NEW......T36 Alternator Recall

[SouthernComfort]

Originally Posted by Thommo

Well, now its happened to my Laredo. My wife driving in peak hour traffic, battery light comes on, aircon stops, wipers came on (that a bit strange), loss of power, engine dies!! luckily she had presence of mind to roll up onto the median strip as she was in outside lane of three.

So, get towed home as RACWA would not assess it in dangerous location. They then attend my home and diagnose alternator failure. Another tow to RAC service centre, confirmed failure. Fortunately they were able to source a replacement (genuine), there was one in Melbourne and one in Perth so the latter arrived next day.
Due to having to take off bash plates etc to get at it labour was going to exy.
While at it replaced the Serpentine belt for good measure (as you would).
All good, no, test the 3 year old battery, needs replacing as now not holding voltage, alternator failure said to be the cause due to the load during the failure.
$2,185 later with RAC Gold member discount now all okay.
I've kept the alternator to see if I can find someone to assess it and then who knows maybe I can try and approach FCA. Don't hold much hope though.

Last year I replaced my 2013 alternator with an after market Jaylec unit as a precautionary measure (especially as I tow a caravan). I just felt that failure of the original would be imminent. When I approached FCA they told me to keep my receipts in case the CRD alt's are ever recalled, but of course they stopped short of committing that any claim would be successful! I'm not holding my breath.

Just being curious, but the cost for your job seems very high. My bill for supply and fit of new alternator and battery was nowhere near that amount. Admittedly I didn't get a new serp belt or need bash plates etc. removing...

[Barboots]

Originally Posted by Thommo

Hi Barboots,
You may have missed my point, my post refers to the dozens of other posts on this thread. The alternator failed and should have been part of the recall and should have been extended to the diesel variant not just the petrol motors, I do monitor the battery along with my second battery in the back. The point is the alternator failed just as many others have.

Thanks for the input though.

No, I didn't miss your point at all.

The recall should obviously occur, as in no instance should even a very tired battery result in alternator failure. However fact is that the recall has not extended to all potentially affected vehicles, and there's not a great deal to indicate that all vehicles which have actually been "fixed" may not indeed have the same fault occur again in time. So my reply was simply to promote an avenue for interested owners to consider if they wish to do all things to avoid being caught out. There was no blame, or diminishing of your valid claim for action by FCA.

You didn't mention a battery checking routine. What have your data points been, and what was your methodology?

Cheers, Steve

[SnakeDoctor]

Anyone seen reports of MY15 units failing yet?

[IXPLOR]

Out of curiousity how many diesel alternators have failed and deemed premature i.e failed within the first say 5 years? Maybe we could start a sticky thread.

Further to the above how many failed alternators were running dual battery systems?

I am not sure there is any correlation I was just thinking about it last night. In a modern vehicle even with 220Amp alternators the electrical base load is significant for a factory vehicle. Add in 3 or so phone chargers, running A/C headlights on in daytime, favourite tunes pumping, fridge running in the back etc and you get the point. Are we unknowingly overloading our electrical systems leading to premature failure?

I have had my Intervolt system in the car for around 16 months charging a second 98Ah battery under the passenger seat and since christmas have had the fridge in the back running every day. The Intervolt system charges at max 25 amps. Just a thought I am by no means an auto electrician just thought with an additional 25 amp of charging load could that be causing the alternator to run flat stick too much.

Is there an option to upgrade to a larger aftermarket alternator and would the wiring handle the extra current flow capability anyway.

Just a thought

[Troutman]

The cause of the failures seems to be a bit of a mystery. Some stuff I've read hints at the load the electro/hydraulic steering puts on the alternator, others are more vague as to age of battery etc.

[Ryann04]

funny, my vehicle isn't listed on the recall (MY12 JGC CRD), however the exact thing happened to my wife over christmas (vehicle suddenly died on the road, in traffic without warning). Turned out it was a faulty alternator.

Also worth noting that the vehicle only had 100,xxxkms on it.

[zzkazu]

Mine went last night and is currently sitting at a NRMA workshop over the weekend. I'll give Gulsons (Canberra) a ring on Monday but sounds like it is better to get it repaired outside the dealer network.

Bummer...