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XJR 6 - X300 - fried Alternator replacement ... type & process
Hi Folks, and Jaguar Friends,
while driving, a little bit aggressively (stupidly), a nice mountain road here in Switzerland, I had a sudden drop in voltage. I stopped quickly and there were fumes coming out of the engine bay. The Alternator was on fire, internally consuming itself at a vivacious rate; rather scary, I will now add a fire extinguisher in the trunk.
I drove another 3km on the battery and could park the car at a restaurant. I think this was also stupid because the battery went death and I'm afraid I might have completely killed it by draining it to hard. Can I drive on battery alone, how long ? (battery : Banner 12V 95Ah. - 760A (EN))
This ultra cool XJR serves several people daily and we need it back on the road and therefore I would very much appreciate your help regarding the following points
0. FAILURE CAUSE :
I understand that with higher engine revs the alternator itself is spinning much faster. Can this (careless driving of mine) alone create the failure on an aging alternator ? are there any other hints or damages to research and analyze ?
1. CAR YEAR Issue/Doubt :
Our car is a XJR6 - X300, but there is a doubt I would like to clear.
The official circulation paper says the car was build in August 1998 but I believe it is a mistake. In Switzerland we use Chassis No. as reference (not VIN) : SAJ JPA LF4 BP74 7744
Any indication about how to decode this number to determine the production year ?
2. ALTERNATOR Type :
120A ... as I understand but I have found three choice, at quiet different price conditions ...
d.) ... any upgrade (Bosch / Denson / ...) and/or good source you would recommend in UK or Europe.
3. REPLACEMENT Process :
I read a post where The expert recommends attacking the repair from under the car; because of the Supercharger being in the way.
How easy it is to perform ?
Can it be done on mini-ramps or do I need a lift ?
What are the right tools ?
What to watch to remove it without breaking mounts or electrical contacts ?
What other thing needs care or special attention ?
How to remove and then re-adjust the belt tension without a tension measure gauge ?
What other thing to change/check while in this process down there ?
... ?
Thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge and giving me the "courage" to tackle this replacement by my own not fearing my inexperience :-)
PS: i have ordered the JDHT CD, but any other illustration would also be welcomed.
I drove another 3km on the battery and could park the car at a restaurant. I think this was also stupid because the battery went death and I'm afraid I might have completely killed it by draining it to hard. Can I drive on battery alone, how long ?
Yes, you can drive on the battery alone. 'How Long?' depends on the condition of the battery and what ther loads (besides igntion and fuel injection electrics are placed on it.
You should be able to recharge the battery
0. FAILURE CAUSE :
I understand that with higher engine revs the alternator itself is spinning much faster. Can this (careless driving of mine) alone create the failure on an aging alternator ? are there any other hints or damages to research and analyze ?
An alternator actually going up in flames is a rare thing. I suspect a bearing failure. The resultant (and great) heat caused the fire. Higher egine RPM might've hastened, but not caused, the final failure and fire
1. CAR YEAR Issue/Doubt :
Our car is a XJR6 - X300, but there is a doubt I would like to clear.
The official circulation paper says the car was build in August 1998 but I believe it is a mistake. In Switzerland we use Chassis No. as reference (not VIN) : SAJ JPA LF4 BP74 7744
Any indication about how to decode this number to determine the production year ?
There is no ID tag showing the production date? Perhaps in the pillar/jamb/hinge area of the driver's door?
From memory (my car isn't nearby) my VIN is 749xxx and the production date in June 1995
LNA1800BA is the correct alternator for your XJR according to the Jaguar parts catalog
3. REPLACEMENT Process :
I read a post where The expert recommends attacking the repair from under the car; because of the Supercharger being in the way.
How easy it is to perform ?
A little difficult. But, if you've replaced and alternator on any other car you can do it on your XJR
Can it be done on mini-ramps or do I need a lift ?
What are the right tools ?
Ramps will be fine. Ordinary wrenches and hand tools. Nothing exotic or Jaguar specific
What to watch to remove it without breaking mounts or electrical contacts ?
What other thing needs care or special attention ?
How to remove and then re-adjust the belt tension without a tension measure gauge ?
What other thing to change/check while in this process down there ?
... ?
Disconnect battery before starting the job.
You'll need to remove, or partially remove, the adjustment rod seen in the illustration (item #9 ) and of course the thru-bolt (item #3) at the main mounting bracket (#1 in the illustration).
Disconnect electrical connections at rear of alternator.
Belt tension is adjusted by tightening/slackening the adjuster nuts (item #10 ).
this XJR6 has an automatic transmission; I'm still researching a manual one; but they are apparently quiet rare.
I was scared of the fire, but that seems now a little bit irrational.
Altough there was really a lot of white fumes, I didn't see any flames coming out of the alternator and as Doug mentionned the great heat consumed whatever can burn inside this piece, mainly insulating resin. ... but I will still put an extinguisher in my trunk !
I will take on this alternator replacement, the only one I ever did before was an easy one on Land Rover V8 ... so spacy that you could sit in the engine bay.
Just to mention : the damage to the alternator is shorting the battery (& electrical circuit).
I had recharged the battery to go and move the car out of the restaurant's parking lot; I could do that, I left the battery connected for about 3-5 minutes and it was drained; this battery was in good condition before the failure.
The alternator needs to be disconnected first, obviously.
... follow-up will follow this week.
meilleures pensées et salutations,
Alain
NB :
Thanks again for your generosity; and since this I my first Thread : let me mention that I'am a Fan.
I have read so many percfect advice from you (also on Jag-Lovers), since 1999, or so, that I feel you are part of our family :-) My wife says you are the Jaguar Angel !
We enjoy Jaguar / Daimler cars since 1993 and looking back it's an excellent altough challenging choice. But End fact is : that without the help of empathetic persons like you it would clearly be impossible or unafordable or both.
When people ask, why we maintain such guzzly beasts : "Because we save so much money on maintenance, thanks to the Jaguar Friends of the internet, that our $/km ratio remains unbea(s)table. !!!
Hail to the Forums.
The Romans had it right from the start; I sense that creating "Forums" to run communities, countries, continents, the planet is a natural next step.
I found out something interesting for the alternator replacement. I'm in the middle of doing the octopus hose replacement and so I have my supercharger out along with a bunch of other stuff. So while I had it out I had the alternator rebuilt, and installed it from the top. While I was doing that I saw this red plug, it would be handy if you're doing this job from below to unplug this red connector and then you can pull the wiring harness along with the alternator out, making it way easier to deal with the ground wire on the back of the alternator. I've done it from the bottom before without disconnecting the harness and that was a tricky bit.
The pic is great on the noise suppressor connector as you replace the alternator
I myself had to get clarification from a large alternator rebuild shop if removing the alternator and the small wires.
The connector in the pic has nothing to do with the round rubber booted 2 small 2 wire connector ( alternator fault indication and voltage regulator power )
The Brown wire with the large round terminal socket can only go on the B + post ( heavy battery cable connection )
The Black wire is to alternator case ground to car frame ( through the alternator mounting bolts )
To solve the confusion probably best to remove the connector and not the small wires as they attach to the alternator
But then you do have to ultimately remove the small wires on the alternator case . but once out there ( out of hidden view to get a better picture ) and you can better keep a better visually track of it.............
This noise suppressor and connector is not on all X300 models from reading others
08-15-2014 | 05:38 PM
XJR 6 - X300 - fried Alternator replacement ... type & process
Wow, scary!
