2004 Land Rover Discovery – Burned Alternator

[ronguiteau]

The 2004 discovery was towed to the dealership. The service advisor and the technician inspected it on the spot. They told me the smokes and burning odor came from the alternator; it was burned. The question is: might it be linked to something else: the shaking, the knocking noise? Is it normal for a 2004 Discovery with 84,211 miles to have a blown alternator?

[Mjollnir]

First, it is a Bosch alternator, and I have yet to hear of one committing suicide at the age of six with 84K on the clock. Second, when the dealership did all the work on the gaskets....did they remove the alternator? Remember, they told you that the severe shaking was "normal", so the alternator frying its brains, is that normal? I think not. The alternator is a power generator. It does not cause engine knocking, that occurs in the cylinder itself. Even if there was a misfire due to a faulty plug wire, for the entire engine to be that bad every wire would have to go at the same time. Not possible.
You brought the Disco in for a simple problem. Since then, you have had major additional issues with the vehicle. There are no coincidences when there are three major engine related problems after they got their hands on it. Now, the alternator. I have to ask, what's next? The water pump? Or perhaps the hoses?
I hope they are replacing the alternator free of charge, since you have paid so much already and had so much inconvenience since they have worked on it. Be prepared, they may tell you something else is wrong due to collateral damage.......

[ronguiteau]

Guess what? The dealer called me up and told me that after all the altenator was good. It was rather the starter that had gone bad. Now the question is: is it normal for starters to catch fire and burn? I strongly believe that it must be porvoked by something. My problems began after the dealership performed a Head Gasket job on the car. The car has been shaking and making knocking noises since...

[Mjollnir]

OK, you have a Bosch starter. These are so tough that my '99 DII with 108k starts with a single turn of the key. Everything else I said in my last posting to you remains the same.
Most important: did they do anything to it when they changed the head gaskets? Why did no one look at it when you complained of the vibration and knocking?
By the way, the alternator is on the top of the engine, while the starter is somewhere much more difficult and time consuming to get to. That means more money for the dealership. Like I said the last time.......