can an alternator be repaired?

[rapidyellow]

I took the alternator off my off the road green ZR as the one on my current on the road grey ZR failed

whats likely to have failed within the broken one, and can it be easily or cheaply fixed?


ta

[Stu]

Yes, they can be repaired. What are the symptoms of the failed unit? Noisy bearings, not charging, sparks flying out? Usual failure is the voltage regulator or brushes which given intermittent charging but are straightforward to replace,

I had a VW one reconditioned at a place in Warrington years ago (near Bank Quay station), noticed you're in Cheshire too so perhaps worth looking them up?

[rapidyellow]

It stopped charging and battery light stayed on when engine was running

[steveo3002]

yeah theres a fair chance you could diy it ..check out youtube for alternator repair /brush replace , can be a cheap n eay diy job

failing that a repair shop will sort more serious probs

[cobblers]

They are dead easy to repair. Usually brushes and a regulator will fix them, they are often combined in the same unit.
Stick the part number off it in google and you'll probably get another for a tenner.

Check to see if theres anything obviously wrong with the commutator or the windings before wasting your money - the commutator might be quite worn but even if it's a few MM down, new brushes will reach it. Scrape the carbon curse word from between the segments on the comm using a blunt stanley blade and flush it all out with brake cleaner.

If you have any other alternators rattling around the garage off similar motors then you might have a decent brushpack/reg in one of them.

[sparkyt]

Rotating electrics Birmingham. ..

Great service and not bad on the pocket . .

[theheap]

I have just removed my alternator off the st200 and will be buying new. Went to my 2 local alternator repairers and they want £125+vat! New one is £155 inc vat.

[taurus]

Try MC Alternators in Warrington

[Ryannn]

I'd been through a few second hand ones recently so I decided to get one refurbished for a change.

After inspection it didn't work out much cheaper than a brand new one from the same place at £120.

[Battles]

I've only heard of alternators being refurbed if they're rare or very expensive new, eBay suggests a decent new MG ZR alternator can be had for £70 delivered. I can't see an alternator being refurbed for less than that (assuming at least a couple of hours work at £30-£40 per hour).

If the voltage regulator is cheap and easy to swap that might be worth a try for a quicker fix?
Even if it doesn't fix that alternator, when you have more than one of the same model of car it's always handy to have something like that in stock.

[Rich]

You lot need to find a more friendly auto electrics specialist. My local will do an 'emergency repair' replacing only the parts that stop it charging for around £40 if the parts are available.. Worth trying to get the regulator and having a pop yourself if you fancied it.

[gregg106]

A lot of 'new' alternators aren't actually brand new but reconditioned, so you may end up paying more for the same thing, bar a bit or paint and cleaning. Quality varies hugely on recon'd stuff, a local repairer may be easier to deal with if it goes wrong.