Car not charging battery

[Nash]

On board voltage guage showed a drop in the last week and multimeter confirmed after starting car no increase in voltage, I'm guessing an issue with Alternator unless someone else knows what else might cause this issue ?

[m12aak]

Do you have any warning lights on the dash? When mine failed, I had the low oil, battery and cat temp lights come on (along with the main central light obviously). Think alternators failing are getting more common with age, and fluids leaking on them (mine likely died as it looked like the distributor had been leaking oil on it for years). Even if you don't have all the lights on mentioned above, it probably is the alternator, considering the lack of charge. I got a new one from Keron a couple years ago, I believe it's something he keeps on the shelf. 

On early cars I believe the weep hole on the water pump has no rubber tube to route it past the alternator too, which can also send them to an early grave, so just double check that you aren't leaking any coolant while you're in there. 

[Nash]

I do indeed have those lights on, what did Keiron charge you back then for a working alternator ?

[m12aak]

10 hours ago, Nash said:

I do indeed have those lights on, what did Keiron charge you back then for a working alternator ?

iirc it was £160, he's only 10 mins away from where I live so I just picked it up. I believe he also has cheaper ones but I bought a 100 amp TT auto one just because (it works fine on my NA manual that came with a lesser amperage alternator)

[Nash]

Cheers, I will see what my garage finds out !

[Nash]

Garage checked it and confirmed not volts coming from Alternator, do I get it repaired or replaced ?

[Nash]

I have just purchased a new lucas 100 amp Alternator

[Nash]

It's in and working and I'm relieved it didn't take me 6 hours to remove and fit !!!

[m12aak]

15 hours ago, Nash said:

It's in and working and I'm relieved it didn't take me 6 hours to remove and fit !!!

Nice! Was the old one covered in oil? If so, make sure you check and if necessary, replace the distributor o-ring so this new alternator isn't sent to an early grave. It's a very easy thing to do, when I did it I followed this tutorial: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/performance-and-maintenance/174881-distributor-o-ring-replacement-write-up.html and the Service Manual when adjusting the timing with a timing light.

[Nash]

8 hours ago, m12aak said:

Nice! Was the old one covered in oil? If so, make sure you check and if necessary, replace the distributor o-ring so this new alternator isn't sent to an early grave. It's a very easy thing to do, when I did it I followed this tutorial: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/performance-and-maintenance/174881-distributor-o-ring-replacement-write-up.html and the Service Manual when adjusting the timing with a timing light.

This is the old one, not a full picture, it certainly made the hands dirty but how do I tell if it's an oily one ?

[m12aak]

1 minute ago, Nash said:

This is the old one, not a full picture, it certainly made the hands dirty but how do I tell if it's an oily one ?

Looks oily to me; underneath the distributor is a silver heat shield, have a look and it'll be easy to confirm if you've got a leak or not. It would also be leaking down under that, so over a bit of the water pump etc, leading down to the alternator. My general rule of thumb re. dirt is that if it's dry and dusty, it's just general grime, if its damp/sticky it's oil!

Fortunately not a lot of oil leaks out of there, so you can drive the car in the meantime, just keep an eye on it/clean it off the alternator while you get the parts in (if it is the distributor seal).