Valeo Alternator: Faulty or High Quality?

"On my Allroad, manufactured in October 2001, the alternator warning light came on some time ago when the engine speed exceeded 4000 rpm."
After that, it would constantly light up and fluctuate between 12-16 volts.
In my opinion, the regulator and the DARF (presumably a specific component) were bound to fail after 9 years and 340,000 km.
After the expansion, the surprise.
Instead of a 160A alternator, use a 140A alternator, and the year of manufacture of the alternator is 2006 .
For comparison: An Audi A3 with a 90hp TDI engine and a mileage of 320,000 km still has its original Bosch alternator.

The regulator's carbon brushes still had approximately 50% of their life remaining, and the lime storage tanks were operating correctly.
After installing a new regulator, I now know that the problem wasn't the regulator.
So, should we install the third new alternator in the car now?
Does Valeo not manufacture alternators where the carbon brushes are pre-worn?
or do the products become defective while in storage?
Is Valeo the same kind of low-quality product as LUK?
Apparently, in the automotive industry, you can only trust Bosch and Sachs.

What are your experiences with Valeo?

My two Valeo headlights, one with 128,000 km and the other with 69,000 km, are still working.

m;

Tagessuppe wrote:

On my Allroad, manufactured in 10/2001, the alternator symbol started appearing above 4000 rpm some time ago. After that, it would constantly light up and jump around between 12-16 volts.

With what did you observe the voltage, and under what conditions (e.g., load on the vehicle's electrical system) does it jump, and how quickly does the voltage change?

Are all the electrical pathways, including cable lugs, etc., between the alternator and the battery, and also the battery itself, definitely OK?

And my lovely 90A from VALEO needs a new free-running disc, otherwise it's still in top condition.

"By the way, back in university days, a friend had a 35i, and he had two problems with the alternator bearing. Bosch charged a lot of money for those repairs (though the Bosch service was good). The third time, we took the thing apart and saw that the rear bearing had rotated inside the housing. Since money was tight back then, we wrapped a good amount of Teflon tape around it and put everything back together. It worked perfectly without any issues until he sold the car (~50,000 km)."

ulf wrote:

How did you observe the voltage

? Voltage display in the instrument cluster.

TDI-GTI-4-Motion wrote:

ulf wrote: With what did you observe the voltage? Voltage display in the instrument cluster.

From the factory? I thought something like that would be irrevocably extinct in "modern" cars.

@Tagessuppe:
Are there any other related symptoms that occur alongside voltage fluctuations, such as lamps dimming?

ulf wrote:

From the factory?

Yes, it was available with them, but not with the successor model anymore.

When Matthias embellishes stories from the war:

In 1993, the Lima diesel engine from my G2 stopped working.
At 2:00 AM, the situation had progressed to the point where the front, large bearing had rotated so much that the rotor and stator were tightly interlocked.
The V-belt was about to break!

"New bracket installed with Loctite and some aluminum from soda cans - lasted longer than the rest of the Golf."

As far as my hazy memory serves me, it was a BOSCH product.

Hi,
To rule out a potential error caused by the AI, I would check the voltage using an external measuring device.
If the voltage regulator is functioning correctly and is compatible with the alternator, the battery connections from the alternator to the battery, both to ground, and the connection from the regulator to the alternator are all in good condition, then it's likely that a rectifier diode inside the alternator has failed. This can also happen if the battery isn't acting as a buffer! (I'm assuming an older alternator design here; newer ones often have additional semiconductor components for overvoltage protection).
The diode board might be available as an exchange unit. Otherwise, the only options are to replace the entire board or to locate and replace the faulty diode.
Sure, here is the translation of the text from German to English:

"vg"

This is a common abbreviation for "very good" in German. It is often used in online forums and chat rooms.
Herbert.

Valeo... I had it in my VW Jetta. One of the diodes died, which caused the low beam to flicker and the gauges to jump around. In addition, this thing must have been sending such voltage spikes into the electrical system that numerous light bulbs burned out. I had never seen H4 lamps with the inside blackened before.

After another pointless replacement of the regulator, searching for a broken cable or a bad ground connection, and various other useless tinkering, the alternator finally failed. The previous owner had it replaced just before the sale, and I only drove with it for about 10 months. Visually and in terms of wear, it looked like new. I had the invoice. At the time, I could only send it in for testing, and then I was left without an alternator. So, I bought a replacement Iskra, and after 6 weeks, I received a brand new Valeo. I sold that one through an online car forum. It was brand new...

It's funny that it seems nothing has changed, and the same error still exists today.

Coladosenblech....
There are a lot of Russians in this forum .

Seriously. With tricks like these, you can really save a lot of money.
"Only with the Allroad do I have to deal with this annoying service requirement every time; I'd rather pay more and just have peace of mind."
But when can you be absolutely sure of that?

The error message described by "Hutfahrer" seems to be accurate.
It would be quite interesting to test them myself and re-solder them.
I do have a repair service, but I always have some reservations about using them.
The assumption is that they "find" more things that are broken than are actually broken.

I haven't actually noticed any dimming of the lights. However, when the voltage went up to 16V, I only drove during the day.
I think the volt meter is a really practical accessory.
In contrast to, for example, the oil pressure gauge.
It's actually only annoying with older Benzes because after driving uphill, you think the engine is about to explode, but then it just keeps running forever.
What I find really bad is the current trend of reducing the accuracy of temperature displays.
In the future, many people will be driving around with faulty thermostats.

Tagessuppe wrote:

What I find really bad is the current trend of reducing temperature displays.

Well, whether you have none at all, or these "guessing machines" from the VAG group, it's almost the same thing.

@ Tagessuppe: (Great username, by the way!) The original Lima starter generator had an embedded diode plate. As far as I'm concerned, it couldn't even be replaced as a complete unit. I had examined it more closely, but due to existing warranty claims, I refrained from doing more than just removing the brush holder (with regulator). By the way, the Iskra starter generator I bought as a replacement looked very similar to a Bosch one. The only difference was the labeling, and when looking at the regulator/brush holder, you could tell that it was a purchased component.

"Dimming of the lights" isn't the direct term to describe the issue. In my opinion, and based on my observations, voltage fluctuations occurred between approximately 12 and 16 volts, and these fluctuations seemed to be load-dependent and possibly temperature-dependent. The Jetta had three VDO instruments, including a voltmeter. While the accuracy of this display can be questioned, a voltage jump of about 4 volts, which represented roughly half the scale, was definitely noticeable. During these fluctuations, the light didn't get dimmer; it just flickered, sometimes regularly and sometimes irregularly. Therefore, I initially suspected a poor ground connection or a broken wire. It's also worth mentioning that the erratic behavior of the gauge stopped when a higher-power device was turned on, such as the rear window heater or the low beam headlights. However, this condition only lasted for a few days.

I also think it's the diode board. Replace it and you should be fine.

Regards,
t.klebi

...if it can be changed!

...if it can be changed!
Are there really LED modules where the LED boards themselves cannot be replaced?
There has to be a way the assembly fit inside the housing.

Regards,
t.klebi