The battery light in the dash came on and headlights started going dim, and with my luck the high beams are stuck on, turn signal/high beam clicker won’t go back down to low beams, so that’s ANOTHER problem...thankfully the car drove flawlessly the 10 miles back home. Alternator needs replacing? I know the battery is good, it held up the whole 10 miles without making the car die. She otherwise was running so nice, purring like a big cat, cool temps, good oil pressure, etc.. So, need alternator and has anyone run into the pull high beam indicator fail? Thanks in advance!

 

looks like the stalk switch got stuck, so my first impression is you need to replace the stalk switch or remove it and dismantle it to try to repair it.

to disassemble the stalk switch, you need to drill out the rivets but before you do, put a tight rubber band around it so the springs inside do not fly out when you separate the two halves. Then you very slowly separate the two halves while carefully observng where the parts are.

As to the alternator, you'll have to remove it and have it tested or rebuilt at an alternator shop, or get a new or remanufactured one.

I noticed the other day that some owners who remove the Air Pump, move the alternator up to the Air Pump position, that's a good idea but requires lengthening the wiring harnes to the alternator and maybe fabricating brackets. Otherwise the alternator is buried at the bottom and is a pain to get to.

 

I was watching YouTube videos of replacing the alternator, whoever did the design of this car and decided the alternator goes where it is now, needs to be smacked

 

I can understand your frustrations with the low and dirty locations of the alternator. However this is actually one of the things Jaguar got right in the sense that heat kills alternators and the low and cool position is ideal. This position makes them less troublesome then most of their contemporaries who put the alternator high and hot. Also the A/C compressor and air pump were late design add-on's and early cars had neither so servicing in this case was easier.

Because of the rotation of the cooling fan heat off the radiator tends to be directed right above the alternator so any higher and it wouldn't last. Cooked !

There are some relocation brackets that allow you to mount a GM alternator high and hot where the Air pump would go. Newer alternators surely can withstand more heat but I wouldn't do it.

So get dirty and check that alternator. Perhaps just the + wire fell off. It's happened to me. If not, then you get to play Jaguar service technican a la 1970's or 80's and will walk in their shoes for a short time. It's not so bad, many newer car have less space and mount the alternators low too.

 

try removing the alternator is a Saturn SUV. The entire engine needs to be diconnected from its mounts, raised at least 6 inches, just to get to the alternator. and getting to the motor mount bolts, well that is another chapter in itself.

 

So what you're saying, Jose, is that Saturn built the entire power train out in open space, and then lowered the body over the whole assembly?

With no thought whatsoever given to the poor schmucks who had to repair anything?

Or have I misunderstood something?
(';')

 

Elinor,

I have no clue how they got the whole engine assembly in there. The manager of a storage facility saw me working in the XJ and came asking for help. She told me they wanted $900.00 to replace the alternator. (the alternator is $90.00 remanufactured).

So I said sure, until I got under the car. I called a mechanic friend and asked him if he would do the job and he said "no thank you". I asked why? He explained there were too many risks, too much disassembly labor, "take it to the Dealer" he said.

 

WOW!
Another candidate for the Wholesale Auction!
"Great shape. Clean. Mechanically sound. Only needs Alternator"
(';')

 

You make a good point there in regards to the radiator fan helping the alternator keep cool, that would be a good design after all. Which wire came loose for you on your car? Where would I look to check?

Ive done some pretty gnarly repair jobs before, it doesn’t bother me to do the job, it’s funny, when the light on the dash came on it was all of a sudden, as if something jarred loose while I was driving, voltage meter gauge suddenly showed “0” and headlights went dim.

 

As to the Jaguar DOHC, I see the logic. Big engine, smallish bay. Lots of stuff to fit in there. I was checking out my Jeep. Similar arrangement. Big six, small bay, same stuff under there. But, swapping in a replacement starter from down under not all that bad. Getting me down and up was the hard part !!!


Ugh, if I were only young again! A bit on the news last night. Football.
The Cal Q'back called his number. Team on about the 10 yard line from the opponents goal He ran left. Saw a couple of defenders in his path. A somersault over them into the end zone, on his feet, TD!!! Amazing...


My neighbor has a Nice Nissan Maxima. Circa 2010 or so. He was doing maintenance and considered a preemptive spark plug swap on it's transverse V6 . OOOPS. manual calls for the removal of the intake manifold to get to the back three!! That not so easy as to access and a bunch of stuff attached to it!!!!. It runs nicely hence I opined, "don't fix what don't need fixin".


Now, a generation of Ford trucks developed a habit of spitting out spark plugs!!! Most a warranty fix. But, access is by removing the cab!!!


Carl


Carl

 

Update, gave her a good inspection and discovered that it was just a broken off alternator belt, that would explain how sudden it went out