1 Sept 2024
Well, this was ugly. A couple of months ago I started having starting issues. Twice in a month it failed to start. At first I thought it was because it sat too long between use. The second time was only 2 weeks after a full charge. That is when I started to really check things out. I noticed my power steering hose from the reservoir was being worn thru on the back of the alternator. I attempted to pull it away with a piece of small chain. Of course it dropped into the back of the alt and BAM I let some of the smoke out.
I finished pulling the hose away with zip ties and figured I just fried my alternator.
Now I figured I needed to move the power steering reservoir at the same time I did the alternator. In order to make room I first needed to move the radiator overflow tank. Sheesh, Here is a before pic of where the tank was. You can see the top in the bottom of the pic.
In order to do this I needed to make a new holder and push the tank closer to the front of the grill support. It had to squeeze behind the steering box hoses.
Now I had space, making it easier to adjust fan belts too!
Dragging out the 3 spare alternators, made my mind turn to mush or porridge if you will. Why you ask?
Because none of them were wired the same on the back and the pulley/fans on the front were all different. PLUS I didn't know if any of them were good.
2 had keyways one didn't and all the shaft diameters were different. Mush I tell you! And I could tell that none of them were the same as the one on my engine...
Deciding the only thing to do was figure out which one I had and get another just like it. I checked my receipts and found out I bought this one Aug 2018 from Craddocks. It is an A127/65amp part number STC234. So checking around for prices I ordered one from Trevor at Rovahfarm. I also ordered 5' of 5/8"id hose for my power steering system from Grainger, along with some led's, from Superbrightleds for my instrument lights like the charge warning light when I found I had blown it out.....12v 2.2a E10 base(screw type).
Then I waited,......and thought, and waited and thought.
My 109 would still start and run it just wasn't charging and the deep AGM marine battery would last a while because being a diesel it didn't use loads of electrics when running, only for the lights which are all LEDs.
Pondering things I decided to put in a tachometer providing my new alt was compatible. When it came in an order was put in to Speedhut for one. That meant I needed a mount. I looked around and decided right in front behind the steering wheel was the logical, read only, place to put one.
I scrounged up some alli plate I had and made some measurements, drew some lines, did some cutting and using a Smiths ammeter of the same for comparison, size cut out a hole. It mounts to the same holes I have riv-nuts in for my dash. I used some of my skills to round the top of the arch for strength and anti-vibration.
I think it will look good and I can still open the vent when it's HOT!
Laying on the ground looking up in the first pic you can see the alternator tensioning bar where it is bolted to the power steering plate. circled in blue.
In this next pic the bottom of the power steering hose I need to replace, also circled in blue.
I started this morning removing the + terminals from the battery. Then disconnecting the wires from the back of the alt. Undoing the bolt for the tensioner and taking out the pivot bolt. It was a scramble moving it around and pulling and lifting. It wouldn't get past the power steering res.
Thankfully I had moved the rad tank earlier, that gave me room. I took off the hose I needed to replace and tried wiggling again. This time I got it out!
Once out I compared the back for wiring vs the new one.
Dirty but close enough, seems they had changed the plastic. Again.
Next up was swapping the fan/pulley.
OH SHIT! It seems the shaft was around 3mm too short and I couldn't get the nut on.
Whilst messing about I discovered there are different spacers on the shafts, the old one being thinner. This spacer holds the fan away from the body.
Getting desperate and frustrated I tried the shorter one and I could bolt the pulley on! Finally!
Around a half hour later I had the alternator in.
Reran the PS hose, nowhere near the alternator.
Started it up. The charge light stayed on slightly, even with revving. I re-tensioned the belt and tried it again. It still glowed only this time brighter. I got my voltmeter out, it was only reading 12.42 across the terminals.
Something else was wrong.............
I shut it down and started cleaning up, after all lunch should have been an hour ago, all the while thinking WTF! Now I'm no electrician, I figured that some wire somewhere had melted during the chain fiasco.
Screwing my courage up and since I was already filthy I started following wires from the alt back to wherever they might go. It didn't take long. I crawled under to look at the wires to the starter and lo and behold the 2 small brown wires were just hanging there. The nut holding the battery wire that these should have been under was tight. So now it's 0435 and I am editing 'cause I remember when I had taken this wire off. A couple 3 weeks earlier I was thinking a parasitic draw might be draining the battery. I was unhooking wires and checking. This led to the chain incident and missed hooking them back on.........
I grabbed a 1/2" wrench and put it back on feeling much chagrined, for my ineptitude and time and $ spent.
Once it was affixed properly I restarted the engine and the charge light went out! I stopped it and put in one of the leds and restarted, the light stayed on and my ammeter showed 12.4v. So I stopped the engine again and put in the incandescent bulb, restarted and 14v+ on the gauge.
Now I have to wait on the tach.
So I learned the LEDs won't work on the charge lamp socket, they do on the oil press lamp. That I'm an untrustworthy mechanic and need to check my work. That hot showers still feel good! That my original alternator is probably still good.
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