Freelander 1 Exciting drive when not wanted. Alternator failure.

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andyfreelandy

andyfreelandy

Well-Known Member
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Location
Devon
Went to fav pub this year for Xmas lunch. Wanted just one year where we had someone else to do all the work!!
Almost there, about an hours drive and battery light flashed. My volt meter showed no charge. Then it came on and off a few times.
Parked and had an amazing lunch.

Came to drive the hours drive back and engine started fine, no battery light but volt meter showed 12V.

Pelting with rain and not much you can do with a failing alternator at the roadside so decided to switch off everything not needed.

Battery held out to 11.5V for half the journey.
Then dropped more rapidly!!

The following happened.
TC, ABS and HDC lights came on at 7V.
Lost ability to change auto gears and F4 llit up at 6.9V.
Red Handbrake light which also shows ABS failure lit at 6.8V.

Got to within a mile of home and wipers were getting very slow.

Made it home with fuel pumps and engine still running!!!

Bit stressful but we made it. Suspecting large amount of surface water didn't help but probs alternator brushes !?!?

A Christmas day to remember.

Fortunately not many others on the road.

Home and dry and warm !!!


Time for a drink !!
 
Last edited:
Nice of you to cause a hazard to other road users on Christmas day.
Good work.
Typically a Freelander driver way then..,
Idiot
 
I assume you went further than me, I stopped around 9V when the dash became Christmas tree. 02 Td4 manual.
It was the regulator.
 
andyfreelandy said:
Went to fav pub this year for Xmas lunch. Wanted just one year where we had someone else to do all the work!!
Almost there, about an hours drive and battery light flashed. My volt meter showed no charge. Then it came on and off a few times.
Parked and had an amazing lunch.
Came to drive the hours drive back and engine started fine, no battery light but volt meter showed 12V.
Pelting with rain and not much you can do with a failing alternator at the roadside so decided to switch off everything not needed.
Battery held out to 11.5V for half the journey.
Then dropped more rapidly!!
The following happened.
TC, ABS and HDC lights came on at 7V.
Lost ability to change auto gears and F4 llit up at 6.9V.
Red Handbrake light which also shows ABS failure lit at 6.8V.
Got to within a mile of home and wipers were getting very slow.
Made it home with fuel pumps and engine still running!!!
Bit stressful but we made it. Suspecting large amount of surface water didn't help but probs alternator brushes !?!?
A Christmas day to remember.
Fortunately not many others on the road.
Home and dry and warm !!!
Time for a drink !!
Click to expand...
Well done for getting it home.
Alternators fail - fact of life - simply get an exchange/recon one and away you go.
Ignore the rude comments on this thread - they are just indicators of what the internet is, these days.
The King’s speech relates to the way things should be but he is ****ing against Niagara, given that anyone can publish vile rhetoric without consequence.
 
Ok thanks for the helpful comments.
Tests today show that the fuse and field supply is ok to the plug and the alternator is lying to the ECM and hence no battery light.

Probably the regulator. Will exchange it and then rebuild at leisure. Only done 50k.

Glad it went when it did, tomorrow is a long run with my 2 disabled young ladies in car and the weather looks grim. So my Freelander looks after me well. 😀
 
I believe that it is possible to id the Internet address and remove. Have a feeling that the 3 were the same person. Sad but there we are some don't contribute anything useful !!

Landyzone is better than that so well done mods...
 
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So diodes and stator and rotor coils good so probs the regulator. Not easy to test off the car as it uses PWM from ecu I think. Will refurb as a spare. New on order.
 
Hi andyfreelandy.
Glad you and yours got back safe.

What I am at a loss to get my head around, is some of the comments made??

Why do people go out of there way to post this stuff? Pointless waste of time that no one takes any notice of.
It is sad. And you can only hope they get the real help they absolutely do need.
Take care all. And the very best for the New Year.

Long live Landyzone.
Cheers.
 
To go back to the technical stuff that started this thread - I have always regarded alternators as a single item, not a regular and rotor etc etc. Don’t swap elements- just get a complete exchange unit and swap it out: job done. But then what do I know…
 
P38 Monkey said:
To go back to the technical stuff that started this thread - I have always regarded alternators as a single item, not a regular and rotor etc etc. Don’t swap elements- just get a complete exchange unit and swap it out: job done. But then what do I know…
Click to expand...
They are quite complicated now, as the ECM controls how much power they output, which is very different from regulator based alternators of yesteryear.
It is possible to repair an alternator, old or new, but only really successful if OE replacement parts are available.
 
Nodge68 said:
They are quite complicated now, as the ECM controls how much power they output, which is very different from regulator based alternators of yesteryear.
It is possible to repair an alternator, old or new, but only really successful if OE replacement parts are available.
Click to expand...
With our campers I have to check the voltage (SOC) and SOH of all 3 (or 4) batteries on board.

We then have to check the voltages off the alternator with the engine is running and off the onboard charger when plugged in to 240v.

Usually the voltages jump to about 14v as soon as you start the engine. Some of the newer vans you need to set a power drain (such as the lights) on before it will charge and they may only go to high 13's.

When I tested one of our new VW Crafters, the voltage just wouldn't rise even with the lights (and fan on full with wipers going). Left it running for a few minutes and just would not change. We have to prove that the batteries are charging well before we can let a van go out, so I rang the VW stealer that does our warranty work. I spoke to a 'technician' who just said this was normal and expected. When I asked him why the voltage wasn't rising and how I could test that the batteries were charging, it became obvious he didn't have a clue what he was talking about, just fobbing me off.

I still don't really know how we can test that they are charging correctly off the engine.

We haven't had to tow one back to the yard yet because of it, but the muck will hit the fan when we do.
 
If the battery voltage is above a voltage of 13.2V, then you can consider it as being charged. Nominal battery voltage is 12.6 Volts when resting, below which it's not 100% charged.

My LifePO4 batteries are at 13.6V fully charged (my solar charger charges them to 14.4V), but those do sit slightly higher than a fully charged lead acid battery's 13.2V.

LifePO4 is the way to go for portable power in a van, as its has a much flatter discharge curve, meaning it has about twice the capacity for the same AH rating.
 
GrumpyGel said:
I still don't really know how we can test that they are charging correctly off the engine.
Click to expand...
DC Current clamp meter is good way. Then you can see the drain when engine is off, and charge current when running.

Depending on the battery wiring (single or multiple cables), you might need to measure them separately & do the maths.
 
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