Last week I had the unfortunate occurance of a flashing temperature display. I remembered that to low or for that matter t high a voltage may bring odd things about, like strange errors on the display. Hence, on my way back home, a visit to the maintenance guy. Tested a couple of things, and in the end it was a faulty alternator. DIsconnected the battery, cleaned it's poles, put some copper grease on them and reattached. Rechecked the alternator, and it read 12.36 ... to low output voltage. Next step: Replacement

I thought it could be practical to mention it as a reference
Cheers

 

Well, you can go from bad to worse ... Replaced the alternator, now the battery light stays on. No error on the read out just the red annoying battery on the dash. Alternator charges like it should, battery poles don't get hot, what's next ... tomorrow I need to drive 500 miles (900 Km)

 

The V6 S-type has charging management circuitry inside of the alternator itself. Many so-called replacements lack this and will cause problems as you have discovered. It is better to get your original alternator rebuilt than to take a chance on an aftermarket unit that is supposed to be correct for the car...

If your replaced the alternator yourself, you can take it to a competent re-builder, get it sorted and then replace the unit in your car once it is repaired. If a repair shop did the work, then contact them ASAP, before they throw the part out in the trash or send it off as a "core".

Good luck.

 

Common problem when installing aftermarket rebuilt alternators. Been documented on here many,many times. original needs to be rebuilt with original parts.

 

Thanks gents, 'll get onto it ASAP

 

It's still an after market alternator, but the regulator has been changed for a Jaguar one. So far no problems. Thanks for the advise