Alternator refurb questions

[KevR]

Right then, finally got round to removing the failing alternator on the grey TZD (which had needed periodic hitting to get it to keep working). I'd forgotten what a PITA it is to get at the damn thing - should have just taken the rad out to start with and made my life a lot easier. Hey ho.
Anyway, brushes are completely shot, and the slip rings are grooved to a depth of several mm so they're U/S as well. One of my spares is just the same. The other has good as new brushes and slip rings so I've fitted that, although found out after fitting it that the pulley was four groove and the one that came off was five groove. Swapped them over, will find out if it works tomorrow.

Anyway, I fancy having a go at refurbing the two suspect ones. Does anyone have a good source for the slip rings (and ideally a reference...) and does anyone know if the brushes can be replaced in the brush housing or if you have to change the whole thing...?

Both alternators are Valeo 50A , labelled A13N 182 (the one I've fitted is labelled A13N 95 but seems the same athough the form of the brush housing pack is slightly different (fits the same onto the alternator body though)).

All help gratefully received!

[Defender110]

The one you took the 5 groove pulley off is only 50amp? When I replaced mine the factors told me the number of grooves determined the ampage with the higher output alternators having the wider 5 ribbed belts.

[KevR]

Just checked and of the four Valeo alternators I've got (all from TDs), one had a 4-groove pulley (the A13N 95) and the other three (all A13N 182) have five-groove, but they're all definitely 50A. Not sure why you'd need much more in a non-ABS, non-aircon diesel to be honest - once the engine's running you only need power for the lights and recharging the battery. I've also got an alternator from my old 1987 16TRS but that's Bosch.
I've found a few places selling slip rings and brushes cheap enough, so I'll dismantle one of the spares to get dimension of parts and have a go at revamping them.

[Vanny]

I get most of my alternator/starter parts from WoodAuto

http://www.woodauto.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They don't carry absolutely everything, but through the years i've found that if they don't have it (or cant get it, email them) then you're probably not going to get it new!

[KevR]

Thanks for that - I'll have a look.
Can't actually see how the alternator comes apart as yet... any tips on dismantling without damaging anything? I've undone the four hrough bolts but nothing wants to budge.

[KevR]

The new alternator's working perfectly, which is good, but the whole job was a royal PITA. In retrospect I should have removed the radiator for extra clearance - would have taken about 2 minutes and saved a lot of hassle. But no, I didn't want to drain the rad so I tried to do it the hard way, which I managed, then found (as above) that the pulley was wrong so I had to remove it again. In the process I snagged and broke a pipe on the small octopus... there was much swearing. I've got a brand new one on the shelf but of course the lower connections are a complete pain to get to, so I stared at it for a while, then decided to splice the damaged pipe with a section of nylon tube and wrap it with self-amalgamating tape. That seems to have worked fine (160 miles today and no leak). But while delving around I found a strut return pipe broken and the lower rad hose knackered (which meant I had to drain the rad anyway so could have avoided the hassle with the broken octopus...
With everything more or less back together I connected the throttle cable back to the pump and it went slack - the plastic bit on the pedal end had failed....
Fixed that using a bit from another cable, and ran away in the direction of a wine bottle, where I'm still hiding....

[Jaba]

Fixed that using a bit from another cable, and ran away in the direction of a wine bottle, where I'm still hiding....

Ah the Joy of BX

[KevR]

Not just BXs - I'm sure my average alcohol consumption has risen over the years in direct proportion to the number of Citroens owned....