924Board.org

[staticsan]

The one consolation is that this upcoming unexpected repair will not require more parts purchased: because they already have been!

Ahem. Now for the longer story.

During a nice drive last weekend, I was startled to see the alternator warning light come up whilst driving. This was not good, but having experienced it before (in another car), I was a little bemused that the engine note didn't change. After finding a safe place to stop, I got roadside assistance out and he opined that the brushes in the alternator were shot. One short bash later and the voltage rose and the warning light went out. So.

I drove home (about 70km, much of it freeway driving) with it flicking in and out until it went out and stayed out about halfway home. As a result, last Wednesday (public holiday) my father and I pulled the alternator to suss out what was wrong.

It wasn't the brushes. They were more than fine. Mystified, I drove back home in my spare car and Dad took the alternator for testing the next day. Nothing appeared wrong but with it out, changing the regulator was easy and cheap, so we did that. All cable mounts etc got a clean, too.

We put the alternator back in this morning. I truly salute you who do that with one person. We couldn't see how you'd do that! Especially with the belt. It's a 9.5x888 which is correct, but awfully tight. The alternator was hard up against the limit of travel for the adjustment. Dad found a very slightly larger belt of unknown provenance and doubtless some age and we put that in instead.

That was a mistake. I got most of the way home, wondering what I could smell burning, and decided I needed to do some shopping. The smell of burning was quite strong and so I pulled into a side-street to check. I suspected the heatshrink we had added to the alternator cables, but it didn't smell right and I couldn't see anything. So I close the bonnet and drove off.

Then the alternator light came on again. Oh dear. So it wasn't the regulator. Not willing to drive further like this, I headed home. Less than 300metres there and there was a funny noise and I saw water come up. Then there was lots of steam. Yep: that belt had broken, stopping not just the alternator but also the water pump. It had burst a hose.

By now I was less than 50m to home, so I got in and parked it to survey the damage.

The belt had, as far as I could determine, disintegrated. At first I couldn't spot which hose had burst. I had thought it was the return from the radiator going past the serpentine belt, but it wasn't. It was the elbow to the cabin heater.

I still have the belt we took off. I put it in the back as a 'spare'. And the broken hose? I just happened to order one off Automotion last week, along with a few other hoses so my mechanic could replace the water pump (he says it has a rattle). I just have to wait for them to all turn up! So beware of old belts!

Meanwhile, I hope I haven't cooked my engine...

Wade.
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'82 British NA - Which I think I've been very lucky with!

[BionicBalls]

Your alternator situation sounds very similar to one one I experienced. I ended up changing my alternator, but came to find out that it wasn't the alternator. Rather, it was that the back alternator mount had come loose and the alternator was not grounding very well.

Not saying that this is your problem, but it is something worth checking.

Your car is an 82... Do you have the updated heater system? aka one with two half slides above and one full slide below on the control panel?

If so, your mechanic is gonna have all sorts of no fun installing that heater core hose. It's already not much fun on an early style heater core.
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1980 924 NA
1982 931

[staticsan]

Oh it's grounded. If not before, it is now!

It is the later heater setup, with the two half-slides. But the hose in question is the really funny shaped one on top of the water pump. It's easy to get to, just a wierd shape. That's why I ordered a replacement.

Wade.
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'82 British NA - Which I think I've been very lucky with!