Alternator Bad?

Fellow owners, Over the weekend I had my car out for a 150 mile drive and noticed my voltage gauge was very near what my PRV and Bosch fuel injection don't like, ie. very low voltage!

The battery is brand new, so I know that isn't the problem.

So, I removed the alternator to get a closer look, this is what I found..............
Attachment 53553Attachment 53554

The 'potting' material is almost gone from the regulator board and the rest of the alternator is pretty sad.

Yes I need a new alternator!

My Moto did the same thing. Melted and dripped down the case!

Out of curiosity - do you still have the hot air stove attached to the exhaust manifold?

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Originally Posted by FABombjoy

Out of curiosity - do you still have the hot air stove attached to the exhaust manifold?

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Yes I do, although it has a rusty surface, I wouldn't attempt to remove it unless I had a new one to replace.

"While I'm there", I'll re-wrap the electrical leading to the alternator, and anything else that needs attention. (my muffler heat shield needs some help too)

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Originally Posted by ritztoys

Yes I do, although it has a rusty surface, I wouldn't attempt to remove it unless I had a new one to replace.

"While I'm there", I'll re-wrap the electrical leading to the alternator, and anything else that needs attention. (my muffler heat shield needs some help too)

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You actually do want to remove them. They are more of a hindrance than a benefit. No harm in removing at all.

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Originally Posted by opethmike

You actually do want to remove them. They are more of a hindrance than a benefit. No harm in removing at all.

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Can you explain further?

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Originally Posted by opethmike

You actually do want to remove them. They are more of a hindrance than a benefit. No harm in removing at all.

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The inlet valve assembly is a bother but I'm not sure that removing the stove is a good idea. I'm working on a hypothesis that removing them eliminates a passive heat shield that leads to premature alternator failure. My moto melted @ 15k miles. I pulled the stove at 9k.

Not much data on this plot but Renault went to some extra lengths to cool the Alpine alternators and I suspect they weren't wasting the effort for fun.

The OEM alternator was under-capacity and have a very high failure rate. Best to upgrade to a better alternator. The Ducy alternator can't take the heat. As for the heat shields, IMHO better to leave them in place, they offer *some* protection and even a little is better than none. If you are not using the car in cold weather on a regular basis you can remove the heat stove and the valve and connect directly to the pontoon intake. It will cause it to take a little bit longer to warm up in the wintertime but the engine will run better with a less restrictive intake.

Thanks guys for your explanations.

I will probably not remove the heat shield, as the 'season for driving' will be ending soon for me. Sometimes a simple maintenance job turns into a huge headache that takes longer than it should!

I have a 'honey do list' for my car this winter, don't want to rush the "jacked" winter storage either.

As soon as I saw the insides of my alternator, I ordered a new one and should be here in a few days.

I want to enjoy everything working properly before the bad weather arrives and my baby sits in the garage waiting for spring. (I don't even like driving in the rain, never felt snow either)