The simplest things can bring you to a screaming Halt!

No alternator warning light in these things?

cheers, Peter

Gday Axle,
Its probably the one thing that is overlooked in the breakdown department. I guess you would be ok if you have a charger /generator to charge the battery when it stops. Most newish alternators have the regulator and brush holders as a single unit and most can be changed without removing the alternator if space permits . The chances of anything going wrong, like a diode or windings or bearings would probably be less, so probably worth carrying a spare regulator/ brush module. possibly a spare set of bearings. What failed on your alternator?? Michael

While out there a couple of weeks ago we followed an emergency on VKS-737 Axle.

He had a collasped alternator pulley bearing and this stuffed up the entire car , it was dead in the water , and couldn't be used for anything, or jury rigged in any way.

It was a 3lt patrol diesel.

Like many modern cars it had a stupid serpentine belt which wraps around everything.

In this case even carrying a spare belt , brushes or alternator is useless.

If one item goes so the whole motor system becomes useless.

Got luv the old 3 belt system , at least you can drivet, recharge , drive it etc

So this type of failure really does happen.

Alternators can be a problem. They run continuously subject to the heat from the motor/exhaust and from their own generated (pun intended) heat. The brushes are constantly wearing and the bearings/grease get older by the minute. Sooner or later something will fail, and according to Murphy, at the worst possible moment. Yet they rarely get routinely serviced.

In preparing the Troopy for an upcoming trip, just yesterday I attended to my alternator. Rather than pull it out and overhaul it I opted to replace it with a new one ($330) and service the old one at my leisure. As it turned out this was a good decision because the 12v output stud sheared-off as the nut was being removed. Glad that did not happen Out Bush! (The stud is a stupid design and will get modified)

Starter motors are not so bad. They usually do not dramatically fail but rather become somewhat dodgy, requiring repeated starting attempts and cussing words to get a response. Maintenance can be attended to later. And operating only intermittently, their bearings don't usually collapse.

In general, I don't carry endless spares, preferring rather to replace in advance those items that are subject to ageing or wear. Things such as hoses, belts, shock absorbers, timing belt, water pump, idler pulley bearing etc. But that's not to say that I carry no spares!

It's all about preparation, preparation, preparation. Besides, I have to have something to do between trips, LOL.

Quickly disconect mechanical link to solenoid and fencing wire the the start actuator to run position and roll start whilst its still hot.

Simplicity?

One drove my HJ47 for two days without a battery - jump start in the morning - kept on going