"Any thoughts?"

Yes... Aftermarket alternator + battery charging issues...
If you hear hooves, think horses, not zebras.
Get an original alternator!

 

You are right.

Well, given that it's 800.00 dollars it was easier to hope the am unit would suffice.

 

$800.00 sounds kinda high..but there is a crap load of them on ebay

Jaguar x Type Alternator | eBay

 

A new OEM unit is 800.00 on ebay

 

I would go with a reman on the alternator.

 

Personally, i would not pay 800, i would buy a used unit from ebay or a wrecker yard, at least as a way to troubleshoot.

 

Well, as much effort it takes to remove an alternator I should probably stick something new in there.

Last year I had my fan replaced with a used unit and now it needs to be replaced again. It's screeching like hell.

 

Pull it and take it to a local alternator shop. They'll replace the bearings, fine tune it, and replace the voltage regulator and diode stacks...and that hand reman will be better than any new unit that you get right from Bosch. It may cost $160-$200.


I've always been brutal on alternators, and many of my vehicles have actually had two...(redundant charging systems for (very) heavy-duty radio gear).


The local shop takes their time and carefully balances out the things by hand...which is infinitely better than a mass-produced or depot reman unit any day.


Depo remans are always a crapshoot...did they replace the bearings? what kind of components did they use? did they replace the entire diode stack, or just the popped ones? The voltage regulator? They are designed to be cheap, and that 10% fail rate doesn't phase them in the least.

 

Can we do that for sure on the X type alternator? There is nothing special about it with its "stacked" high/low charging process ?

 

Spike, the high/low charging rates is a computer controlled thing, not an alternator thing. Think of it this way. The alternator is told what to do by the ECM/ECU. The ECM outputs a voltage to the field of the alternator to make it output a desired voltage (this voltage is relative based on the load on the alternator and the speed of the engine (and therefore the alternator). So, as long as you get the correct parts to fit into the alternator that are rated for the output, then all should be good. The big problem that I think you are going to find is that most alternators are not meant to run at 160 amps. So, finding a diode complex that can handle that amount of current may be the hardest part. Granted, they have some that go up to 250 amps these days.

If you want to understand how an alternator works on a much more detailed level, let me know. What an alternator does is what I have been doing for 27 years now. Granted, the alternator that I play with outputs around 900 megawatts at 22,000 volts. But the principles are the same.

 

Thanks!

So does this pose an imposibility in having it "rebuild" by a local shop?

 

Spike, I would say that they can most likely rebuild it. The question will be whether the rotor of the alternator is cooked (ie, overheated and damaged the wiring) and whether they can get the proper diode complex. I would atleast ask a local shop and see what they can do for you. Option 2 is to buy a used alternator off of say e-bay and then give it to them to rebuild, that way you are not without your jag for a period of possibly a few days as they have to order parts in.

 

They generally have the 200 amp VRs and the diodes are a breeze if they rebuild truck alternators.

I've had scads of Chrysler/Delco 100s rebuilt to 160 amps (they can build them to 200, but they need to be over 3000rpm to generate that, they'll do 160 at 1500 and a buck easy at idle).

I did the Bosch in my Disco II myself, but that was using a kit; the HD kit is about $60, but you need a jig to press the bearings.

The Jag alternator is built like a tank, I've never seen anything other than a toasty regulator...that is literally a ten-minute job once you have the alternator out.