D22 alternator help please

Hi all,

Every so often the alternator light stays on after starting and won't go out until the revs increase by 500 then all is ok.

Then it may happen again in a day or two. Its a Hitachi Lr160 60A.
I'm thinking that the brushes might be suspect as they are really the only thing that really wears much. Have done 110,000kms.

Has anyone changed the brushes or may have any other ideas, I appreciate it could be any of a number of things, but it the fault is consistent. I think the battery is ok, starts strongly and have checked all connections on the alternator and battery. Thought I would start with the simple things first before paying out for an alternator rebuild.

The service manual says the rear cover of the alternator may be difficult to remove, it may require some heat on it.

Suggestions are welcome.

Cheers
Geoff

I'd find out how much a new or reco is going to cost. Could save a lot of stuffing around doing a 30min swap over rather than a 3 hour+ rebuild.

Methinks there's a funny smell in here.

I agree with Kingcab. While you're at it, you might consider something that puts out more than 60A too. You'd be close to the limit with high beam & driving lights on (each light draws about 8A, your headlights about 5A so that's 26A just there, plus about 10A for incidental lighting and instruments, maybe 5A for ECU and 10A for fuel pump you're over 50A there.

Was Tony, mate download the service manual and give it a go.

Dave.

You could test the alternator by doing a number of long night drives with all guns^h^h^h^hlights blazing. If the brushes are starting to wear, the you will, hopefully, start having problem with weaker starts problems as the battery isn't being recharged enough.

Hint, if you have a digi camera, take a photo of the lights every hour and later look to see if there is a generally weaker light developing. The catch, if your lights&all chew out more than 60A, then it will go weak anyway.

The other way is with a voltmeter with long cords(or a mate). Have the engine idling and note the voltage, then turn on the lights. If the alternator is working okay, the voltage after a slight drop should come back to what it was before. You might need to give it a bit of throttle, but if you need more than 2,000 revs, I would suspect it is on its way(brushes). Again, caveat if it is underpowered for the lights and stuff anyway.

When the one in the van was going, all the relays would chatter on undulating roads, which was just confusing. It went on for a fortnight with starting okay but showed up the one night we had to drive after dark to reach a camp site. Thank goodness I was carrying a spare starter battery in the back, which was enough to get into town (no lights).

D22 Alternator Problems

Hi all,
I was trawling the forum for just this problem. I have a D22, 2005 model with 120K on the clock. Recently I have had the alt light stay on on start up most of the time. Once the revs climb, all is normal and stays that way. I have had it checked and all the voltages are in spec. I have been told:
1. The brushes are worn which causes the problem. I couldn't figure this out as it would have nothing to do with the spin rate of the alt.
2. Have spoken to another auto electrician who informs me this alt, Hitachi, L160-745B, 60Amp, has a clutch mechanism(in the pully), which does fail. This sounds more plausable.
The recommendation is to change the alternator as experience shows that changing the pully only works till alt eventually fails.
Quoted $440 for a new alt "with NO clutch" on it as it really isn't necessary anyway. Was installed apparently as a fuel saving measure!!!
I will keep an eye out for your comments and replys. Hope this helps someone out there.

The brushes are worn or the armature is wearing unevenly.
Take the armature out and use a flat file to flatten the brass strips so it's all uniform.
Then re install and see what happens.
Worst case scenario is that you have to buy a new one any way.

And if you have to get a new one, consider something with a little extra output. I think one of the Patrol alternators is a direct replacement with 90A of output.

Check the terminals, earths etc.

Tap the alternator with a wooden hammer handle.

The brushes dont like mud, can become lazy etc.

time for upgrade

I have a d22 03 and I have a alternator problem too and I need a new one can anyone advise me if I can go bigger than a 90amp and if its necessary to go bigger? the accessory iv got are winch, 4 240 xgt light force spotties, uhf, air horn, 60l engle frige, rear light, 2cigarette plugs in the tub and 3 in caben and the standed stuff that the car come with. so any advise please

Wes, the driving lights are the greatest concern. Sure the air horn will draw lots of current but unless you're a complete tool and drive around with it going all the time, a couple of seconds of 20A amounts to nothing in the longer term.

But those spotties - you're looking at around 30A to run them, and that's significant. The alternator is not putting out anywhere near that at cruise speeds so if you're going down a long highway with those things lit up the whole time you might see some troubles - but otherwise the standard alternator will do what it's designed to do.

I think there's a Patrol alternator (120A) that bolts straight in and there's a couple of guys here that have done it, so just wait a little and hope that they spot this and let you know which model to get it from.

Old.Tony said:

Wes, the driving lights are the greatest concern. Sure the air horn will draw lots of current but unless you're a complete tool and drive around with it going all the time, a couple of seconds of 20A amounts to nothing in the longer term.

But those spotties - you're looking at around 30A to run them, and that's significant. The alternator is not putting out anywhere near that at cruise speeds so if you're going down a long highway with those things lit up the whole time you might see some troubles - but otherwise the standard alternator will do what it's designed to do.

I think there's a Patrol alternator (120A) that bolts straight in and there's a couple of guys here that have done it, so just wait a little and hope that they spot this and let you know which model to get it from.

Click to expand...

He hasn't said though if the spotties are hid or not. If they are they won't draw anywhere near that once the are running