Have you nipped said alternator into an electrical workshop, they might be able to sort it.

Had an alternator fail on my Landcruiser around 3 years ago, whipped it off and into the sparky, he noticed a crack in the casing which wasn't the cause but wouldn't get any better, he had a Lucas recon there for me in short order £125, working fine.

Not something i'd want to buy online unless for a common vehicle.

I've tried removing it GB, but couldn't get it off. There seems to be two bolts, a small one which goes through a bracket allowing it to slide, adjusting tension, and a big one which goes through the alternator and acts as a hinge. I removed both but couldn't get it to budge other than moving through the tension adjustment. I'm not much of a mechanic anyway and there is so little space around the engine trying to get anything done is a real problem. So my thoughts had been to get a replacement alternator and ask the garage to fit it.

I'm sure that price is very good value compared to a new Landcruiser alternator, but that is nearly twice the price of the re-manufactured one I was looking at, and the same price as a new one, both on Ebay and the from the Italian Piaggio Porter specialist I've used a few times (though shipping and, presumably, import tax would bump that up a bit).

They do get tight in place, often there will be a steel collar set into the alloy (presumably) casting or bracket the alternator sits in that the long bolt passes through, sometimes its a case of levering the old unit out and then tapping or by means of a nut and bolt and large washers easing that collar back a fraction to allow the new alternator to be slipped in.

The Landcruiser alternator is buried deep down, its underneath both the aircon compressor and rapid coolant warming unit which is about the same size as an alternator, best method i found was removing the osf wheel and going in from the side, trying any other route in one would find accessing the connection plug reall duifficult, also makes getting at the constantly sprung auxilliary belt tensioner easier because you can see what you are doing.

One tip if doing it yourself, take a pic or make a diagram of the belt route, there's 4 possibles on the LC depending on spec, handily Toyota apply a sticker to the airtbox showing the route all 4 different belts (in UK vehicles there's really only 1 size), so in the event of a belt snapping whoever fits the new one can see the belt route, you'd be there hours trying to figure it out without that unless familiar with the design.

BBD, once you've got the bolts out it'll need levering out of the mounting bracket, they can be quite a tight fit.

Not sure I'd trust the one in your link tbh, if things are tight a used one maybe a option.

Yeah, i hear you.

But as I was saying earlier, with such an obscure vehicle, there just isn't the same availability.

Looking on Ebay there are a few used alternators listed as "fitting the Porter", but they don't look the same!. There is one listed as being for a Daihatsu Hijet, it looks the same (as it should, they are the same barring badges), but at £100 that is twice the price (excluding shipping). And there are a couple of used Piaggio ones, but they are around £140-160.

I decided (perhaps unwisely!) to take a punt on the Polish one.

Should point out that my Porter has been retired from work duties, so the time off road is no longer a factor.

<< I contacted the seller to ask some questions, but never received a reply. That put me off a bit, but it was where they were selling from - a very small, rather shabby-looking house with seemingly no storage facility, that got the alarm bells ringing. They were purporting to see a LOT of car parts, so where on Earth did they store them? >>

Probably from a lock-up in a tatty industrial estate somewhere near, which would not serve as a delivery point for parts.

I think the other thing to bear in mind with eBay and also Amazon marketplace sellers is that if a product fails, they'll want you to return it for testing. Could easily run into a couple of weeks or considerably longer. Meanwhile, you don't have a van for work.

The Porter has actually been retired from work duties Chris, so the time off road is no longer a factor. Because of that, and the price, I decided to take a punt on the Polish one.

Fingers crossed!

I reckon the eBay one is worth a punt at that price. Regarding getting the other one off, the mechanic who taught me basic skills told me most of us DIY folk don't hit things hard enough! With that in mind, a good bash with a lump hammer on some leverage outward should have the alternator freed up , it will come with the right amount of persuasion