[weimaraner73]

I had a new alternator fitted about 12 months ago - this died after 11 months. Had another brand new alternator fitted one month ago and today it died ????

Does anyone know how this is happening ? My garage (local 4x4) told me that because he fitted aftermarket BOSCH alternators that this has been the problem. He is going to fit an OEM alternator this week........this will cost me yet more £££££ and I am not happy. Is his argument valid?

I have been having battery drain issues for the last 3 years and finally narrowed this down to the sat nav / head unit recently. I simply removed the fuse to the unit and my battery drain issue has been cured ever since. Would this be a cause of the new alternator burning out after only a month ? Or is this just coincidence ??

Any ideas ?

Thanks.

 

[brad s1]

Is the correct pulley fitted to the alternator?

I've seen aftermarket alternators come with a smaller than stock pulley, that being the case the alt is always being overspun which kills it quicker.

 

[CyberMrT]

Mine just died at 85000 miles so also sourced a relacement Bosch unit which is in the process of being fitted 286+VAT for part.

The original unit is also a Bosch part (YLE000040) and should be exactly the same as the Bosch part you have fitted, the one from LR direct however will be double the price? Can't see how it will be any better?

http://www.rangerovers.net/repairdetail ... nator.html

 

[weimaraner73]

Seemingly, there is a slight difference even though they are both BOSCH (rangerovers don't like aftermarket parts I have been told). I suppose the only way of finding out is to see how long the 3rd one lasts - this is getting fitted tomorrow. If this one dies within the next year then there is definately more to this than meets the eye. The garage is going to fit this for free and only charge me the difference in price between the OEM and the aftermarket alt.

Maybe I am just downright unlucky...............seems like I am unlucky not matter what the problem with my car.....of which there have been many. I am rapidly going off my rangerover after 3 years of problems..........I keep telling myself that I have spent so much in repair bills that it is not worth selling............HMMMM - To date, I must have spent over £9,000.00 in repairs, I know rangerovers are expensive to run but I think 9K is a bit OTT for a car with less than 50k on the clock.

Decision time for me, I think it may be time for a change but then I always say this and then can't bare to part with the **** thing................

 

[Guest]

Seemingly, there is a slight difference even though they are both BOSCH (rangerovers don't like aftermarket parts I have been told). I suppose the only way of finding out is to see how long the 3rd one lasts - this is getting fitted tomorrow. If this one dies within the next year then there is definately more to this than meets the eye. The garage is going to fit this for free and only charge me the difference in price between the OEM and the aftermarket alt.

Maybe I am just downright unlucky...............seems like I am unlucky not matter what the problem with my car.....of which there have been many. I am rapidly going off my rangerover after 3 years of problems..........I keep telling myself that I have spent so much in repair bills that it is not worth selling............HMMMM - To date, I must have spent over £9,000.00 in repairs, I know rangerovers are expensive to run but I think 9K is a bit OTT for a car with less than 50k on the clock.

Decision time for me, I think it may be time for a change but then I always say this and then can't bare to part with the **** thing................

As for your indy only charging you the difference between the OEM part and aftermarket part, and free fitting, I should bloody well think so. If a part fitted by a professional fails at less than 30 days use, it goes back and gets replaced, for free. No questions asked.

Your last sentence speaks volumes to me. Contrary to what a lot of people think, low mileage is not always good. If you have a 2004 with less than 50K on the clock, that can be as damaging or more than one the same age with 3 times the miles. With low miles comes lots of short runs. Condensation builds up in the engine and doesn't have time to evaporate off. This in turn cause corrosion on the inside of the engine even when the exterior might be brand spanking new. Now for your alternator / battery drain issue, this could be a contributor too. Short runs will discharge you battery, but won't allow the alternator to charge it efficently. Therefore it's going to be working a lot harder then one that does double or triple the miles. You could fit a battery tender to keep your battery topped up. Might be a cheap investment if you don't want to keep replacing alternators and you can remember to plug it in every night.

 

[weimaraner73]

Got my car back this evening with the new alternator fitted. The garage charged me the difference between the old one and the new OEM part (£260.00).

In response to the last post - I bought the car with low miles (19000)- I actually use the car every day clocking up about 50 motorway miles per day so I am not sure your point is valid unless a 25mile run in the morning and 25 at night is considered a short journey?

I genuinely have to believe the garage who say that it is purely down to faulty aftermarket goods. I will see how long the OEM alt lasts me - if it dies again within a year then I will have to seriously consider selling this car. Hope it lasts as I have had it with garage bills.........still love my rangey though !!

 

[Guest]

Got my car back this evening with the new alternator fitted. The garage charged me the difference between the old one and the new OEM part (£260.00).

In response to the last post - I bought the car with low miles (19000)- I actually use the car every day clocking up about 50 motorway miles per day so I am not sure your point is valid unless a 25mile run in the morning and 25 at night is considered a short journey?

I genuinely have to believe the garage who say that it is purely down to faulty aftermarket goods. I will see how long the OEM alt lasts me - if it dies again within a year then I will have to seriously consider selling this car. Hope it lasts as I have had it with garage bills.........still love my rangey though !!

Your math doesn't add up.
you say that you have had it for 3 years and do 50 miles a day. Assume that you only drive it for 320 days out of the year and that is 16K miles or 48K in the 3 years you have owned it.
Add to that the 19K original miles that you say were on it when you bought it and you should be somewhere around 67K miles, but you say that you have less than 50K on it.

Either you don't do as many miles a day as you think or there are several days between runs. Either way, it's less than normal mileage for a vehicle that age.
Average mileage for a vehicle is 10K to 12K a year. For a 6 year old car, that puts it somewhere in the 60K to 70K mile mark. If yours is less than 50K then it has done less than the average which is typical of short runs. Low miles can kill cars as quick as high miles can.