Hi Stan, Land Rover has had problems with alternators for decades.

Many years ago, I use to manufacture car alarms and one of my customers was a Land Rover dealership in South Hurstville in Sydney.

This was one of those rear dealerships that had an auto electrician on staff.

He had a 44 gallon drum of LR alternators replaced with other brands because they were not worth the time to fix.

And before everybody jumps up and down, there were probably other makes with similar problems but this is the one I personally saw.

The auto electrician is still a friend and after I had had the problem with mine, while he no long works for the LR dealership, he commented that thinks haven’t changed, but again, this could be just a case of Deja Vu.

LR have always had a high turnover in alternator and you only have to read the threads on D3UK to see that. 2007 TDV8 Lux

stan wrote:

you do know that it was a small batch of dodgy alternators made circa 2007 that were affected....range rover alternators

Can I suggest this thread is renamed "Let ME tell you how crap YOUR Land Rover is!"

The OP asked for peoples opinions which they have given. But, because they don't fit the requirements of drivesafe everyone's "burying their heads in the sand" as we slowly meander on and off topic.

First off Ric, I didn’t introduce alternators into this thread.

Also as it is a thread I started, I don’t mind if it does drift off subject. This is the nature of some threads.

As for not supposedly liking other peoples opinions, thats not the case, but I don’t see why I can’t voice my opinions when when others trivialise the potential dangers of thing like fires in vehicles, or attempt to make out my wife actions were responsible for an alternator failure causing the steering to lock while she was driving.

Now, other than the front diff failures, I had not heard of the other failures I put up in my first post till just recently and contrary to what a number of you think, I would like to know what LR owner think of these problems.

I must be honest and yes the thread title could have been worded in a different manor, but it doesn’t alter the fact that these failures have occurred.

So again, I don’t mind if the thread drifts off subject and I don’t mind in the slightest if people post up objects to what I have posted, as long as they are genuine in what they post. 2007 TDV8 Lux

'First off Ric, I didn’t introduce alternators into this thread. '



Yes you did!! Page 2!

Sorry Stan and that is not the case.

My wife was driving our RR when the alternator failed, causing the steering lock to apply.

Thanks Paul and you are correct.

My apologies Ric 2007 TDV8 Lux

Double yawn

Quote:

You will find there are quite a few HONEST members on this site who will tell you to replace a faulty LR alternator with some other brand, and that was the advice I got when mine failed.

Just for info, the recommended replacement alternator for the tdv8 is a denso unit, which is the same one which comes in the car when it is put together and the same one as LR sell branded in their packaging. When I searched for replacements when mine failed there wasn't any other options, I could have had a Lucas unit but to be honest when I researched the replacement I discovered that they now seem to specialise in remanufacturing rotating electrical components and don't anctually make new ones any longer (so it would be a denso rebuilt by Lucas)

The problem with the original units was with the diode pack (voltage rectifier) failed, there was a possibility that it could be replaced in dead alternators to reduce repair costs.

A large number of new cars from pretty much all large manufacturers feature denso parts (9/10 according to them) so it's not that land rover chose a bad manufacturer for that particular component, just that seemed to be a large number of failures on the specific model of alternator fitted to the tdv8.

The alternator in the d3 is also a denso unit. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
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I have had 2 alternators fail on 40 plus Land Rovers so they can't be that bad, funny enough they were both 2007 cars one being a Disco 3 and the other a FFRR, the other thing when both of these were failing (did not know at the time no warning lights) for a few weeks before I noticed a slight wearing noise when cold and just put it down to the belt needing changing as this went within 30 seconds I did not think much about it. They fail in a funny way as I would of expected either the battery light to come on (no charging) or the belt to snap with the bearings seizing but nothing then one day the dash lit up like a Christmas tree, turn the car off too reset (a normal LR thing lol) and the battery is as flat as a pancake.

northernmonkeyjones wrote:

The problem with the original units was with the diode pack (voltage rectifier) failed.

Another post on the forum that doesn't sound good and gives the OP here even more wood for his fire.

http://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/post314294.html#314294

These sort of failures are a big concern, an alternator failure that causes the steering lock to engage is pretty bad in my book. Unforgiveable to be honest. That is why I like the old fashioned steering lock that is mechanically disengaged by the key as there is less risk of it ever engaging on its own (although I do remember that on some cars it did happen).

An electrically engaged steering lock is most certainly more at risk here and there should be a fail safe for that IMHO.

Now whether that only applies to FFRR/JLR products, I highly doubt since most cars these days have similar systems.

My question is, do JLR and all other car manufacturers their engineering right to design these systems in the best (read most reliable/safe) was possible. I can imagine that linking the standard components together into a coherent system is where these sort of issues crop up.

I wonder if there should be a general database created on how to design safety critical systems and that all manufacturers should participate in designing the most robust designs. Mandatory, by law . MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
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Hi ebajema, and it appears that LR brake problems are not just limited to the front brake hoses.

Up until yesterday I had never heard of this problem so someone on the forum can correct me if I have this wrong.

I received a phone call from a guy with a 2011 RRS. During our conversation I told him of the problems I had come across, relating to LRs.

He then tells me how he was driving down his driveway one day and found he had next to no brakes.

He managed to stop his RRS and then had it trucked to his local dealer.

They informed him that there was a known problem where fluid gets into the master brake cylinder and causes a dramatic reduction in brake pressure.

The serviceman told him it was a Safety Recall fault but it should have already been done during one of his services.

The serviceman goes off to arrange the replacement and comes back and informs the guy his RRS has already had the Safety Recall work done.

His defective unit had been replaced with the same defective unit.

I have no idea who would be responsible for this sort of stuff up but to make this worse, while LRA are providing a new unit, they are refusing to pay the 5 hours of labor needed to replace the unit.

BTW, he also told me how his alternator failed in almost the identical way mine did, but the saving grace for him was that when everything in his RRS shut down, he was moving slowly in shopping traffic.

His steering did not lock and while my RR came up with a “Suspension Fault” message just before the alternator failed, he got no indication what so ever. His RRS just stopped dead where it was.

He also told me it was at about 100,000kms

Again folks, I have never heard of this master brake cylinder problem before and this is why I have posted it up in this thread, and hope someone can post up some more specific info about this problem! 2007 TDV8 Lux

I was just going to let this thread die, but really, it never seems to end!!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2.../29870579/ 2007 TDV8 Lux

To be fair that last news story also says Ford had to recall nearly 400k cars for similar problems with doors.

http://www.autonews.com/section/recall

a read of the above site and its more a question of who hasn't got recalls in effect... You can paypal direct using - www.paypal.me/duckworthparts
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