Land Rover Repair: 95 electrical problems - alt?, tensioner pulley, bon chance

Question
hi i have a 95 disco in montreal canada bought it in febuary this year with a broken alternator and bad battery...did change both and yesterday on the highway lost the rpm power then battery light came on  ...i have only a 1000km since the repair....drove the car back (1 hour drive)back to my place ...(the ride a no problem..and at my place restart it ..no problem..so i dont fink i was drive only on the battery on my way back but still no rpm and light batt on...the strap is fine

Answer
Bonjour Alain,

when your tachometer is no longer functioning, its the alternator.  It's quite possible that the alt works off and on.  Did you buy a new alternator or was it a rebuilt from DNS in N.Montreal?  

I had to replace 3 alternators in my '95.  The last one I bought from DNS and its worked ever since.  That was 3 years ago.  From my experience, the moment the battery starts to fail, the alternators seem to 'pick up' on this weakness and start to overwork and (eventually) burn out.  Purchase the best battery you can to avoid this possibility.  I chose Interstate (shameless plug!!!)

Seriously, I believe its your alternator.  Not to be alarmed, many Disco I owners have had this happen.  Could be the alt brushes or the fragile leads to the brushes.  The last one I bought from DNS, I had to rebuild - it just needed a new wire for the brushes.  In the middle of a Quebec winter, this was done in my driveway!!!

I would measure the output of your alt to see if it is fluctuating its voltage to the battery.  Also, test the battery for various charges - just to be sure its 100%.

Bon chance,

JohnMc

NB: if all is well, its possible that the tensioner pulley is failing and perhaps the belt is slipping.  

jmcinnis64@hotmail.com