Alternator woes!!!

[Qman]

On my way to do 46 acres of wheat for a chap 10 miles away on my Claas Mega 350 the radio kept switching off and then refused to come back on after 3 times. Then one or two warning lights glowed very dimly and a few bleeps kept coming.

I combined a 12 acre field and took the header off when the battery warning light came on and the alarm bleated. There was an odd smell as well, I thought it can't be the battery boiling because I'd bought a new alternator from a main dealer 3 years ago.
But it was, the battery had boiled and the alternator was buggered. When my mechanic undid the wires the radio suddenly struck up!

I ordered a new one last night from the main dealer and collected it this morning and was shocked at the price, it was with discount £750+VAT. I googled the Bosch number and found that an identical alternator in the USA is $129 which is about £85.

How can this be right? I would have tried to get one at a motor factor but the useless 3 year old one hadn't got a part number on it.

 

[bluepower]

On my way to do 46 acres of wheat for a chap 10 miles away on my Claas Mega 350 the radio kept switching off and then refused to come back on after 3 times. Then one or two warning lights glowed very dimly and a few bleeps kept coming.

I combined a 12 acre field and took the header off when the battery warning light came on and the alarm bleated. There was an odd smell as well, I thought it can't be the battery boiling because I'd bought a new alternator from a main dealer 3 years ago.
But it was, the battery had boiled and the alternator was buggered. When my mechanic undid the wires the radio suddenly struck up!

I ordered a new one last night from the main dealer and collected it this morning and was shocked at the price, it was with discount £750+VAT. I googled the Bosch number and found that an identical alternator in the USA is $129 which is about £85.

How can this be right? I would have tried to get one at a motor factor but the useless 3 year old one hadn't got a part number on it.

Not at all surprised at that price. This is where Claas in particular make their money. When we had a Claas handler we needed a new Bosch hydraulic solenoid which they quoted £650 for. Managed to buy one from a Bosch franchise for less than £100. Ran a Claas Lexion for several years which was a good combine but the cost of spares and service items was through the roof if sourced from a franchised dealer. Lesson to be learnt is always ask the price first and try and cross reference parts as they will be a lot cheaper than from a Claas dealer.

 

[joe soapy]

Simple, when an american gets his pants pulled down he will likely reach for his gun.
Here we just smile and say thankyou

 

[Mursal]

Have you a few images of the alternator?
You tried E-Bay?
Front pulley and type (if you cant swap your own), some are one way and the mounting brackets are the main things to watch. Wiring terminals may also differ, but can be changes. Local breaker might have something to compare too, so if you find one in a breaker, you can just go to the motor factor and ask for the same, probably best going new.

Would you or did your mechanic not suggest to replace the regulator in the back of the alternator? Relatively easy to do and the regulators usually cost less than £50.
Just an example Click

Why did you not give the motor factor the Bosch number you Googled?

 

[B'o'B]

Why did you not give the motor factor the Bosch number you Googled?

He couldn't find the number on the old one so didn't know what is was until he had the new one.

 

[Mursal]

Leave it back, no?

 

[Dave W]

It amazes me anyone even bothers with dealers for generic parts. Appreciate there's harvest pressure etc but I reckon I'd have found an alternative to a £750 shafting

 

[Rob Holmes]

On my way to do 46 acres of wheat for a chap 10 miles away on my Claas Mega 350 the radio kept switching off and then refused to come back on after 3 times. Then one or two warning lights glowed very dimly and a few bleeps kept coming.

I combined a 12 acre field and took the header off when the battery warning light came on and the alarm bleated. There was an odd smell as well, I thought it can't be the battery boiling because I'd bought a new alternator from a main dealer 3 years ago.
But it was, the battery had boiled and the alternator was buggered. When my mechanic undid the wires the radio suddenly struck up!

I ordered a new one last night from the main dealer and collected it this morning and was shocked at the price, it was with discount £750+VAT. I googled the Bosch number and found that an identical alternator in the USA is $129 which is about £85.

How can this be right? I would have tried to get one at a motor factor but the useless 3 year old one hadn't got a part number on it.

...more to the point, where have you found that is fit for cutting after last nights rain?

...and even more to the point, where are you tipping it?????

