Voltage regulator

On my way to work today my battery light on the dash come on, pulled over thinking possible lost the belt but it was still there, looked at the connections to the alternator and battery all ok, started the car up again and no light. Drove for a little bit longer and the light came on again but I found if I reved the car up to 4000 rpm the light went out so that worked till getting near work then it stopped working…. light on again.

I've took the voltage regulator out as I thought I would clean up the connections etc and on removing the regulator I found 1 of the brushes is completly worn down, the regulator is newish and I've only done about 18,000 miles with it in the alternator, any ideas why it's worn down 1 side so quickly?

 

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what are the rings like that they contact? if one is scored it could wear the brush quickly. could try smoothing off with sandpaper if its rough

Watch this vid.

How to change brushes in Bosch alternator regulators. - YouTube

or buy a new one.

If you look wn in to the alternator, you will see the stator or slip rings, make sure that they are even, and clean

Clean them with a pencil eraser…..polish them…
then use a straight pin to clean out between the grooves.

If they are unevenly worn, then you could have it repaired at a good electrical shop, or buy a new replacement….

regulators here cost about 35 bucks usd,
brushes themselves are about 5 bucks usd

whole alternators 95-120Amp are about 100 usd and the 60-65 amp are about 68 bucks usd.

is it worn or just stuck in there?

most alternators you buy will be re-manufactured units rather than new. possibly cheap parts were used or it wasnt put together properly

Up date. The bush was worn down as I could see the spring, I managed to pull up a little on the bush to give some sort of contact fitted the regulator and it worked. Drove home 25 miles and no light on the dash, fitted a new regulator which I bought for my other car so I had one at home.
I'll keep and eye on how the bushes wear, the first regular was a Topran one and the one fitted is a Meyle so I'll see what happens…..