timja]

Mine had this exact problem, but i was driving it everyday at the time so bought a new one for about £90 from a Land Rover specialist as i could wait for it to be re-conditioned. Prices i found seemed to range from £70 to £350 for a replacement!

[Barreti]

I think our Quinny might have changed the bearings in an alternator, and documented it too IIRC

Edit:
A quick search found This and it was the post BarkyChoc put on this thread which is where it was documented.

Enough in those 2 posts to keep you occupied.

Edited by Barreti on Thursday 6th January 21:35

[spend]

Pre-serp alts are a lot easier to work on I believe.

I still have not got round to finding a thin wall tool to remove the pulley off the serp one

[Simon says]

spend said:

Pre-serp alts are a lot easier to work on I believe.

I still have not got round to finding a thin wall tool to remove the pulley off the serp one

I used an ordinary impact socket to swap a Serp pulley over to the original poster if it's a Serp car you have then firing oil,WD40,or whatever will do no good as the Serp unit as sealed bearings anyway just get your unit refurbed on a Serp unit I think you will find they are motorcycle wheel bearings as are a lot of other alternator bearings I managed to bag a NOS magneti marelli unit off Ebay for £90 (mine had fluctuating output and noisy) they are out there

Edited by Simon says on Friday 7th January 09:56

[NaCl]

Thanks for all the replies. Really appreciated.
It is a serp engine. I'll try a stripdown and see how I get on. There's a good bearing company nearby (Orbit, Cradeley Heath). If all else fails, I'll get one off ebay or an indy Land Rover.
Andy

[Simon says]

In case your one is to far gone then here you go http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Brand-New-Range-Rover-Altern... bargain i will warn you that if you do not have a reasonable tool kit you will struggle replacing front & rear bearings on one of these.

[Barreti]

that IS a bargain.
My replacement unit cost me £120

[spend]

Thats probably why you were exiled Ian

[Barreti]

Exiled

Me

[spend]

You can't be a real tyke if you aren't real tight

There must be some reason they sent you down in Southern WoofterLand?