once you have fitted the new parts you will obviously get a clearer picture, hopefully it is not as dhallworth has suggested, but definitely a possible cause.

Another possibility is that the following could have occurred, high capacity HRC ( High rupture capacity ) fuses in my line of can fail for no apparent reason, very rare, but it can happen especially with age. Also, another possibility is that if the connecting wire has been forced at some time in the past and cracked at the terminal end part where it has failed, the crack would then induce overheating in that area, leading to failure as seen in the photo. Wires / connections can get more brittle with age and use and be more prone to cracking. best outcome would be if it was a one in a million failure due to materials.

I am not saying this is a definitive answer, just thinking about various possible causes, hope all goes well Sir.

Thanks guys! it would be great if replacing the 400A MEGA fuse and putting in a new alternator was all that's wrong with the car (excluding the oil leak from the top oil cooler and a few O rings that I had already fixed), but I am not that lucky so I am fully expecting more issues to re-surface once this has been fixed. At least, I feel like I'm making some sort of progress

Just done my alternator and my top tip is to pull the power steering reservoir out it's bracket and lay it down where the removed air filter was, and unbolt the bracket. Takes about a minute of your time but makes it so much easier to remove the fan shroud.

sounds like some decent progress. to change the alternator, is a bit of a pig of a job, but there's a recent YouTube, from 'Sams motor and machine' channel showing the changeout.... -but, you could just bypass the alternator, by disconnecting it... and insulating the connections... and put a fuse in, and get some power onto the starter.... you can come back to the alternator, once you know its worth changing. fuse could have been bent, and then cracked, and then burnt away on the crack etc...


the suspense... its great!

kevinp wrote:

Just done my alternator and my top tip is to pull the power steering reservoir out it's bracket and lay it down where the removed air filter was, and unbolt the bracket. Takes about a minute of your time but makes it so much easier to remove the fan shroud.

johnboyairey wrote:

sounds like some decent progress. to change the alternator, is a bit of a pig of a job, but there's a recent YouTube, from 'Sams motor and machine' channel showing the changeout.... -but, you could just bypass the alternator, by disconnecting it... and insulating the connections... and put a fuse in, and get some power onto the starter.... you can come back to the alternator, once you know its worth changing. fuse could have been bent, and then cracked, and then burnt away on the crack etc...


the suspense... its great!

Thanks Johnboyairey! I started following Sam's channel before I decided to buy my RRV and indeed saw the video on the alternator change which is very helpful. You have a point about bypassing the alternator, but since in order to disconnected it, i need to remove the old one (unless I'm missing something which is entirely possible given my recent history ) and also given that the new one will be arriving tomorrow, I might as well just swap it and at least be able to eliminate the alternator issue. As my RR has currently 136k miles, so even if the old alternator is still ok, it's only a question of time before it needs replacing so I might as well just do it now.

you've got a little bit of catching up, to my 2012 Westminster, at 200,000 miles.

Quote:

you've got a little bit of catching up, to my 2012 Westminster, at 200,000 miles.

Hope my engine is capable of covering an additional 2 miles without a full re-build

I can't comment on the low oil level without more info, but the likelihood of the engine being toast, AND the mega fuse going pop, with an engine that can still turn over, is slim..... I think the messy oil on the engine, was a bumsteer, the fuse was the culprit, probably damaged by battery fumbling....and you just need to get the thing spinning, and see what happens.
the best of luck fella.

Was the fuse blown or just high resistance at the bolts due to corrosion?

Quote:

Was the fuse blown or just high resistance at the bolts due to corrosion?

johnboyairey wrote:

I can't comment on the low oil level without more info, but the likelihood of the engine being toast, AND the mega fuse going pop, with an engine that can still turn over, is slim..... I think the messy oil on the engine, was a bumsteer, the fuse was the culprit, probably damaged by battery fumbling....and you just need to get the thing spinning, and see what happens.
the best of luck fella.

I really do hope you're right Johnboyairey!

On a positive note, the new alternator arrived earlier today so I'll have a go at swapping it first thing tomorrow. I also ordered a brand new 400A MEGA fuse (genuine Land Rover) so hopefully it arrives early next week so we can test what happens

Click image to enlarge

Just a quick update on my progress. Today I had a go at swapping the alternator and I can confirm that getting to it was a real pain I am attaching a few photos below in case someone finds them useful. There were three main observations from the process.

1) when disconnected the turbo actuator from the radiator, a lot of (fresh) looking oil poured out of the hose/radiator. My guess is between 200-400ml. I was expecting some amount of oil, but nowhere near as much and also the fact that it looked very clean (nothing like the sludgy mess the car arrived with) left me a bit puzzled. I did fill the engine with fresh oil about a week ago but I haven't run it yet so not sure how would the new oil get there? Could it be a blown turbo?

2) After I removed the old alternator, I tested the continuity between the positive terminal and the body (ground) hoping to discover dead short which might explain the blown MEGA fuse, but that didn't happen. The alternator didn't seem to have a dead short, so it rules it out as the cause of the blown fuse I also noticed that on the sticker of the old alternator it says 12v while the new one is 14v. Does anyone know if this is a potential issue? Should have I gotten a 12v version instead?

3) as I had to remove the fan cowl and all the pipes which were originally in the way of trying to hand spin the engine through the crank bolt, I finally could try hand spinning it and I can confirm that the engine spins. I don't have much experience trying to hand spin big v8's but it wasn't exactly effortless so I'm not sure whether the engine is too tight or it's just a normal resistance that ought to be expected. I guess I will find out soon

The MEGA fuse should arrive on Tuesday is will let you guys know as soon as I fit it in

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Your new alternator box has the same info on it that mine had.
Diesel engines have a lot more compression than petrol engines so will be quite hard to turn over.
Your COSV valve has the old style nut attachment. There is a revised part for this. Put a vacuum on the hose and make sure it opens fully and closes with a clunk.
Good luck.

I had my turbo actuator valve off when I took the cowl off to do my water pump. I got about a tablespoon of oil all over me. It was typically black though. I guess whatever makes it’s way down there, is never going to come through to the engine, so will pool. My engine has 200,000.
Is there a chance, that your new oil going in, flooded the upper engine valve area, and overspill into a breather and dropped down to pool at the turbo actuator valve? If it was there for some time, then it would go dirty-ish to some extent with fine dust…
May I ask how much one of those mega fuses cost, as it’s something I might just keep as an emergency type thing.