Hi all

Recently alternator has been running a little strange causing various faults on my Range. Tested the battery with a multimeter and was only charging 14v, with lights and fans on this would go down to 13v or slightly below so decided to have a new denso alternator fitted and also a new exide battery at the same time. Alternator fitted and new battery fitted after a full charge but alternator still only charging 14v, only difference now is when I put all the lights and fans on it maintains 14v. I did check my alternator about 6 months ago and it used to charge around 14.8v.

So question is should the alternator charge around 14.8v as ive seem other posts were members on this site have said their alternators are charging 15v or is 14v correct? Or do I need to do some kind of reset or register to let the car know it has been fitted with a new alternator???

Your help will be much appreciated as usual  RRS SUPERCHARGED, 22 INCH ALLOYS, JAVA BLACK, FULLY COLOUR CODED
EVERY POSSIBLE SOFTWARE UPDATE INCLUDING - BLUTOOTH UPDATE, SATNAV ON THE MOVE, CLOCK ON DASH, 3 CLICK FLASH, GEARBOX RESET, COMPRESSOR UPDATE AND SUSPENSION LOWERED,
BLACK CODE RE-MAPPED, AUTOBIOGRAPHY'D, NEW EXIDE BATTERY, NEW DENSO ALTERNATOR

I am not sure what your actual problem is - the charging rate varies depending on the circumstance - mine straight after start is up around 14v to get the charge used on start back into the battery but after the car has been running for a while the charge may go down to about 12.8 but go back up if I turn a few things on like lights etc. 07MY RRS TDV6
Arctic Frost
Aspen Interior

Oh ok I just assumed it was charging low as Ive read a few threads on this forum that charging around the 15v is the norm  RRS SUPERCHARGED, 22 INCH ALLOYS, JAVA BLACK, FULLY COLOUR CODED
EVERY POSSIBLE SOFTWARE UPDATE INCLUDING - BLUTOOTH UPDATE, SATNAV ON THE MOVE, CLOCK ON DASH, 3 CLICK FLASH, GEARBOX RESET, COMPRESSOR UPDATE AND SUSPENSION LOWERED,
BLACK CODE RE-MAPPED, AUTOBIOGRAPHY'D, NEW EXIDE BATTERY, NEW DENSO ALTERNATOR

Mine runs at around 13.4 to 13.8 my disco 3 used to charge at about 15 and then drop to about 14 but that was diesel and my sport is petrol which i believe do charge differently

14v sounds perfect

Just been out to check the battery volts just now as ive been having suspension faults message and a low battery warning on my radio display and its now reading just over 13v and 12.5v with lights and fans on, definitely not pleased

Could my new alternator already have packed up only after a few weeks??? RRS SUPERCHARGED, 22 INCH ALLOYS, JAVA BLACK, FULLY COLOUR CODED
EVERY POSSIBLE SOFTWARE UPDATE INCLUDING - BLUTOOTH UPDATE, SATNAV ON THE MOVE, CLOCK ON DASH, 3 CLICK FLASH, GEARBOX RESET, COMPRESSOR UPDATE AND SUSPENSION LOWERED,
BLACK CODE RE-MAPPED, AUTOBIOGRAPHY'D, NEW EXIDE BATTERY, NEW DENSO ALTERNATOR

What make alternator was fitted

Denso brand

Just read a thread on here that the main ecu needs to be reset via an iid tool for the car to recognise the new alternator. Is that a definate as the car was running great for a few days until now? RRS SUPERCHARGED, 22 INCH ALLOYS, JAVA BLACK, FULLY COLOUR CODED
EVERY POSSIBLE SOFTWARE UPDATE INCLUDING - BLUTOOTH UPDATE, SATNAV ON THE MOVE, CLOCK ON DASH, 3 CLICK FLASH, GEARBOX RESET, COMPRESSOR UPDATE AND SUSPENSION LOWERED,
BLACK CODE RE-MAPPED, AUTOBIOGRAPHY'D, NEW EXIDE BATTERY, NEW DENSO ALTERNATOR

I dont believe the system has to be reset - maybe on the later models but as far as I am aware certainly from my 07 and earlier not needed.

