Xantia Alternator brushes VALEO CL8 a13VI85 2541738C

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romie
Posts: 451
Joined: 07 May 2010, 14:02
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
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x 2

Xantia Alternator brushes VALEO CL8 a13VI85 2541738C

Post by romie »

Ay-up,

So travelling into work today the radio stopped working.

Battery was very low on power.

Very slow windscreen wipers etc..

Charged battery.

Turning the ignition on, the battery symbol on the dash had a faint glow.

Started car.

Battery symbol continued to have a faint glow that went up and down in brightness slightly as engine was revved.

Faint glow as in 10% brightness, nothing like fully on - or off.

Voltage across battery was 12.3 volts.

Suspected alternator brushes so gave alternator a few whacks with hammer.

After a few hits, (whilst engine was running) the voltage jumped up to 14.4v and stayed there.

So I'm still on the brushes route for now unless there are other suggestions? :/ hmm





I rang Citroen, they said they didn't do brushes for the alternator!
But did give me these figures:

VALEO CL8 2541738C a13VI85 --- (or n13VI85 could quite read the first letter.)
Recon for £149.13 (no old alternator to return then £50 extra surcharge)
£368.96 new alternator 5705E3
£154.72 diode plate 5744C9
£121.47 regulator 576191
+20% vat

I found this useful site that gave me some dimentions of the brushes (if that's what the problem is).
But unfortunatly out of stock.
http://www.woodauto.com/Component.aspx?Ref=ABR5223" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
ABR5223 ALT BRUSH SET
Voltage 12
Depth 6.4
Width 4.6
Length 14.5
Angled Length -
Note 1 Flex Length 80mm
Availability Out of stock
Price £ 1.68

Any ideas where I might be able to pick them up off the shelf, (so avoiding christmas post issues), around the Oxfordshire/Milton Keynes area?

Cheers fellows

Merry (car trouble free) Christmas!!

Romie
Citroen Xantia 1.9TD 1996 estate 100% veg 323k
Ford Transit Tourneo 2.5L Di 1999 165k
Yamaha R1 1999 26k
Kawasaki ZXR750 L1 1993 66k (to LPG?)
Suzuki Bandit GSF400 1992 x 2
Mountain bike, skateboards, snowboards, surfboard, longboard and feet!
Peter.N.
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Re: Xantia Alternator brushes VALEO CL8 a13VI85 2541738C

Post by Peter.N. »

Hi Romie

I would think its more likely that you have a bad connection on your alternator, either on of the wires or where its bolted onto the engine if hitting it made it work. Brushes on alternators don't usually wear out, I've had cars with well over 200k miles with original alternators.

If it is faulty I would be inclined to get a secondhand one, much cheaper and very unlikely to be faulty, or perhaps one of these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CITROEN-XANTI ... 4cfcb2414b" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Peter
romie
Posts: 451
Joined: 07 May 2010, 14:02
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
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Re: Xantia Alternator brushes VALEO CL8 a13VI85 2541738C

Post by romie »

ah, thanks.

The cars done 210k :/

Thanks for the link. That might be the simplest option!

Cheers, Romie
Citroen Xantia 1.9TD 1996 estate 100% veg 323k
Ford Transit Tourneo 2.5L Di 1999 165k
Yamaha R1 1999 26k
Kawasaki ZXR750 L1 1993 66k (to LPG?)
Suzuki Bandit GSF400 1992 x 2
Mountain bike, skateboards, snowboards, surfboard, longboard and feet!
Xantidote
Posts: 1146
Joined: 03 May 2009, 22:07
Location: Merseyside
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Re: Xantia Alternator brushes VALEO CL8 a13VI85 2541738C

Post by Xantidote »

My spare alternator has brushes which are well worn (mileage unknown). Could be that your problem is a combination of worn brushes, weaker springs which press the the brushes against the slip rings, and a bit of gungey carbon from the brush wear clogging up the brush holders, all combining to make the brushes sluggish in retaining contact with the slip rings. Your hammer fix shakes the brushes into life/new position :-D

As Peter says, alternators are capable of high mileages.

If not too difficult/inconvenient, cheapest solution would be to remove alternator and have a look.
Martin

1995 Xantia TDLX (deceased :( )
romie
Posts: 451
Joined: 07 May 2010, 14:02
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
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Re: Xantia Alternator brushes VALEO CL8 a13VI85 2541738C

Post by romie »

. . and I had the old problem of the hydraulic pump leaking onto it a while back. . changed O-Ring and fixed but would add to grunge build-up :(

The brushes should only be a few pounds and so I reckon I might as well have them with me before getting all oily.

Thing is locating them.

I found this on Ebay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/230702890805? ... 1436.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
But with the Christmas post, I'd never get them in a useful time.

Trying to find a local source. .

Just going to have to keep the pole and hammer in car for Christmas duration - ugh
Citroen Xantia 1.9TD 1996 estate 100% veg 323k
Ford Transit Tourneo 2.5L Di 1999 165k
Yamaha R1 1999 26k
Kawasaki ZXR750 L1 1993 66k (to LPG?)
Suzuki Bandit GSF400 1992 x 2
Mountain bike, skateboards, snowboards, surfboard, longboard and feet!
romie
Posts: 451
Joined: 07 May 2010, 14:02
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
My Cars:
x 2

Re: Xantia Alternator brushes VALEO CL8 a13VI85 2541738C

Post by romie »

My local auto factors reckons for the vi85 unit he can get a regulator + brush box for £30.80
But again he'd have to order-in so hammer wins this game for xmas. Besides voltage regulation isn't broken so waste of money.
Citroen Xantia 1.9TD 1996 estate 100% veg 323k
Ford Transit Tourneo 2.5L Di 1999 165k
Yamaha R1 1999 26k
Kawasaki ZXR750 L1 1993 66k (to LPG?)
Suzuki Bandit GSF400 1992 x 2
Mountain bike, skateboards, snowboards, surfboard, longboard and feet!
Xantidote
Posts: 1146
Joined: 03 May 2009, 22:07
Location: Merseyside
My Cars:
x 5

Re: Xantia Alternator brushes VALEO CL8 a13VI85 2541738C

Post by Xantidote »

As Peter suggested earlier, may be worth looking for spare alternator in scrappy, if you have one locally. You could do a swap, and fix existing alternator at leisure, although I think alternator is bit more fiddly to remove on your car, as you have air-con, which has the hydraulic pump is above the alternator.

My bog standard TD has no air-con & no ABS - simplicity has it's benefits when things go wrong :)

If you go for spare alternator, check the mountings and type of terminals, as I'm fairly sure later alternators are slightly different (may be associated with their being higher current rating)

Meanwhile, continue with hammer, and if doesn't work, try bigger hammer :-D
Martin

1995 Xantia TDLX (deceased :( )
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