Alternator hotter than the sun!

[Renaud]

Hello All,

Started getting the zed ready to come out of hibernation and for its MOT next week (also for its new cover. Sorry Stacey, it was me the got Das930's cover !! ) , I thought there wouldn't be a lot to do, other than make sure all the bulbs still worked and all fluids up to level. I had been starting up and bringing up to temperature once a month, as well as moving it around the drive, during this time it seemed fine every time.

Today, I drove out of the garage as normal, but after a few minutes there was a bit of a smell, the same you would get from overheating electrical components. Had a quick look under the bonnet and fairly quickly found that it was the alternator that was super hot, so hot that if you flicked a drop of water on the casing it would hiss and evaporate instantly. I did check the voltages and they still seem OK.

So, the question are:

Is the alternator going to be knackered and need replacing, or is there anything I can do to it to see if its serviceable?

Also, as the car is going in for its MOT on Wednesday, is it safe to drive to the test center (5 miles away) in this state and would it be an MOT fail if they found it was overheating?

Thanks for your help with this.

R

 

[EnthuZiaZT]

Has your battery got really low while the care has been laid up? It might just be the alternator is working overtime to replenish the battery.
If not that then it may be the alternators bearings are knackered.

Mike

 

[Renaud]

Has your battery got really low while the care has been laid up? It might just be the alternator is working overtime to replenish the battery.
If not that then it may be the alternators bearings are knackered.

Mike

Hello Mike,

Its sounding more like it is a knackered alternator then. The battery (car) is plugged into a battery conditioner all the time, so it should be OK. Having said that, I will check it tomorrow just to make sure there are faults on it.

Thanks for the idea.

Rgds

R.

 

[t-tony]

Hello All,

Started getting the zed ready to come out of hibernation and for its MOT next week (also for its new cover. Sorry Stacey, it was me the got Das930's cover !! ) , I thought there wouldn't be a lot to do, other than make sure all the bulbs still worked and all fluids up to level. I had been starting up and bringing up to temperature once a month, as well as moving it around the drive, during this time it seemed fine every time.

Today, I drove out of the garage as normal, but after a few minutes there was a bit of a smell, the same you would get from overheating electrical components. Had a quick look under the bonnet and fairly quickly found that it was the alternator that was super hot, so hot that if you flicked a drop of water on the casing it would hiss and evaporate instantly. I did check the voltages and they still seem OK.

So, the question are:

Is the alternator going to be knackered and need replacing, or is there anything I can do to it to see if its serviceable?

Also, as the car is going in for its MOT on Wednesday, is it safe to drive to the test center (5 miles away) in this state and would it be an MOT fail if they found it was overheating?

Thanks for your help with this.

R

If it smelled that hot when you got to the testing station I would imagine they might refuse to test it, but that's only if you got that far. . . . .

Tony.