I had auto trouble this week.
I got in the Ford to go to the bank and half way there the battery light came on. I stopped at the bank and intended to get to the auto parts store for a check of the light and when I exited the bank the vehicle would not start.
I had to call "the guy" and he brought out a new battery, which the test meter said was needed.
We installed the new battery for about 100 pounds your money and I was on my way.
Five miles down the road the light came back on. Obviously the alternator is out. It could be the regulator but since both come in the same bundle it is all the same.
I have replaced a hundred of so alternators down through the years so how much trouble could this be. Three bolts, unsnap a wiring harness and its done, correct?
Not any more!
I pulled the You-tube of the repair. To remove the alternator one must remove the right front wheel, brake, axle shaft, two body panels, take the alternator from its ventilation system case while still in the tangle of the vehicle and worm the unit out of a small access panel. Then do the new one back in by the same route in reverse.
It took a skilled technician, who had a lift, the proper tools, and knew the job, 3 hours to replace the unit.
I am now scheduled for the repair on Tuesday. The estimate of 300 pounds your money plus whatever else they find falling to pieces in a vehicle with 140k miles on the clock.
No choice. It has been a good vehicle and it is not going anywhere without the repair, so "just do it".
Besides, it is paid for, and this repair cost is about what I would pay to drive a newly purchased vehicle per-month on a 60-70 month finance.
That's the problem these days MB , the manufactures do not want us (laymen) to repair or replace anything not even oil or filters ...any problems now are plugged into a analysis and fault detection device and the print out tells the guy what action is required.....they do not even repair alternators anymore or much else its become a replace mentality .......i am still on the look out for a old landy.
The trouble is MB the manufacturers make vehicles complicated so even the guy with 30, 40 years experience of working on motors doesn’t stand a chance, i think this is a deliberate policy to help their dealerships.
We remember when you could break down a problem into battery, charging system, ignition system, petrol (gas) pump and carburettors etc, these could be dealt with easily as you say, without dismantling half the vehicle, with most jobs it took longer to put on overalls and get the tools out than to do the job. The good old days, i can still play cars, i have a 1972 MG.
They purposefully design cars these days to make it expensive, and difficult or impossible for the shade tree mechanic to do his own work, because they can screw the car buyer multiple times, first by marking up the sale price, then again on financing the 60-month load period, and again every time you go into the service department and have to pay inflated prices for parts, labour, environmental disposal fee, etc.
My 2000 year model Jeep has 180,000 miles on its original engine and I am fortunate that it has fewer computers and electronics than newer models. Not as simple as my 1984 one was, but more reliable and better gas mileage. But yes, I do take it to the dealer, I'm lucky that the service manager is a good bloke who's honest.
A few years ago my car battery went flat, so my dad drives his newish car over to give it a jump start. We face the fronts together, get the jump leads out, upon the bonnets, and oh **** it seems my dad's car has no battery - it was completely sealed up in hard black plastic casing with some weird non standard bolt heads, impossible to remove unless you had whatever tool they use to remove it.
I suppose this is why people like Halfords can get away with charging £15 (£25 for a stop/start setup) to fit a new battery to your vehicle, that they have already made a good profit on. I bet an independent retailer would charge like that. Don’t i sound a grumpy old sod, i suppose i am really.
What was your dads car and how did you get on ? i’m sure others would like to know.
Hi Pete
It's a Mercedes but I can't remember the model number.
Fortunately I didn't need to use my car urgently and I knew it would be flat as I had been away for a while. So in the end I ran an extension cable out of the house window and hooked up a battery charger. Since that time I installed an 80 Watt solar panel in the roof box of my car (so hidden and water tight when not in use) and can use it to charge the battery if it goes flat, and use it to charge some power/battery boxes I made should we have a power outage - time to charge is weather dependant of course.
I have the Ford, which is an '07,V6 and I have the Jeep Cherokee which is a '97 with in line 6.
It sounds strange but the engine in the Jeep was designed in about 1955 and simply upgraded over the years. I learned to drive in a 1961 AMC vehicle with the same engine only carborated. Had the same engine in two other jeeps and a little vehicle called a Gremlin back in the 1970s. I know that power plant inside and out and I can reach almost anything in it or on it from the top or bottom with the ground clearance of the rig.
I have also owned a couple of Fords with the same V6 engine and had good luck with endurance. But eventually things are going to break or need replacement. If the alternator has made it for 135K miles it has done its work and I fee no malice toward it. I simply wish it were as easy to replace as the same alternator on the Ranger pickup I drove for 500K! That one was up top where it should be. I went through three on that rig since it seemed timed to wear out major add ons each 150K. It could be changed in about 20 minutes.
(4 March 2018, 17:54)LAC Wrote: [ -> ]Hi Pete
It's a Mercedes but I can't remember the model number.
Fortunately I didn't need to use my car urgently and I knew it would be flat as I had been away for a while. So in the end I ran an extension cable out of the house window and hooked up a battery charger. Since that time I installed an 80 Watt solar panel in the roof box of my car (so hidden and water tight when not in use) and can use it to charge the battery if it goes flat, and use it to charge some power/battery boxes I made should we have a power outage - time to charge is weather dependant of course.
Hi LAC
I like the idea of the solar panel in the roof box charging a battery box.
Perhaps a panel could be temporarily fitted on roof bars, run the leads to the cigarette socket to charge the vehicle battery, or charge a spare leasure battery in boot.
I remember reading Mortblanc saying he once had a vehicle fitted with a spare leasure battery connected to an inverter, a mobile power supply.
(7 March 2018, 01:23)Pete Grey Wrote: [ -> ] (4 March 2018, 17:54)LAC Wrote: [ -> ]Hi Pete
It's a Mercedes but I can't remember the model number.
Fortunately I didn't need to use my car urgently and I knew it would be flat as I had been away for a while. So in the end I ran an extension cable out of the house window and hooked up a battery charger. Since that time I installed an 80 Watt solar panel in the roof box of my car (so hidden and water tight when not in use) and can use it to charge the battery if it goes flat, and use it to charge some power/battery boxes I made should we have a power outage - time to charge is weather dependant of course.
Hi LAC
I like the idea of the solar panel in the roof box charging a battery box.
Perhaps a panel could be temporarily fitted on roof bars, run the leads to the cigarette socket to charge the vehicle battery, or charge a spare leasure battery in boot.
I remember reading Mortblanc saying he once had a vehicle fitted with a spare leasure battery connected to an inverter, a mobile power supply.
Yes you could set it up that way temporarily if you chose to.
Another thing I should perhaps mention is that when I use the solar panel to charge the car battery I run it through another unit I've built that is basically a Solar Regulator or sometimes called a Charge Controller, which I have secured inside an electrical enclosure box and wired it internally to two car cigarette lighter receptacle sockets for the 12 volt input and 12 volt output respectively, which are then screwed into holes drilled into the side of the enclosure. The solar panel then connects to the 12 volt input via a male cigarette lighter plug and the 12 volt output then connects to a male cigarette lighter plug attached to a cable with crocodile clicks at the other end that attach to the car battery, or another male cigarette lighter plug which can then plug into the cigarette lighter socket of the car.