I've been driving my D1 for over 10 years now and more than 40000 miles -- I'm not boasting that, but mentioning to put in context for how long I haven't had the starter or alternator fail. The D1 has over 150000 miles total, but I don't know if the starter and alternator were ever changed -- almost everything else has been. After 10 years of ownership, I'm not naive. This vehicle is a lot like the big American cars in the 1980's. Parts didn't go for decades or hundreds of thousands of miles without needing replacement. My full-size GM pickup needed a new starter around 150K and I can list the parts it's needed in the last 20 years on one hand. For the Land Rover, I'd need a spreadsheet.

I drive a lot of offroad and very remote places. Despite being very needy, the D1's never let me down in the field. There were some times it let me down by not being ready when it was time to go, but never a surprise. I intend to keep it that way. A busted starter or alternator results in a long, long walk. I don't have room to carry spares for everything. I do carry a lot of tools and some parts, but also 4 or more people and a big dog, plus gear, so I can't take a spare-everything.

Right now, it has the Magnetti Marellli alternator and I don't know what kind of starter. I'm starting to see lower running voltage, probably a sign of worn alternator brushes. For complete replacements, I looked at AB, Rovers North, Napa, and Partsgeek.

AB carries a Lucas starter and Denso alternator
Rovers North lists UK-made starter, probably by Lucas, and a 100A alternator and a 120A Marelli type that has a smaller pulley so it runs at higher speed.
Napa lists a few Bosch reman starters, some Napa branded remans, one new, and a reman Denso.
Napa's also lists a Marelli type reman alternator.
Partsgeek lists three different Bosch reman starters and some other cheap starters.
Partsgeek also lists a few Bosch reman alternators of the Marelli style, besides some cheapos.

I have a Warn winch, but no rack of offroad lights. The stock alternator and my primary Odyssey battery has been fine to run the winch when I need it. I have a second Odyssey (low self-discharge AGM) battery for a backup that I keep disconnected and topped-off every couple months. So I don't think I need a 200A alternator or anything. The Marelli from R-N with the smaller pulley might help make more juice for winching at engine idle speed though.

In my limited experience (mostly on vehicles other than the Land Rover), Bosch remans haven't been impressive. Napa has been better but they have several tiers of quality. I'm leaning toward the Lucas (yeah, I know, Prince of Darkness) starter.

Anyone have experience with various replacements, good or bad?

 

I had my OEM alt. remfg. - got a one year warranty with it - can't go wrong with OEM IMO

 

Company called Parts Player (Amazon used to sell a lot of their stuff before Covid19 hit) had great prices on alternators (I always get the P38 version for slightly more amps vs a D1) and the starter were both great products.

 

A P38 alternator will swap on to a D1?? Good to know!

 

Yes GEMS 95-98 P38 will drop into a 96-99 D1 (94-95 with a little work), and the 99-02 Bosch P38 alternator will work on any 99-04 D2.

 

Here is another idea.... put a new voltage regulator on it and perhaps new bearings. It is an easy job and the kit is ready for purchase at Maniac Electric Motors.

https://www.maniacelectricmotors.com/discovery.html

A couple of years ago I discovered this vendor and called up the proprietor. A nice lady named Christian. At the time there were no re-build kits available in the market.

We went through the different bits and how the 4.0 uses a different alternator than the 3.5. Once all that was figured out she put the kit together on her website. I have installed it on my alternator and it works perfectly.

The rotor and stator are pretty stable and don't often go bad. (For full disclosure my rotor was indeed bad and I had to re-build another used alternator. So yeah, it can happen) Generally it is the voltage regulator and less often the rectifier.

In any case, having a voltage regulator on hand is a cheap, small, light, and easy insurance policy. Re-building your alternator preemptively is not a bad idea either.

 

I came across the Maniacelectricmotors parts kit on ebay and had that in my cart. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with that but off their website so they don't have to pay feebay. It looks top-notch with NTN bearings and everything. It should make my Marelli alternator like new again and I won't have to ship a core.

I looked into the idea of switching the to Bosch 150A alternator from the P38. I'm not sure this is a good swap because higher-output alternators often deliver the extra current at high rpm and they actually deliver less at lower engine speeds. It might work well for more lights, fans, and accessories at higher engine and road speeds, but the only time I can really use more alternator output is in winching. That's the only time (other than starting where alternator output isn't helping) that I'm really drawing much current. But I winch with the engine idling. I don't winch often enough to make it worthwhile to rig up a high-idle lever or anything like that.

Still not sure what to do for the starter. I'm putting in an order with R-N for a bunch of unrelated stuff, so I'm inclined to add their UK-made (Lucas maybe?) starter. Maniac sells a Bosch reman for a really low price, but I don't want to regret being cheap.