Signs of alternator going

[zoricib]

Hi all,

I recently had my alternator fail & whilst I was expecting it to go at some point, never knew what the signs of it going are. Scoured the web for a bit I found that one of the telltales is when the alternator produces a whine and your car sounds like you have a supercharger - which I definitely noticed but didn't think of investigating further.

So if your car starts sounding like it's got a supercharger, start looking for an alternator.

I got a rebuilt one from eBay for £125 including postage and had to send the faulty one back (they held a £30 deposit until they received my faulty one).

Labour cost was £160 at a local mechanic and he said the aircon compressor had to be removed to get to the alternator (also had a rounded bolt apparently so this may have added to the complexity of the job.

 

P.S. Once the alternator goes (all electrics started playing up - radio turning on and off, lights on dash etc) the power steering goes with it too. If you're driving at motorway speeds all systems come back,  but once stopped at traffic lights it all goes off too - mine went bad just as I was joining the M6 but managed to make it to the mechanic after wrestling with the steering wheel. 

[Mr Vlad]

Oh how that reminded me of when my alternator went. All dash lights came up and I mean All. The car lost power steering. Not even a new fully charged Battery cured the lights but it did the steering. 

As some may remember I rang Lexus Stockport and they got me in the same day. Cost was £800 but that's what had to be done. Mind you I got a UX250h for 3 days for no cost which softened the blow.

In my case there was No supercharger type noise so basically the tell tell signs if any are loss of power steering and all dash lights on but the car driving normally. 

[Malc1]

Often it just fails with zero warning and you’re stuck waiting for the recovery truck 

older Ls400s with pas fluid leaking dripping onto the alternator and then one day it all just stops working ….. for me personally in the rain at night under a bridge to which I coasted on the M 20 …… a bit of a bug-er for sure 

Nevermind ….. the 2nd time, different car, the alternator just “ gave up “ at 200k plus miles as I drifted onto my son-in-laws driveway one dark winters night 👍

BUT in all cases zero prior warning 

so take care 

Malc 

[GMB]

Fully sympathise with the problems on older cars. I know some people that are paying well over £500 per month PCP or HP for a depreciating piece of junk. When you put your repair bills into perspective the old car solution is by far the better one.

Not to mention some of these things are losing well over £10K per year. i.e.  that's another £800 lost per month not to mention again the lost potential interest on the "say" 10K = another £35 per month.

Minimum - 800+35+500= £1335 per month down the swanny. You could buy a Ford Mondeo for that sort of money and celebrate with a bottle of Aldi Premier Cru Champagne.🎉😁

[GMB]

Article on the news today - lots of people giving up owning cars due to the ridiculous cost of ownership. Looking at the previous figures reminds me that on top of the ridiculous losses you also have the running costs: tax insurance servicing ULEZ parking fuel etc etc.

I can see how a taxi would be cheaper if you lived in town.🚙🚕🪚🤨 

[JeffL]

At what sort of mileage can an alternator be expected to fail?

[GMB]

 

Google says:

Numerous factors work with and against alternators, so it’s tough to pinpoint an exact lifespan of an alternator. However, we can say with near certainty that an alternator will not last for the average life of a vehicle. In general, you can expect alternators to last about 6-10 years, or about 80,000-150,000 miles.

2 minutes ago, JeffL said:

At what sort of mileage can an alternator be expected to fail?

I have never had an alternator fail, However I think the figures above are pessimistic. I would guess a good Japanese model to be at least 120K - 180K+ miles. If you have a Ford it will be dependent on when the warranty just finishes, then it will be gone.

[Texas]

..

 

[Spock66]

11 hours ago, zoricib said:

So if your car starts sounding like it's got a supercharger, start looking for an alternator.

The sound is probably the bearings have worn.