Freelander 1 TD4 Alternator multi pin plug

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Alex19Baker

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I had my battery not charging red light come on the other day and I finally had time to look at the problem.

When I put some tension on the 3 pin plug for the alternator ready to release it, all the cables came away from the alternator. A previous owner/mechanic had swapped the proper "jumior timer" style plug with mini spade connectors, which had corroded.

So 2 questions, which colour goes where?
Also I can only see 2 wires. blue and black (or it might be dirty brown) which go into the loom.

Am I missing a third wire?

Any help much appreciated.
 
freelander alternator wiring.png


These are the 3 wires from the wiring diagram but no idea which goes to which connector on the alternator.

Here is the plug on the back of an alternator (not mine, but same type of plug that I have. This is curtesy of an online image search)
freelander alternator plug.png



So short version which wire goes where?
 
I'm guessing it is a Freelander 1 TD4 from your profile?
There are 2 thin wires, gn/br and blk.
The main output wire to the battery is much thicker and is on a screw terminal.

To find out which of the 2 thin wires goes where you will need to find a plug with wires in or a photo of a plug in the alternator.

Will have a look for a plug in the workshop when I get a minute.
 
andyfreelandy said:
I'm guessing it is a Freelander 1 TD4 from your profile?
There are 2 thin wires, gn/br and blk.
The main output wire to the battery is much thicker and is on a screw terminal.

To find out which of the 2 thin wires goes where you will need to find a plug with wires in or a photo of a plug in the alternator.

Will have a look for a plug in the workshop when I get a minute.
Click to expand...
Yes freelander 1 td4, also in the title of the post :)

If you can find a plug to copy that would solve my problem and be very much appreciated. Many thanks
 
For completeness this is the wiring I have to work with. I cleaned up the wiring and it looks like 2 blue wires. maybe one is slightly lighter/greener or it could be age.
freelander alternator wiring bodge.jpg

I don't know these cars all that well, but I found an alternator on ebay that looks like mine but they claim it is a freelander mk2!

I am done for today, I swapped the belts over while I was there. They definitely needed it. My other car is an X1/9 and who would have thought I have more space in that to change belts than in the freelander. Why didn't someone put a lock on the tensioner pulley!

Anyway, back to the question in hand....

Any help on which wire goes where much appreciated.
 
Last edited:
They are blue and blue with green.

See photos. Hope this helps.
 

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Sorry not had a chance to look back at the car. The connector you have is different to the alternator I have (see my original post you can see the square 3 pin plug)
However your answer and photos have helped if not been a complete solution.
I will post again once I get a chance to look at it again, probably some time tomorrow
 
Um, not sure that is the correct alternator. See if you can see a current rating on it. Maybe that is why connector has been bodged??
 
The correct alternator for a TD4 has a 2 pin oval plug for the control signal, and a bolted output post for the power output.
Like this.
Screenshot_20230810-174853_eBay.jpg

I've never seen anything different on a TD4.
 
So looks like someone fitted the wrong alternator to mine as I have the square connector.

However I think I worked things out.
freelander alternator plug 2.png

This shows L for Lamp on the left connector.
freelander alternator plug (2).png

This is like mine (not mine but the same) A search led me to a BMW forum that said 61E is for the lamp.

Now the photo from Andy shows the solid blue goes to the left connector, which should be for the lamp.

So I wired the solid blue to the 61E and the blue/yellow (faded green?) to the 15.

I tested both wires with the multi meter disconnect from the alternator and they both gave +12v(ish) with the key on. So hard to be 100% sure but it seems to work.

Had to replace the alternator anyway as it turns out it was very worn out, slip rings worn all the way through on one side and not far off on the other, parts supplier gave me the same square plug, which actually suits me as I can buy this socket.

So longer term plan once I get my hands on one of these sockets, I can wire it up and try it with various permutations of connected or not and I can see what happens to the lamp light. After that it should be water proof and fixed which was around the wiring goes. :)

All good and working now thanks for the help and support.

A note in case it helps others on belt replacement. I spent a morning trying to get the thing back on. Turned out my 24mm ring spanner had a very fat ring. So didn't fully engage on the bolt for the tensioner. Once I saw the problem, ground it thinner, took a few tried as I did it bit by bit, and it worked a treat.
 
The only issue I can think of, might be the design of the output controller circuit. From memory the TD4 ECM controls how much power the alternator make, to compensate for heavy load items like heater blower, PTC heater, heated windscreen and so on. If the wrong alternator doesn't get a control signal it understands, it might not make enough power.
 
Tensioner is a better fit with a 15/16 inch ring spanner. Reduces risk of rounding the very thin bolt head. Weird the supplier gave the same alternator with that odd connector !!
Glad it works. Check charge voltage on battery with headlights and heated rear windiw or ptc heater on.
 
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