There's a hole in my bucket...

Tell them it is for a ?special?.

Tried every way I can think of to try and persuade them a VIN won't help. I'd guess it's not in the script of those who reply to the mails.

Took the old reg. off. and there is a part number on it. Did an Ebay search on only that, and up came a reg said to be for a Bosch alternator, but looks like it will fit. Picture shows a heatsink mine doesn't have, though.

A127 is a Lucas model type that was common from the 1980's onwards iirc

This Ebay listing mentions both Lucas and Marelli, the regulator and brush assembly being combined unlike the earlier 60's and 70's era Lucas units

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Made by many different makers, and interchangeable as a unit. But individual parts may or may not be. A127 also come with different outputs.

Some cross references here if there is a number on the regulator

The vast list looks like it fits just about anything that isn't nippondenso or valeo :)

Sadly, nothing like mine.

Likewise.

I did eventually find a 'part' number on it. Not obvious due to it being engraved in matt black plastic. Entering just that number - RTM 153B - bought a few hits. Pic looks similar except for having a heatsink which mine doesn't have. Perhaps that's why it failed - if is has.

It appear to be a standard used across lots of makes. Could be the A127 had a redesign along the way. Early ones had external fans - mine is internal. And the date on the unit 2003.

So ordered one up. Should be here in a couple of days.

The last time I bought a Chinese A127 lookalike from eBay it cost me around £50. It seemed a better bet than getting parts.

Are they all identical, though? Not a handed fitting? And there are certainly some that use a multiplug connector - mine has individual terminals. It's also relatively new and low miles. I'd guess I'd find the same problem trying to get a complete one - they only work by vehicle VIN.

The reg ordered up against that part number RTM 153B arrived and fitted it. Certainly a direct replacement, although looks slightly different. No brand - just made in China.

Alternator now charging, but slightly odd. Rather noisy - a whine - but may be just the brushes bedding in?

Fast idle volts after a cold start seem low at just over 13v. Old one read about 14v. Increase the revs to 1500, and it jumps to 14.5. Never saw the old one that high. It also seems to take a while to react to switching on a load like the headlights - voltage jumps around before settling. Old one reacted near instantly.

Not taken the car for a drive yet though. Perhaps it will settle down.

Odd I couldn't find a genuine spare.

The one I got was handed, and the seller carried both.

Brushes or should I say slip-rings are very quiet. A whine might suggest a U/S diode.

If the battery was in a poor charge state, I can well believe 13.2V Are you sure it had 'kicked in'?

A long time ago I cam across a faulty crimp on the star point of the stator. Over time, and likely lots of temperature cycling, this had eroded away and making poor connections. Did you check this connection?

I'm wondering if the faulty regulator wasn't the only issue, or perhaps the symptom of a fault?

The answer was something I'm almost ashamed to mention. Used the original fan belt which tensioned OK. And gave it a firm push to check it was so. Left things that day and looked into trying to find a genuine regulator. Got pretty well nowhere with that.

On looking at things the next day, the fan belt was loose. Very loose indeed. Keep a new spare in the boot, so fitted that - the old had split in a big way. Not the easiest of jobs on this car as things are quite tight, but managed it with some barked knuckles. ;-)

Things now quiet, and volts reading more as I'd expect - now charging at idle and reading 14.5v - which is higher than the old reg ever did. Most I ever saw with that was 14.2 - and that very rarely.

My manual gives quite a tolerance for the on charge volts, and it's just about OK (it says 14.4v max) Didn't bother checking things with the Fluke

- could be that is the onboard voltmeter error.

Now there are no nasty noises, I'll take it for a decent run and see what things stabilise at once the battery is fully charged. The old stabilised at 13.8v. And the battery always seemed fresh enough on a cold start. Certainly don't want a too high charge rate once it's full, though.