Your fleet running reports

[Jimmy Choo]

Don't say crack? OK, I won't say crack.

[Sundayjumper]

https://www.autoelectro.co.uk/

These guys are worth a try, I've had them recon all sorts of alternators over the years, Stag, SD1, 911, XJS V12, and loads more I can't remember.

Great service and they seem to be able to get bits for things you'd never think of being able to get!

Ta. I dropped them a line with all the details, they got back to me very quickly, but unfortunately they do not supply individual parts, just complete alternators. I'm not convinced it needs a full rebuild. It's a Denso unit and they make alternators for pretty much every Japanese car ever; not exactly famous for being unreliable. Although I suppose it might be a prudent future-proofing exercise.

[Sundayjumper]

Huh. Curious.

With this looking like a bit of a headache I decided to put it back together for now and whaddyaknow..... it's working again. Start engine - immediately straight up to 14.5V. Every thirty seconds or so it will drop to 14.0V for a split second before coming back up. That sounds like sensible behaviour for the regulator as it cuts in & out striving for a constant voltage.

In all the testing I did before it would sit at 12V or just below with the engine running (definitely not good), jump up to 14.5V at random intervals and stay there for a random length of time before dropping back down again. That sounds like a regulator that's not switching properly.

I wonder if it was all just a dodgy connection ?

For ongoing monitoring I decided to get a little voltmeter module to keep plugged in and so obviously ended up buying three They're only a few quid each. One of them is wrong. With my proper multitester reading 12.91V I get this:

IMG_2645.jpeg (61.41 KiB) Viewed 6775 times

[16vCento]

I3 I found has sold

Will have to have another look to see what's out there, pretty sure that's what I want now.

[nuttinnew]

[Beany]

Clean off the connections, slap some dielectric grease on there and we'll never speak of this again.

I had to reterminate the earth on a rear light cluster this year, shit like that just happens on older cars. You should really know that by now

[V8Granite]

Huh. Curious.

With this looking like a bit of a headache I decided to put it back together for now and whaddyaknow..... it's working again. Start engine - immediately straight up to 14.5V. Every thirty seconds or so it will drop to 14.0V for a split second before coming back up. That sounds like sensible behaviour for the regulator as it cuts in & out striving for a constant voltage.

In all the testing I did before it would sit at 12V or just below with the engine running (definitely not good), jump up to 14.5V at random intervals and stay there for a random length of time before dropping back down again. That sounds like a regulator that's not switching properly.

I wonder if it was all just a dodgy connection ?

For ongoing monitoring I decided to get a little voltmeter module to keep plugged in and so obviously ended up buying three They're only a few quid each. One of them is wrong. With my proper multitester reading 12.91V I get this:


IMG_2645.jpeg

We had a strange charging issue when I first went to pick up the 500e, In the end Dave smelt the alternator and when he put his thermal camera on it realised it was very much cooking. Considering they are relatively cheap then it was new alternator time as the resultant damage is huge.

Dave!

[Sundayjumper]

Mad old scientist. He was 46 when that film came out. Do you feel old ????

[Sundayjumper]

...shit like that just happens on older cars. You should really know that by now

Yeah, but I always expect the worst so I am pleasantly amazed when something is fixable for £0.

I'm going to replace it anyway. It's just less of a priority now. I can leave it until next time I have the undertray off.

I've been talking to ebay seller repairkitsuk who has been brilliantly helpful in trying to find an alternative regulator. There's half a dozen or more that look the same but have slightly different specs and we don't fully know the spec of the OEM one we're trying to match. He narrowed it down to two possibilities and I've picked one that I'm going to try out, on the understanding it's entirely at my own risk.

[Sundayjumper]

Considering they are relatively cheap then it was new alternator time...

"Relatively" is relative I guess... a brand new one is £600+ in this case.

I contacted autoelectro and they don't seem to recognise the part number and said, quote: "this seems to be an extremely rare Alternator". They can't price a rebuild until I send detailed photos of the unit removed from the car.

I'll keep monitoring the voltage, and keep my finger crossed.

[mik]

I'll keep monitoring the voltage, and keep my finger crossed.

Sounds relatively sensible to me.

As mentioned recently, I use a wifi OBD2 dongle and the "Car Scanner" app. You can setup your own dashboards (with multiple pages you can easily swipe through) and I've added ECU Voltage to one of the screens so I can see "live" that the alternator is doing it's job, and get a rough estimate of battery charge level.

[Sundayjumper]

As mentioned recently, I use a wifi OBD2 dongle and the "Car Scanner" app.

As mentioned recently, I've ordered a ThinkDiag dongle

viewtopic.php?t=12554

It should be here today. In addition to all the usual stuff it - allegedly - has specific F1 gearbox functions that I want to use, e.g. bleeding the hydraulics and setting the clutch bite point.

[mik]

As mentioned recently, I've ordered a ThinkDiag dongle

Ja. Probably a more powerful diag tool. I use the above with my phone in a brodit phone cradle thingybob. So I can make calls/play music/monitor vehicle shizzle/wash my hair etc whilst on the move.

[Jimmy Choo]

I had to reterminate the earth on a rear light cluster this year, shit like that just happens on older cars. You should really know that by now

Standard e46 rear cluster. I had to do the same on mine.

[Sundayjumper]

Ja. Probably a more powerful diag tool. I use the above with my phone in a brodit phone cradle thingybob. So I can make calls/play music/monitor vehicle shizzle/wash my hair etc whilst on the move.

Car Scanner is probably better for "dashboard" type use. Horse for course innit.

[mik]

Horse for course innit.

[16vCento]

I3 I found has sold

Will have to have another look to see what's out there, pretty sure that's what I want now.

Hadn't sold now apparently, they were updating the advert, off to see it at 11, hopefully it's as clean as it looks, has suite interior pack, storage pack, business nav, aux heating pack but only standard AC fast charge, not DC rapid charge.

As it will only be charged at home that makes no odds anyway so fingers crossed it's a good un.

[Mito Man]

I3 I found has sold

Will have to have another look to see what's out there, pretty sure that's what I want now.

Hadn't sold now apparently, they were updating the advert, off to see it at 11, hopefully it's as clean as it looks, has suite interior pack, storage pack, business nav, aux heating pack but only standard AC fast charge, not DC rapid charge.

As it will only be charged at home that makes no odds anyway so fingers crossed it's a good un.

I think only the suite interior was an optional extra, the rest came as standard.

[Sundayjumper]

I like the idea of an i3 as a runabout but wifey is very attached to her MINI. Got linky to i3 ?

[V8Granite]

I was informed that the TT shudders when it goes past 4750 rpm.

I took it for a drive and she was correct.

Now trying to get another 4 quality coils, these were genuine Audi 35000 miles ago so trying to get Bosch ones now but none in stock or they want silly money. Pah.

Dave!