Quite a surprise (or, alternators love it rough)

[ronwest]

My alternator has been charging only intermittently for most of last week and I had it in mind to get brushes/rectifier/bearings and sort it out.

Anyhoo, as often happens the week got away so I decided on Friday night to pull it out and get my wife to pick me up an exchange unit from the auto electrician on Sat morning (I work Sat mornings).

When I removed the belt cover it was obvious that power steering fluid had been leaking on and into the alternator, although not a big enough leak to drip onto the ground.

After removing the alternator and to save my wife getting oil and gunk on her and/or her car I thought it would be a good idea to clean it up a bit.

So I dutifully sprayed a full can of degreaser onto, into and generally all over the alternator. I let it sit for a bit and then got the high pressure cleaner on to the job. Believe me, that thing got a severe washing!

I blew it out with compressed air and left it at that.

Who's have thought that auto 'leccies don't work Sat mornings any more? Not one in our general area was at work!

Bugger... wait till Monday....but I had a trailer load of stuff to take to the tip with my new towbar. Oh well, only half an hour to reinstall the alternator, which I did. Hooked the trailer up and was surprised that the alternator was charging.... but fully expected it to to cut in and out as it had been doing.
Nope, didn't miss a beat going to the tip.

We went out on Sat night and I thought that loading it up (lights/aircon etc) would be a pretty good test. Again, didn't miss a beat.
Today we went up to the Sunshine Coast. Still going strong.

My advice is that if your alternator is playing up, drown it... it will love you forever

[Dauphin]

Thanks for the advice mate, I definitely should do that with mine. It's got mess all over it.

[ronwest]

Originally Posted by Dauphin

Thanks for the advice mate, I definitely should do that with mine. It's got mess all over it.

I meant it sorta tongue in cheek but with mine I think that the problem was a heat issue.

The drip of power steering fluid combined with travelling on dirt roads meant that the finning and most orifices (of the alternator) were pretty well blocked.

If you give it a wash make sure that you give it a good blow out with compressed air.
In fact, if it's gunked up, I'd blow it out first.

I only gave mine a bath because I'd planned on replacing it the day after

[InfernoSR]

LMAO! what a funny circumstance! :P

[james22]

Lol. I done a similiar thing.
When I polished my alternator and the bracket, it got covered in filings, and fine metal flakes etc. It was really dirty and I figured an alternator, might not like foreign metal etc in there much. So I washed it out with a whole can of electrical contact cleaner (it evaporates) let it dry, then blew the remaining stuff out with compressed air. Worked a treat, and I've never had a problem in the last year. :-)

[Jastel]

Fix your power steering next weekend then!! LOL

They do not like PS oil, even if it still works the oil/dust will wear out the bearings/brushes/comutator quicker

Ford should put a cover over the dam thing as PS leaks are very common.