Technical Alterntor Died

[Roberto Blanco]

Hello guys,
This morning my car (Emotion 1.9 16v 150) started very hard and only after 20 tries and 50 min of battery charge. After start battery light came on, measured the voltage, it was 13.2V, but after 20 min or so my dash was like a Christmas tree and sterring died. Measured voltage again 11.8V. I must admit, all these weeks i was reading about your alternator problems and thought i`m a lucky guy lol, but it seems i was wrong. So now i was checking the websites and found a good price for ELSTOCK 120 alternator, its about 130 Euro. Never heard about Elstock until now, also searched their website and it looks good, can`t find a review about them tho. As a comparison, Denso is two times more expensive. Did anyone tried to repair the old one ?

 

[dave]

cheaper to just stick a new part on yours https://www.fiatforum.com/croma-guides/312526-denso-alternator-rectifier-repair.html

 

[Doofer]

My alternator died last week after I replaced it two years ago. However, the alternator itself was fine - it was the pulley wheel that had failed. It cost me £33 for a new one.

Have a look and see if the alternator's turning smoothly. If not then the damage might not be as bad as you thought. Mine also made a racket when it went - like shaking a tin of nuts and bolts.

A note for anyone with the same issue - make sure you get the 37mm wide pulley, not the 41mm wide one that many parts suppliers think will fit - it won't, as the pulley ribs would then be 3-4mm out of alignment and you'll get a shredded belt. It took me about 4 days of getting the wrong parts sent to get my car back on the road.

 

[Roberto Blanco]

Thank you both, Dave and Doofer. Called a store from where i usually buy the parts and the guy said, first to take off the alternator and see whats wrong with it, then give him the code from it to see what i need. Now i cant take it off as the weather is bad, some kind of semi-snow. Thank you again for the replies.

 

[Roberto Blanco]

Today is finally a good day to dismantle the alternator. Already ordered a new Denso 140A. I will repair the old one and keep it as spare and hope i`ll never need it

 

[Roberto Blanco]

Heeeeelp. I can`t fit back the accessory belt ... it seems smaller now. The tensioner shown in eLearn is not adjustable is fixed. I`m stuck for 2 hours now ...really dont know what to do ....

 

[s130]

Heeeeelp. I can`t fit back the accessory belt ... it seems smaller now. The tensioner shown in eLearn is not adjustable is fixed. I`m stuck for 2 hours now ...really dont know what to do ....

The tensioner is Sprung Loaded.

Get a 17mm (or is it 13mm or 19mm) spanner and place it over the bolt head of the bolt that goes through the center of the puller. Now turn/lever clockwise. You should find that the whole pulley wheel moves allowing the belt to be fitted.

 

[dave]

pictures in here https://www.fiatforum.com/croma-ii/278294-cam-belt-day.html

i had to use them my self when i did Alternator as i forgot what way the belt routed

look close and you will see there is a drill dit that goes into a little hole to keep it out the way whilst you fit belt

 

[Roberto Blanco]

Finally done it, thanks s130 for the tip, even tho i didnt understood what that "Sprung Loaded" means, i found out from many tries. I will tell you tomorrow all about it, as now i can barely move my fingers. Good Night guys

 

[s130]

Finally done it, thanks s130 for the tip, even tho i didnt understood what that "Sprung Loaded" means, i found out from many tries. I will tell you tomorrow all about it, as now i can barely move my fingers. Good Night guys

My apologies. "Sprung Loaded" means a self tensioning pulley which uses an integral bias spring.

At least you got it sorted and I hope your fingers warm up and recover for tomorrow.

Nick

 

[dave]

ah maybe i should ad the pic to this thread too then, for people in future.

