My car just broked.

PhillyDee

PhillyDee

PhillyDee

Soldato
Joined
12 Feb 2007
Posts
14,116
Location
South Shields
Not funny.
Was driving back from the cinema tonight, and the battery light was on. The battery being fine i thought it must have been some sort of slternator problem and vowed to get it looked at in the morning. However, about 6 minutes later the car goes dead. Engine, radio, lights etc off. gone. kaput.
Dashboard shows Boot light, batterylight, oil light. Looks in the engine bay and sees the drive belt hanging off. That doesnt explain the apparent electrical system also going kaput.
Am i correct in thinking that the belt coming loose (It doesnt look snapped, but i dont have a torch, just felt around and tugged it and wound it round and it didnt feel snapped) must have blown the electrics of the car?

Its a Rover 214 S reg 1.4ise. I like it, so no derogatory comments. Oh, and i know very little about cars. Looks like im going to have to ring up a garage tomorrow and get it towed and fixerated. The battery is fine, the car doesnt turn over at all, turn the ignition key and there is nothing there.
 
I didnt notice it being off however, central locking works fine, hazards work fine, but its 4 miles from home. So looks like im going to have to take a bag of spanners and a torch/multimeter to check some fuses as well before ringing garage. I might be able to get it going. Then again, probably not.
 
Nah, the lights and radio dont work. Thats why i think it may have blown some fuses. Possible something in the engine fuse box. Im just clutching at straws about that. My trusty multimeter will help me there.

I like the car. Never had a pick of bother with it. Apart from this. Ironically, i was thinking of getting breakdown cover last week. D'oh!
 
Nope. What has happened is the Alternator mounting bracket sheared, blowing the 80A engine fuse. Hence no power. The battery is fine. The battery light came on minutes before this happened, and i was on my way home at half past 11 at night.
The belt was loose because the alternator is not tensioning it. Problem is finding a new bracket.
 
Well, this is a pic of the offending bracket. What it looks like has happened, is the bottom mount for the alternator has at one point lost its nut and the bolt has fallen out. The alternator then fell off and sheared the bracket. This bodge job got me home. Yes, that is a thin piece of aluminium off the rear of a pc case. Drilled and tapped into the aluminium bracket. Glad i bought that bench drill from Aldi now :D. If the part is the wrong one, looks like ill have to make one myself. Ill make it from steel instead though. Replaced the 80A fuse and the car was fine. Battery was spot on and started instantly as usual.

bracket.jpg


Managed to source a new one, and it should be coming tomorrow. The car will not be getting driven till then. I am, quite frankly, amazed that it held (And feel quite smug too!). It was enough to get me home.
 
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