Do cars still have fan belts?

Car pings and "Alternator Fail" appears on LCD display, goes out, comes back on 3 or 4 times in next 10 minutes. Twice with red battery symbol light on instrument panel. Then everything OK for remaining 20 minutes of journey.

In the old days I'd have said slipping fan belt - cold, heavy electric load etc. But...

  1. Do cars still have belts driving the alternator?

  1. I couldn't hear anything slipping.

Before I take it into the garage is there anything else it could be. I don't want to be told "It's a new alternator, Guv. £600" and not have any arguments.

54 reg Fiat Stilo 1.9 JTD with 63,000 miles.

Another Dave

Reply to
Another Dave
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belts are still used to drive alternators. belt failure is less common nowadays, but can still happen and would be the first thing to investigate.

Reply to
Mrcheerful

Yes, although usually referred to as auxiliary belts now that most fans are electric.

It's entirely possible that it's slipping and not making a noise; it could also be one of half a dozen things.

Can you access the belt to make a judgement as to whether it feels slack?

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

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