 

[Roberto Blanco]

Good Morning guys. I must say my biggest fear was to put back in the new alternator, but that was a 5 min job with connecting the wires included. I didnt knew about this type of tensioner as my old Fiat Tempra had a different system. The details you added in the picture above Dave, are essential, thank you and sure more people will need it. After getting down my old alternator i could see is an Denso 120A and the new one is Denso 140A. My lovely Croma is back to life, 14.10 V on charging. I will repair the old 120A and keep it for spare and hope i will never need it .

 

[Doofer]

That's interesting that you had a 120A one fitted. That probably means it has been replaced before.

We had some discussion about alternator capacities a while back. One possible theory for them breaking was that the 140A one could be overheating due to a lack of air circulation. I think most Vectras have a 120A one.

I was wondering about fitting a 120A one to mine the next time it goes pop. You've just confirmed that this wouldn't make any difference (or may make it more likely to go).

In theory a 140A one will work for less time but at a higher rate, and a 120A will work less hard but for more of the time. It's difficult to know what is best/worst. Anyway the car is supposed to have a 140A one.

My unbranded 140A one is still going strong after over two years. I made a point of not getting a Denso one (as the original had failed prematurely), and just got the cheapest going. Other than the pulley going (now replaced with a £33 cheapie off ebay), it seems OK so far at least.

 

[Roberto Blanco]

My apologies. "Sprung Loaded" means a self tensioning pulley which uses an integral bias spring.

At least you got it sorted and I hope your fingers warm up and recover for tomorrow.

Nick

Hi Nick,

No worries mate, its my fault because i should have done some more research. About the fingers, good thing i wear gloves all the time while doing the job, but they still hurt like hell and today while driving 150km local road, my wife laughed at me few times as i made some strange noises when i had to change my position in the seat (LMAO) and i cant even imagine how it will be at 70-80 ...what if your alternator on Croma 8 will die and you want to change it .

Rob

 

[Roberto Blanco]

That's interesting that you had a 120A one fitted. That probably means it has been replaced before.

We had some discussion about alternator capacities a while back. One possible theory for them breaking was that the 140A one could be overheating due to a lack of air circulation. I think most Vectras have a 120A one.

I was wondering about fitting a 120A one to mine the next time it goes pop. You've just confirmed that this wouldn't make any difference (or may make it more likely to go).

In theory a 140A one will work for less time but at a higher rate, and a 120A will work less hard but for more of the time. It's difficult to know what is best/worst. Anyway the car is supposed to have a 140A one.

My unbranded 140A one is still going strong after over two years. I made a point of not getting a Denso one (as the original had failed prematurely), and just got the cheapest going. Other than the pulley going (now replaced with a £33 cheapie off ebay), it seems OK so far at least.

Hi Doofer,

Well it is possible that my alternator was changed before as my car has 163.000 Km/102.000 Miles, but at the parts shop when i gave them my chassis number, they said i need a 120A as that was fited as original. My Croma is built 18 december 2005.

Now i read all posts about alternator on this forum and found out one in which Dave gave some OEM codes for Croma alternators and i took the Nippon Denso 140A one and made order for it before i even got mine off the car. Now i will repair the old one and i was wondering if i can change it to 140A ?

Yes, in theory the 140A works less to deliver same power, and should heat up less than the 120A.

I also wanted to buy a cheaper one, but they asked my old one also and i said pass. Denso 140A was £180 and the other one Elstock 140A was £123, and this one wasnt even new, it was a rebuild one with waranty, but i didnt liked the ideea to pay £123+bad alternator for a rebuild one instead getting the Denso for £180 and keep the old one which i can repair for no more than £20 and keep it for spare.

In the pictures bellow, you can see the labels of both alternators.

May your alternators never burn ,

Rob

 

[Roberto Blanco]

Today I did look a little bit at the old alternator and noticed that, the isolation on stator wires is melted. I was thinking to repair it and have it for spare, but if stator is damaged cant do it. I`ll dismantle it this evening to measure it and make some pictures which I`ll post later on or tomorrow. Did anyone else, had same problems with their broken ones ?

Rob