Rover V8, 3.5 Alternator upgrade/replacement

[montythemole]

The Rover seems to be struggling to charge at present (71 Rover V8 3.5).

Have swapped a new battery in and still no luck and no obvious slipping belts or dodgy wiring. Multimeter is packed up at the moment so can't check the volts.

The existing unit has a Lucas 18ACR tag on, which after some searching translates as a factory part No: 54021427, rated at 43Amp.

The same alternator is also known as LRA100, LRA103, LRA106, LRA109, LRA226, GXE2276, 1504563, 1553528, 3900, 3901, 3956, 7060, 7065 and 6071967 by other car manufacturers. (BL, Ford, Landrover).

I've found that the Lucas LRA460 unit is rated at 55Amp and has better charging characteristics and is a direct swap (according to internet).

My question is, has anyone done a similar swap, and is the 12Amp increase likely to have any adverse effects? Fry the wiring (all seems good order) or any drop in engine power (noticeably). I drive the car fairly infrequently so it's not going to getting regular long charges hence why I'm hoping to get as much charging done on each trip as possible.

Lastly Eurocarparts are quoting £56 for a new unit, sounds fair price?

Have a photo:

[Oldbus]

Sorry, not much help on your question but 56 quid for a new one with guarantee sounds like a fair price to me

[montythemole]

Thanks anyway Oldbus!
Went for it anyway and spent a happy lunch hour at Motoserv in Bletchley whilst they tracked it down. Umpteen boxes later we got a variant of it that came with a V belt pulley rather than a splined belt and that was handed the correct way and correct plugs. Can't praise the guys enough and even bettered the eurocarparts price on principal!


The before, notice how close the hose is to rubbing on the cooling fins of the alternator? No I didn't either until I noticed a slight chaffing on it. Possibly didn't help the old unit to be snagged every so often.


New one in place and the hose tied back. So far amp on the gauge in the car much better!

[Deleted]

Cool, I like new alternators, it's one of the most satisfying things to replace. For some reason ;D

[montythemole]

True I seem to do battery and alternator on most of my stuff so at least when everything else is pants you know you're going to get at least 60 goes at starting the car/p1ssing off the neighbours.

Like the access to it on the V8 as well. Short of being outside the car it couldn't be much easier to get to.

[PhilA]

Nice, got the 60A SD1 one on my Victor. Charges the Transit diesel battery just fine, but the car doesn't have that much in the way of electrical load compared to some modern vehicles.

You've done right to tie that hose out of the way, mine did the same thing but busted open at 70, and being a small hose it empties the engine slowly- did 4 miles until I noticed the clouds of smoke, siezed the engine up
Let it cool off, fixed the hose, topped it up with water and it ran gain. It was never the same after that but not many engines will tolerate that lol

I had problems with the terminals on the back getting splattered with oil where the fan throws it around from the rocker breather (aftermarket rocker covers) and it not charging right because of that. But it's Lucas, that's to be expected, right? At least for those who like to relentlessly polish stuff, the housing comes up nicely with a bit of metal polish ;D Form and function!

--Phil