While there is a chance you have a dodgy alternator I would be looking at the battery first and confirming it is OK before looking at the alternator.

With my battery approaching 9 years of age last year, I was suffering similar faults etc as you. I had the battery tested and it was at 12.8 volts so holding charge - even when load tested it still held voltage - so I began to think I had an alternator problem but then a CCA test was done and the battery was down to just over 300 amps where it should have up near 900CCA.

So check your battery first on all three aspects and if it is Ok then look elsewhere. Its the cheaper approach before the alternator.

Good luck with it.

garry 07MY RRS TDV6
Arctic Frost
Aspen Interior

I checked the battery before fitting this alternator and bought a new exide battery of the tanya website recommended by a lot of members on this forum, that was the first thing I changed as it was the cheaper option, then changed the alternator as my previous alternator was only charging upto 12.8v even with a new fully charged battery.

The alternator was charging ok for the last 2 weeks after fitting and was charging at 14v on idle and also with a load on and thought that was a little low as I did check the volts about 6 months ago due to some other faults and at that time it was charging around 14.8v which I thought was ok after reading a few threads on here were members were reporting their cars were charging upto 15v.

So battery is new and holding its charge so possible faulty alternator again as im now also getting an intermittent low battery message on the radio screen and also suspension warning lights back on  RRS SUPERCHARGED, 22 INCH ALLOYS, JAVA BLACK, FULLY COLOUR CODED
EVERY POSSIBLE SOFTWARE UPDATE INCLUDING - BLUTOOTH UPDATE, SATNAV ON THE MOVE, CLOCK ON DASH, 3 CLICK FLASH, GEARBOX RESET, COMPRESSOR UPDATE AND SUSPENSION LOWERED,
BLACK CODE RE-MAPPED, AUTOBIOGRAPHY'D, NEW EXIDE BATTERY, NEW DENSO ALTERNATOR

You could do with speaking or send a pm to robbie who is on disco3 more than here he knows a lot about batteries/alternators here's a post he did
http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic119574.html?highlight=robbie

Have you already checked the chassis earth connections? I'm not familiar with them on the RRS but it's always my first port of call for charging or slow cranking issue's.

Well worth doing as other than the cost of a pot of copper grease it's free. A multimeter usually can't find these corrosion faults either as they will often still show <0.1 Ohms (indicating good connection) but during high amp cranking or charging then the problems can show. Just undo, clean with wire brush if needed and grease. 13MY Range Rover Sport Autobiography SDV6 - mine
14MY Range Rover Evoque Dynamic SD4 Black Pack - wife's
99MY Defender 90 TD5, Soft Top Conversion - my toy, and bairns favourite

maybe disconnect the battery and give it a charge over night to ensure it's tip top charged after the alternator issues

insiorc wrote:

Have you already checked the chassis earth connections? I'm not familiar with them on the RRS but it's always my first port of call for charging or slow cranking issue's.

Well worth doing as other than the cost of a pot of copper grease it's free. A multimeter usually can't find these corrosion faults either as they will often still show <0.1 Ohms (indicating good connection) but during high amp cranking or charging then the problems can show. Just undo, clean with wire brush if needed and grease.

Andy K wrote:

maybe disconnect the battery and give it a charge over night to ensure it's tip top charged after the alternator issues

That was the first thing I did even though I knew the battery is good as fitted a new battery same time as the alternator and did fully charge it before fitting and have used the car more or less every day on mainly long trips.

These little gremlins are starting to bug me now, exciting times  RRS SUPERCHARGED, 22 INCH ALLOYS, JAVA BLACK, FULLY COLOUR CODED
EVERY POSSIBLE SOFTWARE UPDATE INCLUDING - BLUTOOTH UPDATE, SATNAV ON THE MOVE, CLOCK ON DASH, 3 CLICK FLASH, GEARBOX RESET, COMPRESSOR UPDATE AND SUSPENSION LOWERED,
BLACK CODE RE-MAPPED, AUTOBIOGRAPHY'D, NEW EXIDE BATTERY, NEW DENSO ALTERNATOR