 

[Netherfield]

A quick Google search shows Nelson Auto Electric in Derby, I would have taken the offending unit there, may have been easily repairable.

 

[Grassman]

That's the beauty of claas though. You order it in the evening and it's there next morning. You know it will be the right one. So very little downtime. Chasing around motor factors and the like is good if you have the time and nothing better to do. I'm not defending the price which sounds frightening but sometimes you just have to grin and bare it!

 

[joe soapy]

Or alternator s Albaston. He has a database built up overmany years of what fits what.
Very good chap to deal with

 

[Mursal]

£750 for an alternator worth £100, you must be growing poppies.
If you cant find the time, might be time for a rethink of your management structure ..............

 

[Qman]

Rob, I am not doing any combining today, it went wrong yesterday morning.

Netherfield, by the time we had got the alternator off and checked it and called at Hallmark Tractors and RVT Tractors (it is the same alternator as a 6430, they hadn't got one) and gone home to get the one off my 6430 and you need a special key and we buggered up the nut thing and rung up Derby Auto Electrical (they hadn't got one), it was too late as firms do not work week ends.

Grassman you are right, Claas are brilliant for parts. My gripe is that they sold me a recon alternator 3 years ago which turned out to be not too good. That one cost £360, I would rather have bought a new one then. The recon one did not look good when I opened the box, it looked as if it had been painted by a blind child. The new one is a proper Bosch one and looks good and proper.

I have lost over £1000 of income and spent £750 plus a new battery because the old one was no good.

Rob, it is not my corn, but it is going to a drying place in Boylestone.

 

[Qman]

£750 for an alternator worth £100, you must be growing poppies.
If you cant find the time, might be time for a rethink of your management structure ..............

Mursal, I wanted one to get my customer's wheat cut before it rained. To buy one for £100 I would need to get it from the USA. I want the bloody thing now not in November. Also until I got the expensive one I didn't know the part number as the recon one hadn't got a number on it.

So thanks for your reply, but I had a mechanic go over the combine before I started cutting and replaced a water pump and several bearings and belts which were on the way out. I think it would be remarkable if my chap could have noticed that the alternator was going to go wrong a month later. So if you were waiting for me to cut your corn you would not like my management structure if I told you I was waiting for a part from America to save a few bob when you whole crop was ruined.

 

[Mursal]

Absolutely the customer comes first, every time.

 

[Qman]

It amazes me anyone even bothers with dealers for generic parts. Appreciate there's harvest pressure etc but I reckon I'd have found an alternative to a £750 shafting

I bet you couldn't on a Friday afternoon. If it was for a tractor I would have waited, but I needed the combine going quick, it is stuck near a road and is full of diesel.

I have often gone to parts places, but without the part number it is impossible, we rang one and when we mentioned a combine they were not interested!

 

[Dave W]

The point is it's an alternator. It's a Bosch not a claas. What it's bolted to is irrelevant.
Go to any shop and mention combine and they understandably won't want to know.
Any decent motor factor would have identified it if you shown it to them.

It's threads like this that make me glad I use an independent parts man who is an engineer rather than a laptop monkey hiding behind part no's

 

[Mursal]

Will it not fit back into the bag/box and leave it back, surely they wont stick you for it, only on a day?

 

[Qman]

Mursal I've thought of that but the stores man has been very good to me for many years, it isn't his fault and there is always another day. Never fall out with the parts man.

Dave W it was a friday afternoon, I wanted to get going quickly and if I'd gone to Derby and hacked round the electrical places they would have been closed and the one my independent mechanic uses couldn't help. I can assure you he hasn't got a lap top, he's got dirty nails and plenty of spanners.

I see you live near to me and I'll bet you you couldn't get a correct alternator very quick, the part number is 0 123 515 500. These firms do not carry much stock these days and even a big JD dealer hadn't got a 6430 one on their shelf. It would have been monday. As it turned out I could have waited due to rain. But I'll say again, I did not have the part number till I went 45 miles to collect the part. I will ring my local place on monday and see what they would have charged.

 

[Dave W]

http://www.gmengineers.co.uk/
This guy would have had something on the shelf that would have got you going. Again, you need to look at it as an alternator not a combine part.
Personally I'd have altered the mounting to make anything fit before I'd had my leg lifted for £750