Starter motor....... & alternator maybe

[Snap]

My starter motor packed up today. I got it home but had to bump start it twice to get it home. So i need to starter motor but i think the altenator is fooked too as none of the gauges apart from the speedo was working and all the indys and brake lights were barely visible whilst driving.

With the engine off the battery was reading 8v. Also when i drove it back it was backfiring loads and a black cloud followed the backfires - what was causing that?

How can i test the alternator? How much will a new or reconditioned one will set me back?

Ta.

[Mew]

I have a mk2 starter motor here in Oxford.

To test the alternator, just turn the engine on and put your multimeter probes across the battery like you did with the engine off. I think the voltage regulator should limit the voltage to about 14.3v, any more than that and your battery will fry!

If you're lucky your voltage regulator on the alternator will be cheap. Mine was a lucas (i think) and the cheapest i could find was 30 quid for a new one. Other makes are cheaper though, as i found.