Disco alternator into series 2a? will it be too powerful?

Hi, couldn't find an answer to this, my series 2a, ex mod, 2.25 petrol/gas , has got a weak alternator, and there is a scrapyard down road, got a disco, is there any other cars from which I can take an alternator for not too much money, rather than order one. It seems the disco fittings are the same, but is there too much amps? Thanks

yu can never have too many currents.

but check rotation, pulley size, and rev range.

It won't be too many amps, an alternator doesn't output its max current all the time. Its regulator supplies enough current up to the max. In theory, if your battery was considerably smaller than a Disco battery it might cause issues but in practice, there will be no issues.

Very helpful, thanks. But what does Rev range mean? pardon my ignorance.. Ill have a look at metro ones, if any, or rarely a mini.... but may settle with the disco one, I could change the pulley over?? presumably from the thread link (thanks) I'll have to change the connection method... ho-hum:5bnopity::5bwilly_nilly:

I dont think it will affect yu - but doozils rev lower than petrol engines. You need to make sure that the petrol engine isnt over revving the design limits of the alternator.

Or... reading further on, getting a RRangey one! there is a RR at the scrappies too. i'll get down there tomorrow. thanks for quick response.

Funny you should mention that, I had been noticing that I the light next to the 'battery condition' gauge has been going out only after more and more revving recently. and now, it hardly goes out at all, but generally, I rarely revv it that much unless tugging a huge trailer of wood up an extremely steep hill in the Mendips!

but too be honest, I don't think the alternator has been healthy from the day I got it, It just hangs in there, unless it gets really cold, and then the battery eats it!
recently changed the belt, and I rarely have trouble starting it, but weird things have been happening with charging system, just taken time tracing it... what with evrything else crying for attention..
If I may just ask another related question, on the said 'battery condition' gauge, on the left is 11v going over to 15v on the right. right? and underneath the voltage gauge numbers, are the words 'off charge' and 'on charge' from left to right.swapping at 13v.

my gauge recently with lights off read between 12 and 13, with lights on, a little over 11. until I had some welding done, then it hung more round the 11-12 reading, but I also changed over to LPG on the way back from getting welding done, and was wondering if the LPG system uses current?

It also seemed to fluctuate for the better when I revved the hell out of it the other day getting up a hill!! towing a trailerload of tree trunks, on and off road. But since then, the old girls has been perkier than ever!!! it seemed to have freed her up, but then that also was on petrol ,not gas!

Revving the engine hard may well have cleared some gunk out of the fuel system or carb - a lot of older cars seem to benefit from a good hard run if they've been used for pottering about. Put on any alternator that will fit - the Lucas range of alternators for the landy (16ACR 18ACR you can always swap the pulley 'cos petrol and diesel ones are slightly different) were fitted to other vehicle as well - but any alternator with the right bracketry and approx the same pulley size will do.

Are the pulleys fairly easy to change? or am I looking at a puller? thanks.

Have been meaning to do the zenith fix for a while, got the overhaul kit, just needed the time, to do also the machining the surfaces so they are flush, but in the meantime, a good revving seemed to clear some of the debris, great!

Gem said:

Are the pulleys fairly easy to change? or am I looking at a puller? thanks.

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they can be - it depends if the shaft is the same diameter and what type of pulley it is.
If yo warning light is not going off, yo alternator (or the earth to it) has problems - fix it fast.

Forget changing pulleys and so forth. Get an alternator from a RRC - with a bit of a spacer to move the bracket a bit, the pulley lines up, and is the correct size. Get one from a lower spec one if you are not too bothered about output (65a if I remember correctly) or go for a later one with the electric seats and so forth (80A if I remember correctly) which is what I went for on my Petrol S2a. You can use a standard belt as well. If going for a higher output you may want to check the alternator wiring is beefy enough.

Thanks all, will see what I can get. there isn't a RRC at the scrappies, and that's all I can get to at the moment, with the money I have spare.. (spare... who am I kidding?)

I'm fairly sure the Lucas alternators were fitted to a number of BL cars so anything old and British in the back of the scrappys might have one. Failing that you could try overhauling the one you've got - it's likely to be a failing regulator pack or worn brushes, both fairly easy to replace.

Is there a Petrol Disco down there? I am assuming they are going to be the same as the Range Rover Classic? Make sure it is a V-belt type though of course, and not the roller type.

Also, plenty on ebay...there is a "buy it now" for £30 inc p&p which I think is quite reasonable (although I did pay £10 for one from the scrappy)

I'd take your original alt to a local recon place and have them recon it, TBH.
You could buy a secondhand one and it's crap.
just a thought.......

Does anyone still recon altys? My local place closed years ago.

oxides said:

Does anyone still recon altys? My local place closed years ago.

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Yeah loads of places - and its the cheapest and most cost efficient way to solve an alternator problem. Search for "auto electrician" in the yellow pages or the online version of it, in your local area.