80D26L in my Pajero – should I replace the alternator at the same time?
Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2026 5:55 am
I've got a 2016 Mitsubishi Pajero that's been absolutely solid for me, but I've noticed the battery is starting to struggle, especially on those humid mornings when you can practically feel the air weighing everything down. The current battery is an 80D26L and it's about two years old, but the cranking is getting slower and I've had a couple of instances where the car took a few tries to start, which is never a good feeling when you're in a rush to get somewhere. I've been reading up on this and some people say that when you replace the battery on these older Pajeros, you should also consider doing the alternator at the same time because the voltage regulator can wear out and start overcharging the new battery, which would kill it way before its time. A mate of mine had a similar issue and he said he went through three batteries in two years before he finally changed the alternator and the problem went away completely, so now I'm paranoid that I might be dealing with the same thing and I don't want to waste money on a new battery only to have it fail again in a year. The alternator seems to be charging fine when I test it with a multimeter – it's putting out around 14.2 volts at idle – but I know that doesn't always tell the full story because regulators can be intermittent and only act up when they're hot. I live near Al Manara and I've seen a few workshops in the area that seem to know their way around these Japanese SUVs, so I'm thinking about finding a place that can test the alternator properly before I commit to a new battery. I've actually heard about a place that does Adept 80D26L Battery Service Al Manara and apparently they do a full electrical system check as part of the battery replacement, which sounds like exactly what I need because I don't want to just throw parts at the problem and hope for the best. Has anyone here had a similar experience with their Pajero where the battery kept dying prematurely and it turned out to be the alternator, or am I just overthinking this and should just replace the battery and see how it goes? I'd really appreciate some advice because I'm trying to be smart about this and not waste money on unnecessary repairs, but I also don't want to ignore a potential alternator issue and end up killing a brand new battery.