Buy it or steer well clear?

I'm about to do the 2nd belt change on my bothers 1.4L DOHC Chevy Kalos. It's about a year overdue. Didn't do the pump last time about 5 years ago.

But I have got a full kit this time. He wants the serpentine belt doing as well.

I did wonder, when I posted the results of the autotrader search - "Hmm, what are the odds of two?"

[...]

You are a Rover SD1 V8 owner, and I claim my prize!

Chris

IIRC (30+ years back), after an A series Mini engine rebuild the guidance was to turn it over with the plugs removed until the oil was up to pressure. Then run the engine. Of course the bearings had been doused in oil during the rebuild. Even so, and in the OP's situation, might be quite wise - wet the bearings under minimum load?

It would cost me nothing

Correct,

As Ford experts they should be aware of the specific needs of the vehicle, if they fail to exercise due care and diligence in the servicing of a vehicle they will be held liable

You do not seem to understand either contract or consumer law

A tradesman be it a plumber or mechanic is expected to exercise due diligence and skill in his endevours if they re unsure or do not posess the level of skills required to perform a task any damage they cause is thier responsibility , something as simple as flushing engines is a task that any competent mechanic should be able to undertake, or advise that its not suitable for a particular vehicle .

A ford dealership dealing with ford vehicles would be deemed experts and held to a higher level of competence tech issues

As a laymen i wouldn't e expected to know that a particular car shouldn't be flushed , that's why i am seeking the advice of experts

A contract can not alivate you of your rights under law

No of course not if the engine wasnt faulty in the first place thats just plane stupid

I've never had an alternator fail due to the slip rings. And the first car I had with an alternator was in the '60s. Most common failure is electronic - the regulator - and unpredictable. Not something that wears out.

But pack the pump with Vaseline first. ;-)

On 12/05/2016 00:46, Dave Plowman (News) wrote: > In article , > Peter Hill wrote: >> Alternators have had a substantial improvement in life due to super >> polishing the slip rings. Before maybe 45-50K miles, after over 100K. > > I've never had an alternator fail due to the slip rings. And the first car > I had with an alternator was in the '60s. Most common failure is > electronic - the regulator - and unpredictable. Not something that wears > out. >

It's not the slip rings that fail. It's the brushes that wear out, which is what determines the alternator "life", as for most people it means they require a re-con alternator. They wear at a much reduced rate on "super polished" slip rings.

I've been waiting for your post. ;-)

Chris

In the early days of Lucas ACR alternators people were 'afraid' of them because they contained electronics. They were pretty unreliable, and replacement expensive.

At that time I was rallying, and to help pay for that I worked on cars in my spare time.

I pulled a scrap ACR to pieces, and realised that they were easy to fix, and all the parts were available.

I ended up repairing lots of them, converting LH mount to RH and vice versa, and upgrading for some of the rally folk.

The most common failure was brushes, followed by the diode pack. I have also replaced slip-rings, usually damaged by brush spring entanglement. Other faults were bearing failure, and broken end plates on competition cars.

Chris

[...]

Yep, as I suggested up-thread.

But with an engine that has been standing, usually best not to change the oil and filter first.

Chris

Brushes cost about £1.

But the cost of taking an alternator out of an old car (to work on in) may exceed the value of the car. So why are the brushes not easily replaceable with the alternator installed?

If the alternator is so well hidden that it can't be removed in about

30min, then the whether the brushes are easily externally accessible or not is going to be thoroughly academic.

I've never had an alternator that needed new brushes either. Although they do sometimes come as part of a new regulator on some makes. I've heard the design life of an alternator quoted as 250,000 miles. Most cars are scrapped long before this mileage.

Because IMHO (experience of alternators going back about 50 years and hardly ever on new cars) brushes very rarely fail. They are a very different thing from brushes on a motor.

[...]

You may have been particularly lucky; Lucas 15-18 ACR brushes only lasted around 25k miles IME.

When my step-son worked for the AA, alternator failure was not unknown. He carried brushes for some common ones, and if the customer seemed down on their luck, he would change brushes for them at the roadside.Towards the end of his time working for them, he was stopped from doing those sort of repairs. That was around seven years ago, and was one of the reasons he left.

Chris

Can only speak from my experience. Most of my cars have had Lucas ACRs, and not one suffered brush failure. And most were well north of 25k miles when bought and run for more than that by me. Of course it may depend on ambient conditions as air gets drawn through the alternator, so dust etc may contribute to early wear.

I'd expect the brushes on a lucas dynamo to better 25k miles.

At the time I was playing around with that stuff, my 'customers' would mostly have been youngsters who hammered everything they drove to the very limits and beyond. That might have been another factor. ;-)

I built a test rig for dynamos and control boxes, powered by a small single phase motor. The hours I must have wasted playing around with old crap!

I still have a commutator under-cutting tool in the workshop somewhere...

Chris

Sounds like me. I had more broken crankshafts than failed alternators. ;-)