Mondeo alternator

£30 or so for a recon and no more than an hours labour charge so £60- £70 all in.

No. The track rod end has got to be removed from the hub carrier, in order to get enough clearance to get the alternator out. I done one a while back, and after much levering/alternator jiggling/steering turning the track rod end had to be removed. And even then it was still a bit tight to get out.

To think that Mr Ford built a worldwide multi-billion dollar industry, on the premise of affordable automobiles for the masses, which were rugged, reliable and 'easy' to maintain.

Robbie Mayhem wrote: Apparently I have to remove

On my 52 Mondeo LX youhave to take the gearbox off to adjust the clutch. Ford doesnt give a toss about the cost of aftercare. They are only interested in earning money building cars and selling them.

Yebbut he's dead and the hawks are running the board.

You're dreaming if you think you're going to get a Mondeo alternator supplied and fitted for £70.

John

He didn't. They were just sold as cheap from the very beginning. Some of this involves sub-assemblies that are easy to assemble quickly, but hard to partially dismantle for repair afterwards.

Henry himself was the guy who judged reliability on whether a component was selling well as a spare. If the spare didn't sell, the original was assumed to be excessively well made and could be made cheaper instead.

Have you _ever_ heard of Fords praised for their maintainability? These days I see more Triumph Heralds and Moggies (Lucas and all) still driving around than I do '60s Cortinas or Escorts

And touching wood here, there *is* a trade off.

My 1st car was a Yugo. It went through innumerable plugs, leads, batteries, alternators, a clutch, radiator, CV boots etc in only a few tens of thousands of miles.

My 2nd car was an Escort, that went through a starter, alternator and exhaust in twice as many miles. (plus a camshaft, but that was because I was an idiot and didn't check the oil!)

My 3rd car was a Mk 2 Mondeo. I drove it twice as many miles again, and it needed a CV joint. It was on the original everything[0] when I sold it.

My current car's a Mk 3 Mondeo. Driven it 50k miles, and needed a couple of bushes.

As time goes on, *IME* cars become reliable enough that yes, it costs 4x as much and 4x longer to change the clutch, but if it only needs doing 8 times as infrequently, it's still cheaper and quicker than before.

Pete.

[0] Not including drive shaft, which replacement CV joint ate, because it was a naff part.

Well I saw a TV programme which said that the model T was designed as a rugged vehicle for people such as farmers, who could get them repaired easily by people with a minimum of specialist tools, such as blacksmiths.

That's because a late 60's Escort in decent nick is worth about 10x the value of a Herald. The sooner all the Triumph Heralds of the world have biodegraded out of existance the better.

I praise Ford maintainability.

I completely reshelled a Mk3 3.0S Capri at home, on the path, with a standard issue socket set, an engine hoist, an angle grinder and a mate to give me a hand wiggling the engine into the new shell.

It took 3 days for me to re-shell it, 95% of the work I did alone, and it was simple. There isn't a difficult job on a Mk3 Capri.

I'm more worried about doing the head gasket on my 190E than I was about re-shelling a complete Ford.

I purchased a second hand D Reg petrol 1.6 Astra estate in 1990, drove it twice round the clock in a period of 13 years (was scrapped due to rust, not mechanics) and on my life the only mechanical failures in all that time were two snapped clutch cables and a replacement (£20 s/h) Delco distributor (for mysterious intermittent engine cutting out) plus obviously normal maintenance things, such as exhaust, tyres, brake pads, cambelt etc.

I've recently purchased a 1.8 four year-old TDCI focus estate, and SWMBO imagines that it's going to be as reliable, last as long, and cost about the same in maintenance as the old Astra, somehow by what I read on these newsgroups I think not!

Snag is you have to reshell a Capri at a rather lower mileage than change the headgasket on a 190.

I've seen TV programmes too. One told me that

Hardly surprisingly, I've never worked on a Model T.

Just compare though the difficulty of field-stripping the transverse leafspring front suspension of a Model A or an Austin 10hp of similar size and vintage. The Model A is quite neat design and has fewer pieces, but it's a pig to pull to pieces outside of a production line and the jig to re-assemble it. The Austin has half-elliptic springs familiar from a farm cart. You need a jack to put under one side, that's about it. Even a sophisticated car of the period, like an MG (which I'm pretty familiar with) is easier to work on.

Yup, best quote I've had so far is £160 inc VAT +£20 for new drive belt if req. Phoned a motor factors and was quoted £120 just for the alternator.

In news:op.tke0esddyuobwl@lucy, Duncan Wood wittered on forthwith;

The Capri was only being re-shelled because it was hit by a taxi. Otherwise it was solid and rust free.

It'd also done more miles than the 190, and needed rather less maintenance over those miles... which is one of the reasons why I re-shelled the thing. I wish I still had it, to be honest.

TBH, people only post in here when they have a problem. THere'll be many cars that run trouble free or require no more than normal servicing and repairs from normal wear.

Trouble is a lot of people posting in here, who aren't regulars, don't maintain their motors to any extent and things go wrong big style. For example, cambelts. There's no reason for them to fail (unless it's a manfucaturing fault) except for lack of maintenance. The regulars in here will change a cambelt when they buy a car so they know it's been done and change it BEFORE it's due. THey'll also do the job properly changing the pulleys as well if they're supposed to be - as is the case in a Mondeo - and not just the belt.

Sorry, just rung them and I'm a bit out.

Sisons Garage, Hull. 01482 374363 - £88 supplied and fitted for the 90A one.

£88 inc fitting for a 90A MK1 Mondeo from Sisons Garage in Hull (01482 374363 if you want to check for yourself) - £130 for the rare as hens teeth 105A one. They're a company that only does starter/alternator reconditioning.

Only paid £56 inc fitting for a brand new one from them for my Capri - can scan the receipt if you want proof.

Oops..forgot it was a 51 plate. Might be worth ringing them for a price anyway.