1995 Discovery, alternator?

[Ross in Tampa]

Greetings all...

I am about ready to pull my hair out. I have a 1995 Disco, that I have had the alternator replaced, not once but twice this month. The truck died in the road, and towed it to Sears (happened to be right next to it, not my first choice auto service center) and they diagnosed it a a bad alternator. It was driving ok after the replacement for about 5 days, then noticed the alternator bouncing, then after a while, the battery light, the the speedo would stop working.

The problem was sporadic, sometimes the tach would stop working, then 2 minutes later come back and work fine. They replaced the alternator, and the same thing happened. Now, I am stuck. They are throwing their hands up, and I need to have it serviced by someone familiar with our lovable old trucks.

Where do I start?

[afirover]

sounds like classic/texbook alt failure

did they relace the alt or just put in a rebiuld ?
contact a rover "geek" in your hood for advise
or email or pm me for some numbers ... if you don't know better

afi

[VXRickXV]

I had the same problem. the RPM gauge was totally dead. simply go to advance auto parts buy the alternator and swap it out yourself. Nothing beats a good job done with loving hands. Besides swapping it out is a piece of cake. the only "hard part" is the belt. but if you use a long wrench or rachet to turn the belt tensioner then you should have no problem. I was cheap I used a solid block of oak to press down on the tensioner. :P

[Rovin4life]

did they install the belt correctly. You can install one incorrectly yet work somewhat ok.

look at the belt and if it runs across from the alternator to the steering pump pulley then its installed wrong. It has to go from the alternator down to the water pump and then the power steering pump pulley.

[Roverbot]

Use a Delco alternator. It's cheap and very easy to adapt to your Disco. I put one in mine a week ago and it works great!

[Phototone]

Originally Posted by Roverbot

Use a Delco alternator. It's cheap and very easy to adapt to your Disco. I put one in mine a week ago and it works great!

It would be great if you could give some step-by-step instructions for this, or at least point us to a web site with details.

[Ross in Tampa]

Thanks all for your help.

The solution to my problem was a new battery and a new alternator. When the old battery was tested, it tested as good, but would slowly die and the alternator could not keep it charged.

Sears could not fix my problem, took it to a electrics specialist and was back on the road in 2 1/2 hours. Saved about 70 bucks too including a brand new battery.

So thanks again for all your assitance.

Ross in Tampa