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Post Info TOPIC: "Disabling Smart Alternator - Is it worth it?
Whenarewethere


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Bobdown wrote:
Smart alternator only charges when the brakes are depressed to save fuel, the main battery only had the minimum charge and was only connected to van by 7 pin plug. 

 I have videoed my DC clampmeter. If the alternator only charged when the brakes are applied you would have a flat battery pretty quickly.

Typically if not a lot is running on my car like fairly high end hi-fi, demister, mirror heaters etc. The alternator is continuously putting 80amps into the car to keep all the electronic systems going. 130amp alternator on my car & others with higher spec have 150amp alternator.



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Bobdown


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Whenarewethere wrote:
Bobdown wrote:
Smart alternator only charges when the brakes are depressed to save fuel, the main battery only had the minimum charge and was only connected to van by 7 pin plug. 

 I have videoed my DC clampmeter. If the alternator only charged when the brakes are applied you would have a flat battery pretty quickly.

Typically if not a lot is running on my car like fairly high end hi-fi, demister, mirror heaters etc. The alternator is continuously putting 80amps into the car to keep all the electronic systems going. 130amp alternator on my car & others with higher spec have 150amp alternator.

 As an edit to my post, I should have stated that the smart alternator mainly charges fully when decelerating, in a BT 50 / Ranger, not just braking.

WAWT I don't know how smart your alternator is, but how do you video it while you are driving?        As stated, they are only good for vehicle specs for the car companies.

A 3 way fridge should only be run on 12 v when driving, regardless of the Alternator or battery.

Cheers Bob



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Aus-Kiwi


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Tmk they can be put back to normal Regulator type through ECU ? The old style worked for years . The little it saves on fuel in this case wouldnt warrant keeping !! One of those complex things we dont really require !!



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oiddad


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On my Navarra it's a simple job of uncoupling the sensor bracket and separating the plug from its socket. Pit it back together in 10secs.

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Whenarewethere


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Aus-Kiwi wrote:

Tmk they can be put back to normal Regulator type through ECU ? The old style worked for years . The little it saves on fuel in this case wouldnt warrant keeping !! One of those complex things we dont really require !!

 It would have been great on our previous car's 44kW engine. It had brilliant air conditioning, but I turned it off taking off at the lights as it was like dragging a couple of anchors, spare wheel & a couple of railway sleepers. A smart alternator would have helped as well.



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Aus-Kiwi


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Aha yea . I bet with 44kw it had 35 amp alternator too !! Transmissions, efi , AC compressors are much much more efficient these days !! I had an auto Datsun 1200 . When cold I would leave to work going down the road . If I turned right to go up the hill ? It wouldnt make it ! Till it warmed up !! Days of carbs and choke !! Lol Good ole 3 speed autos too !!



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Greg 1


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In answer to Jaahn's question yes. With the Ranger it can be turned off in the computer module to revert it back to a normal style alternator. The term Smart Alternator refers to the alternator only charging to 85% of the battery capacity. This saves a little bit of fuel as there is then no load on the alternator above that mark. Both my sparky and Ford told me it was one of the many small things manufacturers do to meet their emissions targets and really does nothing for the end user.

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Mike196


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You can override the "smart" function by driving with the headlights on, in the Pajero it will override the function if you have the heater fan running. (Info from the Pajero Forum)



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Greg 1


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Might work in the Paj but not in the Ranger. You have to have it turned off in the programming.

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Greg O'Brien
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So people are spending a fortune on smart charges, and it can be a very simple fix. Bit like some cars don't like led lights on vans. Vw were charging a few hundred $ for a few 10cent resistors in an magic adapter.



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oiddad


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Update. Ran the engine till smart alternator kicked in. Measured volts on 12 pin nd red esc anderson. 12.5v. Disabled smart alternator and instantly and consistently had 14.25v. Grey anderson for powering the fridge which at the moment comes from the aux is another matter, only 13 2v but that is what the redarc bcdc limits it to as far as I understand.



-- Edited by oiddad on Wednesday 30th of June 2021 12:56:39 PM

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Mike196


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Been an interesting thread this one, I'm going to have a close look at the Pajero now, as I've noticed a slower than normal turn over on recent cold mornings. I'm suspecting lower than optimum voltage in the start battery is the culprit.The 2nd battery is fine, never goes under about 12.9V



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Aus-Kiwi


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Yes you dont have much voltage to play with !



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oiddad


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Further to this post .... anyone driving a Toyota Land cruiser 200 series? Has it a smart alternator? I can't find a definitive answer on line. Cheers.

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Mamil


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oiddad wrote:

Further to this post .... anyone driving a Toyota Land cruiser 200 series? Has it a smart alternator? I can't find a definitive answer on line. Cheers.

It's easy enough to check for yourself. Wire up a multimeter to a cigarette plug, plug it into the accessory socket on your dash and go for a drive. If it reads a constant 14V or so then it's not a smart alternator, but if it varies between 12.5V when cruising to nearly 15V when decelerating - it's smart! That's what I did and found out my supposedly smart alternator was acting dumb so the mechanic reset the ECU to get it's smarts back!

meter.jpg



-- Edited by Mamil on Saturday 10th of July 2021 04:21:46 PM

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Craig1


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LCOOL Forum would suggest no it is not "smart " on 200 series.



