Hi everyone.

I have a looovely squeal from the front of the engine. I also have a delayed A/C so plan to replace that compressor also. And while the car is being worked on, I’ll also replace the oil cooler seals and a few other o-rings too. Plus a good degrease and clean too.
I may also use this opportunity to clean the intake of gunk too.

I’ve been driving around with the squeal waiting for Christmas to pass so I can order the parts needed, and a few weeks ago my FBH stopped working and I while I was out and while waiting somewhere I popped in my IIDTool to check the battery voltage to find it at 12.5v with the engine running. Clearly the alternator wasn’t working so I started the engine and revved the engine and a little above idle the squealing started AND I got a healthy 14.7v showing.

To me it’s simply the alternator slipping and the belts and pulley replacement will solve that.

Fast forward to today and shortly after starting the car and driving (no issues turning over) I get odd warnings about traction control, abs, etc so plug in my IIDTool to confirm my suspicion of a low battery. It was showing 12v and no amount of revving the engine showed any improvement.
I drove home quickly with the dashboard slowly lighting up like a Christmas tree and just made it with a low of 9.4v!!!
On goes the charger and I head back out in the little run around car.

What’s the point of this little story?

Do I just have issues with the belt and pulleys, or do I have a problem with the alternator too? I.e. is it struggling to turn and the weak belt is making it worse? I suspect that because I WAS getting a constant 14.7 then the alternator is good? If it was struggling then would I get less?

I don’t want to replace the alternator if I don’t need to, as I am already at £800 for the pulleys, belts, ac compressor and other odds and sods… and it’s creeping up as I add to that shopping list!

What are your thoughts?

I don’t think I’ve been good enough for Santa to bring me a new alternator this Christmas… Currently driving: 2012 L322 SE Overfinch 4.4 tdv8

Past rides:
2014 Audi Q7 3.0d (good riddance)
2010 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged
2011 L320 HSE 3.0 sdv6
2014 Jaguar XF-RS 5.0 supercharged
2007 BMW 535D
2005 Mini Cooper S

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic59478.html

Last edited by Ffrr-lover on 23rd Dec 2021 11:39am. Edited 1 time in total

thing is if you are going to all that effort to change belts pullies (I Know how much effort i did mine this year) then while it is in bits may as well change alternator. I also changed my water pump (Other brands of car are liable for WP to let go with fresh belts and tensioners)
you have the car in bits if you can verify the alternator has gone then change it or at least remove it and have it tested. 2012 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - Current
2014 Navara V6 - Gone
2004 Vogue TD6 - Gone
Grand Cherokee - Gone
Discovery V8 (LPG) - Gone
Discovery TD5 - Gone

Think you were lucky to get home.
My 2007 3.6 TDV8 started making odd noises. By the time I had eliminated gearbox and turbos it was too late. She completely died after 30 seconds of all the warning lights coming on. I was stranded in the middle of a busy road in the dark and rush hour. Made several new friends judging by the horns and waves.

Foolishly I had put the gearbox in park when everything died, was then completely stuck with no no lights, no way of moving and in a dangerous position. Managed to crawl over the parcel shelf, release the upper tailgate and retrieve the warning triangle. Recovered 3 hours later.

Dread to think what could have happened on a motorway in the dark.

Obviously the alternator was the problem but it took the battery with it.

A few weeks ago I had an issue where the car was fine at lunch, but was howling by the evening.

Changed all the pulleys and belts, and before I put the fan etc back in, I started it up...... still howling!! I then replaced the alternator. Working fine now!

If you shop around you can get a Denso for around £150+Vat (at least that's what I paid!). 05 L322 4.2SC
2016 Discovery 4 Graphite
Lotus Carlton
Ascona 400
Volvo V70R AWD manual
Suzuki 1200 Bandit
Velocette Venom
BMW R80/7
Daimler V8 250
Mini Cooper S Works 2006

That price is less that what I expected! At that I’ll definitely replace it!

I’ve just been reading a wikified post about changing it. I then had a look under the car whilst running to see if it was turning and found…

FJ12Jagmen wrote:

Think you were lucky to get home.
My 2007 3.6 TDV8 started making odd noises. By the time I had eliminated gearbox and turbos it was too late. She completely died after 30 seconds of all the warning lights coming on. I was stranded in the middle of a busy road in the dark and rush hour. Made several new friends judging by the horns and waves.

Foolishly I had put the gearbox in park when everything died, was then completely stuck with no no lights, no way of moving and in a dangerous position. Managed to crawl over the parcel shelf, release the upper tailgate and retrieve the warning triangle. Recovered 3 hours later.

Dread to think what could have happened on a motorway in the dark.

Obviously the alternator was the problem but it took the battery with it.

