Alternator help! Stuffed again!?

[NAV2795]

Hi all,
so in December 2013 I went 4x4ing with my 2007 diesel stx, went through some minimal water and the alternator stopped working. Fair enough I said its done 180,000kms thought it was due to be changed. Replaced it with a heavy duty 130amp. Went 4x4ing last weekend and now the same problem, the alternator is stuffed. Please tell me that I can take my nav 4x4ing without needing to change the ulternator every time? Cheers and thanks in advance

 

[Old.Tony]

How sure are you that the alternator has given up? Could it be a slipping belt?

It might just be debris in a connector too. Unplug, undo, clean, put back. Cheap thing to do, and may solve the problem.

We've done a few water crossings with ours and haven't had a problem with our alternator. Belts squeal like the blazes until I put dri-lube on them.

 

[NAV2795]

Thanks tony, Alternator was fried, had to get a new one....again. Very frustrating, whats the way around it so that it wont stuff up next time I get my car dirty? Cheers

 

[NAV2795]

Hey boys....We'll another 6 months and the alternator has gone on me as soon as water just splashed it. Please help getting over it!

 

[Iceman]

Something else must be wrong. Plenty of folks go in water deep enough to submerge the alternator with no worries. I have hit mine with the water blaster to get the muck out of it with no problems. My guess is something is shorting it out and killing it.
Might be time to get a auto sparky on to it.
Cheers

 

[d22dave]

Something else must be wrong. Plenty of folks go in water deep enough to submerge the alternator with no worries. I have hit mine with the water blaster to get the muck out of it with no problems. My guess is something is shorting it out and killing it.
Might be time to get a auto sparky on to it.
Cheers

As above, there must be a underlying problem somewhere else. I've pressure washed the alternator on the gu patrol at work cause it was full of mud and no dramas

 

[Old.Tony]

^^ Agreed with both previous posts. Ours has been deep enough in the water to have it flowing up the bonnet and splashing onto the windscreen. Still on the original alternator.

Let's look at some possibilities.

1) Dual battery system wired up incorrectly. If the alternator is feeding across an isolator or some other high-current device it's possible that the alternator's circuitry could become weakened and unstable (I'm not talking small amps, I'm talking dozens or more).

2) Alternator load excessively high. With some of the stereo systems today this is really easy to do. It's also easy with 6x100W driving lights on the roof and 4x100W on the bullbar plus a 300W light bar ... in those you're looking at over 100A alone. I'm not saying you have that many lights, but if you do have a lot of electrical things happening, an examination of their power requirements would probably help

3) Poor wiring job by an auto electrician. It happens. Even the best can make mistakes but we just hope it doesn't happen to us.

4) Poor condition connections. I'm thinking specifically about the battery negative to engine block connection.

There's some things to look at, anyway.

 

[NAV2795]

Appreciate the replys, is there a chance dirt is stuffing up the contact in the alternator? Also has anyone ever made up a guard to go around it? Cheers

 

[Old.Tony]

Dirt could do it. 3 times though? Unless you're constantly driving in dust storms it's unlikely.

I haven't seen a guard around an alternator and they'd need a little airflow anyway - plus there's a belt not far from it with a lot of air moving past, so plastic cowlings might not survive long.