Alternator

[uniquestar]

Morning All,

My 2007 Diesel Rav 4 came up with a Battery warning light this morning, I turned it off and went to restart it but it just wouldn't have it. AA came out and told me the Alternator wasn't pushing out enough current, probably the regulator, however the all come as one package these days?

The AA got me to work this morning, but I'm hoping that I may be able to get home (7 miles ish).

Has anyone else had theirs go, could you let me know what kind of cost I am looking at? Toyota reckon £500, but loca garages haven't got back to me yet.

Thanks All.

[gjnorthall]

Alternators are pretty reliable nowadays but failures do occur. A service exchange unit from a reputable source should be around £110 + 30 minutes fitting. This model has a clutch pulley which can fail. The pulley will spin but doesn't transmit the drive to the alternator. Get this checked before condemning the alternator.

[uniquestar]

Thanks, however the weird thing is that it's pushing out some current, just not enough. He was getting 13V on the tester, but 12.7 when I switched the lights on

[gjnorthall]

Alternators can fail in many ways resulting in zero output, very limited output, or abnormally high voltage output - voltage higher than about 14.5 volts may damage the Battery or cause bulbs to blow or blacken. An alternator in good condition should charge at around 14.2 volts.