GreenComet

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for your help. The TF is all fixed now with a new voltage regulator (£22 from Ebay)

This has been one of my first ever repairs on a car, and I've had the help of a neighbour who is an auto electrician (like the master teaching the young apprentice). I owe him a thank you card and a case of beer at the minimum.

I changed the voltage regulator with the alternator still attached to the car.

My top learnings are as follows:

1) DISCONNECT THE BATTERY before working around the alternator. There is a big live cable running from the battery to the nut on the alternator, and it has the potential to do serious harm.

2) You need to remove various heat shields and brackets to get to the screws and bolts on the alternator. You might need a long bar to break some of the bigger bolts.

3) For the screws on the alternator that hold the backing plate and regulator in place, I strongly recommend that you invest in a screwdriver that has a 90 degree universal joint. It's very difficult with a normal screw driver, partly because the exhaust manifold gets in the way, and partly because you'll be bent in half in an upside down U shape trying to reach in and undo the screws.

4) Check the easy bits first eg fuses visually and with a multimeter. I did plenty of googling before starting this job, and I've found threads where owners have bought and fitted a new alternator only to find that a fuse has blown.

Thanks again

Matt