Hey guys! Anybody having issues with alternators on these models? Around 200k kms the alternator starts whining and then seizes. Parts are very difficult to find.

 

Alternators are pretty similar across every car ever built - at 200,000 km it's not at all surprising to lose one (though most don't seize unless they've been making a lot of noise for quite a while).

But alternators for our Volvos aren't at all difficult to find (maybe you're in a country with very few Volvos?). Figure on $150-200 for a quality rebuilt alternator for your car.

 

+1 - my experience is the voltage regulators fail as often as the core. On some cars (like my VW CC ) they are one unit so a failed regulator requires replacing the entire unit. On others like many Volvos, the regulator can be replaced separately for a whole lot less. If your unit is making noises, then you have a bearing issue - if its simply not putting out the correct voltage, you may have a regulator issue.

 

Yep! That's the case with my current car (a 2006 BMW 530xi Touring). It's a very common fix to swap the regulator (which includes the brushes) to fix an ailing alternator. On my 130,000 mile car, I listened to the bearings with a mechanic's stethoscope first, and heard the slight sounds of grumbling, and decided to just swap out the whole unit. At the time, a quality rebuilt cost only about $100 so it was a no-brainer.

And FWIW, here's a link to the rockauto.com page for the OP's car (assuming it's a 2.4i, though I doubt it matters). Lots of good, cheap choices.

 

On my VW, I had a very odd issue - the battery light would come on but only on very cold days (like below 10F) and if I stopped/restarted, the light would go off. The first dealer couldn't figure out the problem - suggesting it was a wiring harness issue. The second time I brought it in (to a different dealer), I was lucky enough to have the battery light come on when I was leaving after a service. The service manager came out with a multi-meter and watched the system voltage, then had me do the restart and watched again. He explained that in the newer alternators there are relays in the voltage regulator that open/close to avoid overcharging the battery and he suspected mine was sticking - solution was to replace the entire alternator since the regulator/alternator is a single unit. His analysis made total sense to me since my problem started after getting a jump start from a portable jump start device vs battery to battery cables. $600 later and my problem was solved. I only wished my car was one of those with a separate regulator

 

I had a Mk1 GTI (wish I still did!) that was going through alternators every few months. Eventually I spotted a tiny pinhole leak that was gracefully arcing an almost invisible stream of hot coolant directly into the bowels of the alternator, but only when fully hot.