I was out in the middle of nowhere yesterday, stopped my Disco I, and when I tried to restart I couldn't. I investigated and found the alternator had completely frozen up. Shaft would not turn. Putting such a drag on the serpentine belt the engine would not "catch" although it would turn over slowly working against the resistance of the belt on the starter. Very worrysome, as I had no cell phone service and had to hitch a ride to a nearby hill, where I could get cell phone signal, and call Triple-A to come tow me.

My Disco is high mileage, 177,000, but has worked very well up until now. Weather was beautiful about 60f and sunny. I was wondering (just curious) if anyone else has had this happen? Is it common? I have had no indication that the alternator was going bad, and the charging system was doing OK, keeping the battery fully charged.

 

Has your tachometer been acting up at all?

 

No, not at all. There was absolutely NO indication of upcoming alternator failure whatsoever. Tachometer never acted up.

 

My 96 Disco alternator started making a lot of noise last April and I had to replace it. I was not off in the wild like you were but not in my hometown either so I had to pay a premium price for the replacement. Research online led me to believe that this alternator is not one of the more reliable models. Examining the faulty alternator I discovered that one of the flange arms had cracked, whether because it was installed improperly or because of a design flaw I don't know. The cracked arm probably contributed to the noise problem which I am sure would have led to failure soon.
I did test the amp before removing it and it was still putting out enough to keep the battery up.


Ed

 

So, what is your game plan?

 

I have a new alternator ordered from Atlantic British with overnight delivery. I will get it tomorrow, and install it, and go from there. The alternator on the Disco I, is probably the original one. Luckily I was able to have the vehicle trailered to my best friends house, so it is safe until I can do the repair.

It is interesting to note that the breakdown happened in rural Oklahoma, and even with my Triple AAA emergency coverage the driver would not cross the border into Arkansas to deliver the vehicle to my house. He said his wrecker would be impounded because Arkansas has different regulations. Luckily my best friend lives one mile inside the eastern Oklahoma border, which was 193 miles away from where the truck broke down. I live about 10 minutes away (in Arkansas) from where he lives.

 

The alternator on my '97 went out last Christmas, the bearings went out on it, it sounded like a rod knock, it was the original with 172,000 on it at the time. Drove it 300 miles that way.
Went to AutoZone and bought one with a lifetime warrenty for $180.
Just a FYI for anybody reading this, you could have removed the serp belt and drove at low speedsuntil you had a cell signal.
The ram air through the radiator will spin the fan which will turn the water pump, you wont have power steering and the battery will go dead eventually, but to get to safety...it can be done.
Just make sure that you keep a close eye on the temp gauge and dont sit in traffic, you must keep moving, no faster than 45 mph.
I have done this on other cars that I have owned. It can be done.