Where to source a decent quality alternator for serp griff

[crackedfinger]

Just got back from Le Mans in a hire car as the 3 year old alternator on the griff packed up on the way down in Rouen. Obviously I'm really gutted and annoyed as the car is in otherwise top to shape, and for a recently fitted part to fail kind of gets your blood boiling! Amazingly the battery had enough charge to get to the campsite before it dipped to 11 volts. With lots of diagnostic help and borrowed tools from nice people in the campsite it turned out that the rectifier has gone, and the alternator had no output at all. Pity France does not open for business until Tuesday as would of been very easy to fix otherwise ...

It is amazing how many spare parts you can find in the campsite, nearly everything bar alternators!

As I can't name and shame where I got this one from, does anyone have any advise on which brands to go for and where is a good trusty supplier of alternators?

Thanks.

[That Daddy]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RANGE-ROVER-P38-V8-4-0-100AM...

[350Matt]

I'd say 3 years isn't so bad for an alternator living in the volcano like enviroment that is a TVR underbonnet.


I'd suggest wrapping the manifolds before you fit the next one, to try an reduce local heat a bit

Matt

[optimax sniffer]

I got a replacement alternator from www.tvrcarparts.com for the cerb, should stock yours too

[crackedfinger]

That Daddy said:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RANGE-ROVER-P38-V8-4-0-100AM...

Thanks for that, am a bit stuck with the naming and shaming rules with this suggestion, same supplier but different brand alternator

[crackedfinger]

350Matt said:

I'd say 3 years isn't so bad for an alternator living in the volcano like enviroment that is a TVR underbonnet.


I'd suggest wrapping the manifolds before you fit the next one, to try an reduce local heat a bit

Matt

Would you really only expect 3 years? We are only talking 10k miles for 3 years, I really would expect it to last a lot longer. I would expect cars still to be running the original ones, if they need to run cooler then I would of expected an extra fan to the added to the pulley or something?

From reading other posts on here, lagging the exhausts seem to cause other issues down the line, but I get where you are coming from!

[That Daddy]

Quinny said:

I've got one you can have for £30 plus p&p

It's pretty heavy so probably around a £10er

Came off a Chim with 15k on the clock

Crackedfinger,that sounds like a bargain to me my original died after 105k and was dated 1995 so they do last,what kills most alternators are botched jump starts, starting with jump leads after long lay ups where the jump leads are ripped off(voltages not allowed to stabilize)and the alternator sees a flat battery and goes yee argh not ideal motorcycle voltage regulators suffer the same fate because owners dont condition the batteries over the winter lay/up

[clive f]

Quinny said:

Yep it's cheap enough

The only reason I'm not keeping it, is that my car is a pre-serp, so it won't fit

It came as a job lot of spares from a broken Chim. I also got the clocks from the same car and there was either 15k or 17k showing.

andy YHM

[WOO5IE]

If all that is wrong with the Alternator is a rectifier then you can buy these at minimal cost and fit yourself. Otherwise a Local Auto Electrical garage/suppler will fix at far less than £120 .

I've done it myself before


Trev

[350Matt]

crackedfinger said:

From reading other posts on here, lagging the exhausts seem to cause other issues down the line, but I get where you are coming from!

Providing the manifolds are stainless then theres' no issue with adding the wrap / lagging, it does reduce underbonnet temps considerably

Matt

[crackedfinger]

Well amazingly the Griff was delivered today, only took them 3 days to get it back home for me. 20 minutes later and the second hand alternator was bolted on and the volt gauge sprang to life (thanks Quinny!)