I'm having some trouble with my alternator at the moment, last night I made a journey home and the battery light came on, at first periodically going out at higher revs and then it stuck on. I was almost home and drew up at a set of traffic lights and the engine died (not sure whether it was down to the car or my incompetent driving ) when tried to restart it there wasn't much juice left in the battery. It wouldn't seem to bump start but after a jump it started no problem and I was able to drive a couple of miles home without issue.
The confusing thing is this morning the alternator seemed to work for a few minutes, I took the battery off and it ticked over without issue for a few minutes before dying. I now haven't been able to get anything out of the alternator, even when revving the engine there is no sign of life from it. I assume it must be overheating or have an intermittent connection inside the alternator. Is there anything it could be other than the alternator before I order a new one? I'm not sure what the multiplug connector on it is all about?
Sounds like the brushes have worn out, sometimes it's able to jump accross but probably when it's hot the connection is lost. It's easy to check, take your alternator apart.
Had a look and the brushes are worn down, the conductor rings are also worn and the more worn ring is heavily pitted and glazed over. The brushes are sealed into the voltage regulator with a big blob of glue so I'm not sure if it would be worth fixing it given how cheap new ones are on ebay. New one fitted and working now anyway
) when tried to restart it there wasn't much juice left in the battery. It wouldn't seem to bump start but after a jump it started no problem and I was able to drive a couple of miles home without issue.