Peal

irrespective of the make/type of alternator they are all simple in design and therefore easy to repair/rebuild. i used to have a small time business repairing/rebuilding oddball alternators and starters that no one else would touch. costs were for parts plus $50. most times it worked out on average at around $70 to $80.

if you are handy with simple hand tools, a bench vice, and a soldering iron you can repair an alternator at home. and most parts are available from any good auto leccky shop

cheers

I took the alternator down to an auto electrican this morning. They checked it on their test rig, & confirmed it was the regulator. They had a refurbished Bosch identical model to mine for $165. Put iy in & all OK now. Dash light now works as well.

It's always good to have all your warning lights working, least that way you'll know if something is wrong and you won't be stranded when the car stops...

Just found this site - http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/h8.pdf

A few other things I should have checked before pulling out the alternator sigh..........

if the charge rate is 11.2V there is something wrong with the alternator and i highly doubt that a blown dash bulb is going to cause it to not charge properly.

I've taken the alternator out to have checked by an auto electrician. Changing the bulb in the instrument cluster looked too time consuming, but I guess I will have to do this as well.

My daughter's 1990 Corolla appears to have a dead alternator, but I'm not positive. Battery voltage is low - 11.2V. I can start the engine with jumper leads, and the voltage keeps going down with the engine running, so obviously the alternator has no output. What is strange is the battery discharge light on the dash doesn't come on under any conditions. This sort of suggests either a blown bulb or wiring open circuit. The charge fuse in the engine bay is fine, as are all the other fuses. Assuming the bulb is blown, does anyone know if this forms part of the alternator circuit - ie does a blown bulb stop the alternator working? From past experience I know alternators tend to fail in these old Corollas, but I hate to buy a reconditioned unit, and find out it is something cheap & simple.