Alternator smoke

[P156KWJ]

Earlier today had to pull over in a panic as I started to smell electrical/rubbery burning, and when stopped, much to my alarm I could see smoke appearing from the bonnet.

On closer inspection either the alternator itself or the belt had been the source of smoke, which took a few minutes to fully dissipate, but the smell hung around.

Once it had all cooled a bit, I restarted, checked again after revving up and no smoke to be seen. Limped it in to work at low revs where I could inspect a bit further. Charging fine even with high load (13.7V at idle), and no signs of smoke or anything sinister.

Belt is fairly worn but still tight, and I'm rather stumped as to why it seems it would have been seized or something and has suddenly started acting alright again.

Saw something about brush replacement on the 1.9D alts from a search here but I'm guessing that's for when the alternator has stopped charging properly.

Any ideas before I fork out for either a new alt or get it refurbed? Thanks all.

[Dippydog]

I'd start by removing the auxilliary belt and rotate the alternator pulley by hand feeling for any roughness/stiffness/wobble/end float.I'd check the other pulleys too to be on the safe side,then as it's worn replace with a new belt.

[gatos]

Are you 100% sure it is the alternator ? Same thing happened to me 3 years ago and in my case it was the AC compressor pulley that got stuck and smoked up the whole engine bay.

If it is the alternator, then most probably it will be the pulley that has failed, or is on its way out. You can either get a replacement pulley and the special tool to replace it, or get another good second hand diesel alternator

[P156KWJ]

The guy I bought the car off did advise the AC isnt working but didn't say whether it had been investigated or not so it could be possible it's that.

Is there a guide anywhere on removal and replacement of the belt? Looks rather difficult to access and route!

Cheers for the advice

[gatos]

Originally Posted by P156KWJ

The guy I bought the car off did advise the AC isnt working but didn't say whether it had been investigated or not so it could be possible it's that.

Is there a guide anywhere on removal and replacement of the belt? Looks rather difficult to access and route!

Cheers for the advice

You could try starting the engine and engaging the AC, to see if it makes a difference.

With regards to removing the aux belt, the ECU is on its way, so you need to remove that. Once you do that, Access to the belt is easy. To remove the ECU, you need to undo the 2 12mm bolts from the top and two more bolts from under the car