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excossack

Member Since: 22 Feb 2012
Location: North West
Posts: 5889

1999 Defender 110 Td5 SW Caledonian Blue

Battery warning light

Way back in July on a trip to Scotland the battery warning light came on. A day later the battery warning light went away and stayed off for the whole trip and the run home.

Fast forward to last weekend, 150 miles up the M62 and all good. Ran round the forest all well. Heading home, and hello battery warning light. Stayed on for around 60 miles.

Day later all well. Mon, Tue and Wed AM to/from work all good. Drive home tonight and stop at the shops. Back in the car to come home and battery light on. Stayed on for the 1.5mile drive home.

Been under the bonnet tonight and checked the output from the alternator 12.23v with engine running. (assuming the 13mm nut on the alternator/brown wire to the starter is the output)
To rule out any other odd wiring issues on the positive side, I decided to undo the brown cable from the starter end and start the car up. Battery warning light on (to be expected given the cable is disconnected) 0v at the 13mm brown wire at the alternator.

Was this a fair test or is there another feed back to the battery I have missed?

I am thinking alternator is duff...? 1999 Defender TD5 110

Regards
John M0VAZ
Econet Station 48 no clock

3rd Oct 2018 5:42pm

grafty99

Member Since: 15 Aug 2012
Location: North Devon
Posts: 4796

Would be worth checking the charge voltage at the battery but anything under about 13.5v charge voltage is too low

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3rd Oct 2018 5:49pm

excossack

Member Since: 22 Feb 2012
Location: North West
Posts: 5889

Around 12.x volts. Something not right. I can see the volt meter dipping in time with battery warning light, 1999 Defender TD5 110

Regards
John M0VAZ
Econet Station 48 no clock

3rd Oct 2018 5:51pm

grafty99

Member Since: 15 Aug 2012
Location: North Devon
Posts: 4796

I think the Td5 alternator is a 14v unit so 12v is way too low

3rd Oct 2018 5:52pm

miker

Member Since: 13 Sep 2015
Location: Surrey
Posts: 1769

You should get 13.5V at the battery, up to 14.1V when it's cold.

3rd Oct 2018 5:57pm

excossack

Member Since: 22 Feb 2012
Location: North West
Posts: 5889

Cheers for the replies.
When the battery light is not on i would normally get 14.5v ish volts.

Would you expect to get a voltage output from the 13mm nut connector on the alternator with the brown wire disconnected & engine running? 1999 Defender TD5 110

Regards
John M0VAZ
Econet Station 48 no clock

3rd Oct 2018 6:51pm

Tommo

Member Since: 19 Dec 2013
Location: Leicestershire
Posts: 830

2006 Defender 90 Td5 Black LE Java Black

Had this on mine....had to replace alternator

Then battery started to go so replaced that as well

3rd Oct 2018 7:46pm

excossack

Member Since: 22 Feb 2012
Location: North West
Posts: 5889

This morning, about 3 miles into the trip to work, all well, no battery light. Then bing! on / off for the rest of the 1mile to work.

New alty to be ordered me think

1999 Defender TD5 110

Regards
John M0VAZ
Econet Station 48 no clock

4th Oct 2018 7:14am

excossack

Member Since: 22 Feb 2012
Location: North West
Posts: 5889

New Denso alternator ordered. Any tips for dealing with oil drain hose? 1999 Defender TD5 110

Regards
John M0VAZ
Econet Station 48 no clock

4th Oct 2018 12:42pm

Tommo

Member Since: 19 Dec 2013
Location: Leicestershire
Posts: 830

Good choice re alternator...LR ones (TD5) were denso.
Still got my old one and plan to get this refurbished.

4th Oct 2018 3:31pm

excossack

Member Since: 22 Feb 2012
Location: North West
Posts: 5889

I was pondering the option of a Bearmach/Allmakes for a bit less, but 'charged' on and made the 'positive' choice of Denso. I have seen repair kits for them, get this done and tested followed by a repair. 1999 Defender TD5 110

Regards
John M0VAZ
Econet Station 48 no clock

4th Oct 2018 3:52pm

Procta

Member Since: 03 Dec 2016
Location: Sunderland
Posts: 5239

I would say its the alternator too, They do daft things when they start to go on the blink. Defender TD5 90 ---/--- Peugeot 306 HDI hatch back

Success is 90% Inspiration and 4 minutes Preparation # you can make it!

4th Oct 2018 8:27pm

tony.g

Member Since: 25 Aug 2017
Location: uk
Posts: 21

I got a Britpart alternator a few months ago and even after several hours could not get the thing to fit. Had to give up and got a Denso one from the dealers and it went in straightaway.
The aluminium casing on the Britpart one didn't look as fine and neatly cast as the Denso.

4th Oct 2018 8:39pm

excossack

Member Since: 22 Feb 2012
Location: North West
Posts: 5889

Job done. New alternator on. The one I took off was an original LR one, so could be the original one. If so, its done 210,000 miles!

Fitting time around 2 hours. Lets see how the work run goes. 1999 Defender TD5 110

Regards
John M0VAZ
Econet Station 48 no clock

7th Oct 2018 3:53pm

discomog

Member Since: 09 May 2015
Location: Notts/Lincs Border
Posts: 2535

2015 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 XS CSW Santorini Black

Good luck with the run to work tomorrow. Keep us all posted. Defender 90XS SW
Mini Countryman Cooper S
Morgan Plus 8

7th Oct 2018 5:07pm

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