[s-cars] alternator

[Theodore Chen]

i pulled the voltage regulator and you guys were right: the brushes
are worn.  one of them, the rearmost one, is barely sticking out of the
plastic.  the other is in better shape, maybe an extra 5mm of material.

i didn't have to take out the alternator in order to get to the voltage
regulator.  i also didn't see an easy way to release the tension on the
belt, so i don't know if my push/pull test on the alternator pulley was
valid (but i didn't feel any movement of the commutator while i was applying
force to the pulley).

so i guess i'll replace the voltage regulator and see what happens.  if
the new brushes die quickly, i'll have to pull the alternator and do the
bearings.  oddly enough, i couldn't find anything in the bentley about 
the alternator.  i must not have been looking in the right place, but 
it didn't show up in the indexes that i checked.

-teddy

--- Tom Green <trgreen at comcast.net> wrote:

> That sounds like good advice to me.   I would grab the pulley to see if
> I could feel any shaft wobble due to bearing play.  They last an 
> unbelievably
> long time, but if they are worn, the brushes in the new regulator won't 
> last.
> If I went to the trouble of removing the alternator during all this, I 
> would
> rebuild  or replace it.   Check all those (corroded?) connections  as 
> well.
> 
> Tom '95 S6
> 
> On Feb 14, 2005, at 6:11 PM, Djdawson2 at aol.com wrote:
> 
> I think you ought to pull the voltage regulator and look at it.  
> There's only
> 2 screws that hold it on to the back of the alternator... you can pull 
> it and
> look at the brushes.  Likely they're shot, and the part costs only 
> about $50.
> HTH,
> Dave in CO
> 
> In a message dated 2/14/2005 3:53:23 PM Mountain Standard Time,
> tedebearp at yahoo.com writes:
> 
> don't know at this point whether it's the alternator or voltage 
> regulator.
> i'm debating whether i should just replace the alternator and voltage
> regulator with an alternator/voltage regulator from www.ultranator.com
> (which several listers recommended).  if i do so, i figure that will
> eliminate the alternator as a potential source of problems for a long 
> time.
> 
> 


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