Cleaning my alternator

[Ryannn]

Evening all,

Last year my Pajero went through a fair few alternators, I was replacing them with 2nd hand ones and killing them when I went off roading. The final time I replaced it with a brand new one at considerable cost, it's done well for 10 months but today I got the dreaded light on the dash.

I took an old one apart this afternoon and they're fairly simple, I'm going to try and clean it out internally and see if that fixes it. Can anyone recommend anything I should use to clean the inside of an alternator? I was considering clutch cleaner or diesel?

Thanks

[cobblers]

Yeah there's not much to them, really. Ideally strip them down so you can access the front and rear bearings, then you can clean with anything. Brake cleaner is fine, but if you are cleaning soily muck out then soapy water is ideal. Dry the parts out with an airline or in the oven, oil the bearings and reassemble - Clean the commutator lightly with emery cloth and rake out any smeg from between the sections with an old knife.
Make sure the brushes can slide free in the housings and there is plenty of meat on them (I would imagine grit and stuff wears them down) so that they have room to push nicely on the commutator and off you go. Depending on the alternator you can usually get replacements regulators/brush packs for not a lot of money.

[Ryannn]

Thanks Then I'm on with the job of relocating it to the top of the engine bay!