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Whenarewethere


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My Land Rover has a smart alternator & it barely varies at all from 14.4 volts.



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Mamil


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Whenarewethere wrote:

My Land Rover has a smart alternator & it barely varies at all from 14.4 volts.

Mine's a Landrover too, the Discovery Sport which is the next gen of your Freelander so probably same system. My alternator was acting dumb too, so I queried it with the dealer, seems it had gone into 'fault' mode for some reason and reverted to fixed voltage charging. After they reset the ECU it returned to smart mode and varied widely between 12.5 and nearly 15V. A year later did the same thing, nobody can explain why, but again a reset of the ECU fixed it. 



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Whenarewethere


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Did you disconnect the battery & then hold the positive & negative together for a minute to reset the car?

 

I have the Ford 2.0L Ecoboost petrol engine in mine.

 



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Mamil


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Whenarewethere wrote:

Did you disconnect the battery & then hold the positive & negative together for a minute to reset the car?

 

I have the Ford 2.0L Ecoboost petrol engine in mine.

 

 Dealer did the reset, I don't know what exactly that entailed, but was a ten minute job while I waited.



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Whenarewethere


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Mamil wrote:
Whenarewethere wrote:

Did you disconnect the battery & then hold the positive & negative together for a minute to reset the car?

 

I have the Ford 2.0L Ecoboost petrol engine in mine.

 Dealer did the reset, I don't know what exactly that entailed, but was a ten minute job while I waited.

 Hold positive & negative together. Pretty much fixes most things.



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Mamil


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Whenarewethere wrote:
Mamil wrote:
Whenarewethere wrote:

Did you disconnect the battery & then hold the positive & negative together for a minute to reset the car?

 

I have the Ford 2.0L Ecoboost petrol engine in mine.

 Dealer did the reset, I don't know what exactly that entailed, but was a ten minute job while I waited.

 Hold positive & negative together. Pretty much fixes most things.

 Did it fix your alternator being stuck in fixed voltage mode?



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Whenarewethere


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I will measure the alternator, but to-date haven't had a problem with the Freelander, other than a few small things of my own doing.



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Aus-Kiwi


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Alternators can over charge if one cell is down on the battery also. But the main issue here is low charging volts .



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oiddad


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So .... the Landcruuser 200 series hasn't got a smart alternator it seems?

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Jaahn


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Mamil wrote:

Mine's a Landrover too, the Discovery Sport which is the next gen of your Freelander so probably same system. My alternator was acting dumb too, so I queried it with the dealer, seems it had gone into 'fault' mode for some reason and reverted to fixed voltage charging. After they reset the ECU it returned to smart mode and varied widely between 12.5 and nearly 15V. A year later did the same thing, nobody can explain why, but again a reset of the ECU fixed it. 

 Hi Mamil smile

If i was in your situation and found the alternator was fixed voltage charging I would think I was lucky and leave it alone. I would not pay some one to "fix it" .disbelief

There is no benefit if you want to tow and charge other batteries IMHO. Just more disappointment and hassels like a lot of new technology hmm

Jaahn 



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Mamil


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Jaahn wrote:
Mamil wrote:

Mine's a Landrover too, the Discovery Sport which is the next gen of your Freelander so probably same system. My alternator was acting dumb too, so I queried it with the dealer, seems it had gone into 'fault' mode for some reason and reverted to fixed voltage charging. After they reset the ECU it returned to smart mode and varied widely between 12.5 and nearly 15V. A year later did the same thing, nobody can explain why, but again a reset of the ECU fixed it. 

 Hi Mamil smile

If i was in your situation and found the alternator was fixed voltage charging I would think I was lucky and leave it alone. I would not pay some one to "fix it" .disbelief

There is no benefit if you want to tow and charge other batteries IMHO. Just more disappointment and hassels like a lot of new technology hmm

Jaahn 

Thanks Jaahn, but didn't need to pay - dealer has promised to reset for free as many times as I want because they can't explain why it is going into fixed charging mode. I did consider leaving it like that, but I have a DC/DC charger in the camper trailer so no problems with charging through the smart alternator and it's supposed to give me "up to 2% better fuel efficiency" so I thought - why not!



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Aus-Kiwi


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The DC to DC is possibly part of your issue ? Plus while its working and charging ? I highly doubt youll save 2% especially towing !



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Mamil


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Aus-Kiwi wrote:

The DC to DC is possibly part of your issue ? Plus while its working and charging ? I highly doubt youll save 2% especially towing !

 Interesting - so you think it may be the DC/DC charger that's sending the smart alternator into fixed output mode? Why do you think that might be? I'll have to check it out next time I have the camper trailer hitched up...

 



-- Edited by Mamil on Monday 12th of July 2021 11:02:02 PM

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Whenarewethere


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Look through your Land Rover Owners Manual & the list of fuses. Frightening what's has to be powered on these cars. 96 fuses & plenty of unused positions.

Just to name a few, radiator fans 80amps, oxygen sensor 15amps, engine management 20 10 15 10 15 15amps, central differential 15amp, ABS 30 & 40amps, internal fan 40amps, fuel pump 20amps, heated washer jets, heated mirrors, heated steering wheel, rain sensor to name a few.

 

When you get out of the car it takes about 15 minutes to shut down various circuits.

About a month to go into full hibernation.



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