I see in your first post you mention in the delayed A/C, Fwiw when I first got my car it had that symptom and after some research on here I replaced the solenoid in my A/C compressor the part was around £80 from L/R but it didn’t cure my problem so I replaced the compressor and that also didn’t solve the issue so I decided to diagnose the problem and my symptom was due to high gas pressure and after investigation it was down to the radiator fan although it was working/turning it wasn’t turning fast enough when the A/C was on but once I got going and had airflow over the condenser it worked fine hence the delay. A new fan finally sorted mine but was nearly £500 and some swearing to fit but I wished I had looked into it better when I got it rather than changing parts. Good luck with yours L322 4.4 TDV8 Current
L320 3.6 TDV8 Going
L322 3.0 TD6 Gone
Disco 2 Td5 Gone
Defender 90 Gone
Freebie Td4 Gone
Disco 1 200tdi Gone

Cheers sharpy

I followed other posts and diagnosed the solenoid also, but decided on a new ac compressor as a “while I’m there” complete replacement. I’ll sell the old unit to recoup some money too…

Interesting that it didn’t solve your issue! I initially went to get the car “re-gassed” and after tests I was told it was the compressor. Not at a Land Rover specialist, but a garage where they personally own a few L322s.

How is the high pressure measured? Is that part of the “air con gas” machine? Or another method (I.e. can I do it?)
And which fan do you mean? I only know of the one attached to the engine so it’s speed is fixed to the engine speed. Currently driving: 2012 L322 SE Overfinch 4.4 tdv8

Past rides:
2014 Audi Q7 3.0d (good riddance)
2010 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged
2011 L320 HSE 3.0 sdv6
2014 Jaguar XF-RS 5.0 supercharged
2007 BMW 535D
2005 Mini Cooper S

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic59478.html

You can use an A/C machine to read the gauges and now I know what I know I’d expect to see a weak high pressure if the compressor was faulty but mine was too high and kept increasing on a hot day, A high pressure if you have that can be caused by to much gas in the system, a blockage, poor airflow over the condenser (my case) and possibly some other things, luckily you can view the high pressure reading via live values in iid although it is in kpa (I think) and if you google R134a pressure gauge you can get a table relating ambient temperature and expected pressure so you can see if you are high or low I will try and find a link.
I can’t comment on the garage you used but sometimes garages only know how to regas and will guess if the regas doesn’t give the expected outcome, I have learned a lot over the last couple of years and have helped diagnose a few where the likes of the quickfit style garage have given up after replacing compressors etc. L322 4.4 TDV8 Current
L320 3.6 TDV8 Going
L322 3.0 TD6 Gone
Disco 2 Td5 Gone
Defender 90 Gone
Freebie Td4 Gone
Disco 1 200tdi Gone

https://www.vehicleairconservices.com/page/gauge_readings L322 4.4 TDV8 Current
L320 3.6 TDV8 Going
L322 3.0 TD6 Gone
Disco 2 Td5 Gone
Defender 90 Gone
Freebie Td4 Gone
Disco 1 200tdi Gone

Sharpy1980 wrote:

You can use an A/C machine to read the gauges and now I know what I know I’d expect to see a weak high pressure if the compressor was faulty but mine was too high and kept increasing on a hot day, A high pressure if you have that can be caused by to much gas in the system, a blockage, poor airflow over the condenser (my case) and possibly some other things, luckily you can view the high pressure reading via live values in iid although it is in kpa (I think) and if you google R134a pressure gauge you can get a table relating ambient temperature and expected pressure so you can see if you are high or low I will try and find a link.
I can’t comment on the garage you used but sometimes garages only know how to regas and will guess if the regas doesn’t give the expected outcome, I have learned a lot over the last couple of years and have helped diagnose a few where the likes of the quickfit style garage have given up after replacing compressors etc.

Cheers Sharpy for this and the link

With my serpentine belt knackered and slipped off a pulley, I would not expect the ac compressor to be functioning well enough for this test. As the car is being stripped I’ll replace it anyway… but will test those pressures as a precaution when done. Appreciated  Currently driving: 2012 L322 SE Overfinch 4.4 tdv8

Past rides:
2014 Audi Q7 3.0d (good riddance)
2010 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged
2011 L320 HSE 3.0 sdv6
2014 Jaguar XF-RS 5.0 supercharged
2007 BMW 535D
2005 Mini Cooper S

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic59478.html

That’s not a bad plan, I did my compressor and solenoid (so twice)with the front end still in place and it wasn’t a fun job especially getting it in and out. If you look at the back of the new compressor there is a nut with like a sticker over it that is a pressure relief valve and the sticker is there to show if it’s blown off at any point for warranty claims etc, if that sticker happens to be still present on your old one then you can be certain you won’t have the problem I did. L322 4.4 TDV8 Current
L320 3.6 TDV8 Going
L322 3.0 TD6 Gone
Disco 2 Td5 Gone
Defender 90 Gone
Freebie Td4 Gone
Disco 1 200tdi Gone