Alternator?

[Geoff6666]

So. . . I was driving along today and I got 'BATTERY SAVER ACTIVE' in the DIC. I thought WTF. Then got a message 'SERVICE BATTERY CHARGING SYSTEM'. Then ESP FAILED then ABS failed, then infotainment shut down. Then got 'SERVICE POWER STEERING' Then the power assistance stopped working and I thought I'd better stop. Voltage was down to about 10.
Called the road service and he said it's not charging and will have to be towed!
The battery is obviously flat too now.
I don't really want to take it to the stealer so I'll call my mechanic in the morning to see if he can check it out because I know the charging system is quite complex.
I have a 2013 SSV with only 78k KMs.
Do you think the alternator would be covered as it's out of warranty? Are they expected to last longer than that?
I'm also concerned that it may be the computer that controls the charging.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Cheers

 

[_R_J_K_]

Won't be covered at that age. They can go at any time and there's no amount of time they're supposed to last, could last for the life of the car or could last for a year. Gonna be suuuper unlikely there's anything wrong with your ECU.

 

[Z31na]

Do you think the alternator would be covered as it's out of warranty? Are they expected to last longer than that?

I work in a parts store in a small town. In a working week each staff member would probably sell at least 2-3 alternators just to local mechanics.
Add in retail customers and a sister company 1.5 hours up the highway that sells alternators as part of their bread and butter. It's safe to say alternators fail.

In saying that any good aftermarket alternator offers at least 3 years warranty. If you wanted to push the point you could argue that your genuine one fitted to the car should last far longer than 6-7 years.

 

[Geoff6666]

Yeah, thanks for the replies.
I thought that might be the case.
An after market might be the go, seeing as the OEM didn't seem to last any better and they are hugely expensive!

 

[stooge]

If the battery is the original one from 2013 i would replace that because it will be getting close to eol and what it has just gone through would not help its life.

 

[[paradox]]

not sure how the vf is, but i remember the ve being quite picky with alternators.
so if going aftermarket just make sure you get one that has decent support/warranty

 

[Geoff6666]

Yes, I think I might have to do that too. Thanks.

 

[Geoff6666]

I ordered a Bosch from Repco. $292 on clearance. I have to wait to get it from WA!??
Will post when I get it.

 

[Skylarking]

In days gone by, we'd repair/recondition our alternators which usually required new brushes, a cleanup of the commutator/sliprings and may be new regulator or bearings. Parts costs back then were trivial compared to new or even professionally reconditioned alternator. Alternators lasted years and years...

Even today, for a VN alternator, bearings = $10, brushes = $10 & regualtor with brushes = $120...

So what's special with these modern alternators where they can't be simply fixed at home on the garage bench (never on the kitchen table if you like a peaceful home life)? Is it simply that individual parts are not available?

Almost seems the theory of modular replacement sees the module size getting larger and larger as time goes forward. Soon the replacement part is going to be the whole car... you keep the key and pay for a new replacement car Especially feels that way with MyLink

 

[stooge]

So what's special with these modern alternators where they can't be simply fixed at home on the garage bench (never on the kitchen table if you like a peaceful home life)? Is it simply that individual parts are not available?

for the most part it just comes down to convenience for the manufacturer/dealer just to replace the module instead of servicing it and it works out cheaper for the customer in the case of things like an alternator.
to pay someone to service the module with new bearings and brushes it would exceed the cost of replacing the module.

manufacturers do not want people repairing things because it is lost sales for them if that happens so the idea is to design things to be thrown away and replaced not serviced.
you see this type of design more in consumer electronics with mobile phones being the worst with companies like apple attempting to lock parts that commonly fail to the device preventing a repair which forces the consumer to replace the whole thing which generates another sale.
it is not just apple as they all do things like it.

it is sort of like the razor blade business model and how companies intentionally design things to generate money long term or generate more sales of replacement products regardless of the cost to the consumer.