Alternator failure

Started the Defender TD5 normally this morning and set off up to Derbyshire.
Driving along and the traction control/ABS/brake lights came on.
“Oh no not that” l thought, but carried on.
Then the speedometer stopped working, and the fuel gauge dropped to zero.
I indicated to pull over and the indicators were flashing quickly as if a bulb had failed, plus the traction control/ABS lights were flashing on and off
Stopped the engine and it wouldn’t re start....flat battery
RAC came out quickly (great as it was freezing cold) and the alternator had failed.
I thought the battery warning light came on when the battery wasn’t charging, but apparently not always.

At least the traction control/ABS warning wasn’t actually a fault.
As the lights disappeared once a good battery voltage was restored.

Anyway, we were close to a LR garage so drove there using the RAC booster pack connected to the battery.

My alternator packed up a couple of weeks ago, couldn’t tell the difference until I turned the engine off and took the key out. Only then did the battery light turn on, alerting me that something was up. Good job too, as when I checked the alternator it was so fookin hot I’m surprised it hadn’t caught fire!

A battery voltage indicator is a handy thing to fit. Mine is just a strip of led lights, more recent ones are digital read out.
Will give early warning of charging problems. I noticed a low reading on mine the other day that turned out to be just a loose belt.

tottot said:

A battery voltage indicator is a handy thing to fit. Mine is just a strip of led lights, more recent ones are digital read out.
Will give early warning of charging problems. I noticed a low reading on mine the other day that turned out to be just a loose belt.

Click to expand...

I’ve got an original gauge, that’s broke too.

As I discovered, the feed to the battery warning light and the actual power from the alternator are two different things. The battery warning light is activated by a wire on the multiplug on the back of the alternator and the power comes out of the big terminal with a nut on it on the side. So they don't necessarily correspond.

I had some very similar symptoms a few years ago on my TD5 - warning lights and odd instrument readings. I had a fiddle with all the wires and multiplugs I could reach and nothing seemed to be amiss so called the AA. The man spotted the problem almost straight away. The big nut on the side of the alternator was loose. I was kicking myself because that was the one connection I hadn't checked. Somehow because it was a nut rather than a multiplug it hadn't registered for me. So it was a quick easy repair and I didn't need a new alternator.