Alternator issue or not?

[skankyunderpants]

I have a 1986 1.9 dg and I've found even on short distances the alternator gets really hot, now I'm off on a 125mile drive on Friday, would you guys say I'm going to get in a bit of bother with this or is this just the Vw way? Thanks!

[itchyfeet]

Hard to say, what do you mean by hot?
alternator is strapped to a hot engine to its bound to get warm but if hard to keep your hand on it its 45-50 degrees and thats too hot.
be careful, you dont want an engine fire so you should really get it checked if you are unsure

[skankyunderpants]

Yer it's too hot to put your bare hand on, I tightened up the fan belt before an I had to put a glove on! It was HHHOT'! What could be the cause do you think ?

[itchyfeet]

Dunno but dont risk it, perhaps an internal electrical short, perhaps a bearing fail
Google alternator rebuild your town
should be around £60 and take a day or too
better than an engine fire or death
http://www.yell.com/biz/wigan-auto-elec ... n-1258627/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[skankyunderpants]

My mate works at burscough rewinds in burscough so he is going to replace bearings tomorrow! £50, will have it done tomorrow! So fingers crossed that's what it is, cheers pal!!

[itchyfeet]

My mate works at burscough rewinds in burscough so he is going to replace bearings tomorrow! £50, will have it done tomorrow! So fingers crossed that's what it is, cheers pal!!

If your mate works in an alternator rebuild place he should be able to throughly check it, should be no finger crossing required

[California Dreamin]

Bearings are pretty obvious...rough/noisey/stiff/excess play also the rear housing can wear (again, shows up as excess play)

Possible reasons:

Bearing failure
Conducted heat through mountings from the engine
Alternator working too hard...regulator failing (overcharging)/duff battery (starter and or leisure) high resistances in main earths/feeds.

Are all the batteries OK? did you check the charge rate? was the alternator nice and free/smooth to turn and without play?

Martin

[skankyunderpants]

Done today, it was the regulator and the bearings where cronked, I think the electrics could to with a good going over to be fair! But the local auto electrician is crap an expensive!! Any one no of a good mobile one in the southport area?

[itchyfeet]

Well done, lucky escape i think, well spotted before it went pop.
i think many breakdowns can be avoided if you act on your concerns rather than leaving it until it breaks.

[what2do]

How many of us will now be doing a 'skin' test on our alternators? Not the sort of symptom that would be picked up by me normally, easy enough to check now that the knowledge has been gained.