Have you downloaded the RAVE manual yet?
Also RoverChris is a 12v tech, shoot him a PM and maybe he can help.

 

If you alternator is not putting out between 13.6 volts and 14.4, it needs to be replaced.

 

This alternator is brand new, his old one did the exact same thing, so he slapped in a new one and the problem continues.
The problem started AFTER he had work done by a mechaninc who he no longer trusts.

 

Hi Everybody. THANK YOU ALL WHO HELPED!!! Enough cannot be said about the value of having this community available to me. I think I have the only LR in Toledo, Ohio so I am pretty alone when it comes to questions with my first ever Disco...even with the local mechanics.

Here's what happened for anybody who might be interested.

I first checked the belts routing and it was ok.

Then I checked the main ground (negative/black cable) off the battery. It went straight off the battery to the passanger side metal inside the engine compartment. A proper ground BUT the ground (negative/black cable) continues from there and goes to the bracket that holds the alternator. When the local shop doing my headgasket job put everything back together, they failed to make this connection hence rendering the altenator useless. I found the cable hanging in the wind below the battery. The bolt was missing so I got my own and wham, as soon as I hooked that ground cable back up to the alternator bracket the Disco's voltage at the battery terminals when from 12.5ish to 14's (with the engine running of course). A rookie problem that I should have been able to figure out but I just didn't know. But ya all pointed out the obvious to me and I am extremely grateful.

Two last questions. One is the guy at the shop told me the altenator was shot and he'd replace it for 400. I said no, bought a bosch for 270 and a new battery for 100 and did it myself. Had the same problem till I found the ground they didn't re-attach. Do I have any right to tell the shop they owe me something? Most people I know would have just paid the 400 and I spent almost that much that I probably didn't need to and I am pretty broke right now. I don't want to be a jerk but I also do not like feeling like the shop tried to screw me over.

And lastly, I wrote down the names of all the people who helped me...who wants a beer!!!

Thanks again. This forum/family/fellow-fans of the Disco rocks.

 

Yeah they owe you the money for the superfluous battery and alternator replacement I would think in the least.

 

The shop wont give you any money back, I had a similar problem before that actually cost me a transmission on a Oldsmobile many years ago.
Took it in for a trans fluid filter and flush, they only refilled it with 2 quarts of tranny fluid, we were on a trip out of town, ai had to buy 5 qts from a gas station, set me back my life savings, took it back to the shop and because it was now full and the receipt did not say how much they put back in, only that they changed the filter and did a flush I had nothing to prove anything with.
6 months or so later 4th gear stopped working because the clutch for it had burnt up because it was ran low on fluid for to long.
Unless you had left the cable unhooked and made them figure it out you dont have a leg to stand on, sorry.
It does suck that you spend good money chasing their mistake.
But know you are more confident in doing your own work which will save you a ton of money down the road.

 

if they charged you for a diag and then told you it was the alternator, then yeah, if its a reputible place, they should give you back, or at least credit you, the money for the diag, but like spkie said, with out you doing the work there and them not finding the problem, you might find yourself sol.