95 A6q Voltage Regulator Adventures and question.

[toomanyaudis at aol.com]

 I was in the middle of a 450 mile drive in my 95 A6q yesterday when my alternator stopped charging.

I was able to make it to an exit off I95 in Lumberton, NC, pull into a gas station and start calling parts stores.  None of the stores that were open had the Voltage Regulator in stock (what I figured to be the most likely cause of the problem), but I was able to restart the car (barely) and make it a couple of more miles to the Advance Auto Parts Store.

The plan was to charge up the battery and get within at least 200 miles of home so that I could get one tow on Sunday and another Monday morning.

Seeing as I had about 45 min for the battery to recharge, I decided to remove the alternator to check my diagnosis and see if there was another VR at the store that would match up to mine.

As you are probably aware, getting the Alternator free on the V6 is harder than figuring out one of those metal puzzle games at Cracker Barrel.  Only the solution involves a lot more grease and swearing.  Well, a different kind of grease than the Cracker Barrel, at least.

I finally got the Alternator free and took the VR off the unit.  One brush was shiny and the other was shorter and black -- it obviously had lost contact with the alternator shaft.

It was a no-go on getting a new VR, so I pulled the short brush out as much as possible, put it back together and had the alternator bench tested.  And... it tested good.  

So, reassembly was in order.  After a delay while I helped a couple of guys swap pulleys on their alternator -- me being a good samaritan with tools and all that (vice grips and a breaker bar can do in about an hour what would take an impact wrench 45 seconds) I hit the road and made it the last 225 miles home.

It looks like the replacement VR's are in the outrageous price zone -- $80 or more locally, so I was wondering if just the brushes can be replaced.

Has anyone done this before?  Where would I find brushes that would work?

Tom
Charleston SC
95 A6q