The weekend has not gone to plan. The idea was to drive to our prepaid hotel north of Leeds on Friday, leaving around lunchtime, spend Saturday going somewhere interesting and then visit my new grandson in Leeds on Sunday (really the main point of coming north).
On the M1 it's around four and the traffic is heavy, the difficulties of stop-start driving exacerbated by rain, occasionally heavy. I am feeling quite pleased with the journey so far; the average fuel consumption read-out (usually pretty accurate) is hovering around 46 mpg. Not bad for a 2 litre petrol car.
A few miles before the turn-off to Derby, moving at walking pace in the middle lane, I feel a slight shudder from the car. The engine cuts out. A gap in the traffic lets me on to the hard shoulder. It is bucketing down.
Instinctively, I try the starter. Surprisingly, the engine comes to life and we're off again. However, I can hear a whining sound and the warning light on the dash shows the alternator has a fault – or has failed, or the belt has gone.
My first thought is to get off the motorway; the second is to try to get to a town and hopefully find somewhere to fix the car before the battery gives out. I take the Derby exit, using the wipers as little as possible. On the edge of Derby I find a QuikFit.
We look under the bonnet; the belt is still there and the alternator is still turning, but is producing only 11 volts. And there's the noise.
They say the alternator has failed and I need a new one; until they get it off they won't know exactly what type they need to order and as it's now past four they can't get it done until tomorrow. Now we have to find a hotel and pay again for the night's stay.
The next day at 11:00 the mobile rings and they say they have sorted it. We drive to the RHS garden at Harlow Carr for the afternoon without problem. Tonight, at the hotel we originally booked, I reflect on an expensive weekend so far. £51 for Premier Inn, £357 for QuikFit. What was wrong with the old alternator? Was I ripped off by QuikFit?
For some time I've heard this whining sound when switching off, as the engine comes to a stop. I put it down to the timing belt, maybe a bit too tight. Now I remind myself it has a chain, stupid.
Why did the damn car let me down in torrential rain late in the day miles from anywhere? Should I have suspected a problem ages ago? On the other hand, it could have been worse, I suppose. And we shall still see Baby Ben tomorrow, and get back home on time.
It just hasn't been quite the weekend we expected.
|
Sometimes things just fail, id not spend too much time thinking about it.
I had an alternator fail, near to home and had it replaced. Next day I lost all power again miles from home.
The AA come out and discovered the earth for the alternator had snapped having been fine until it was disturbed when the new unit was fitted. The law of sod if ever it existed. Luckily he was able to repair it on the spot.
|
|
357 quid for an alternator is probably on the high side of high. But on the other hand a distress purchase is always expensive, you were mobile again in reasonable time scale, and it could have been something far worse. Its a JOM jobbie - The Joys of Motoring!
|
I had an alternator pop on the CRV a couple of years ago. about 15 miles from our destination near Hereford which we managed to get to.
Hired a Mondeo for 24 hours, cost £50, and the Honda dealer fitted a new alternator the following morning - £500. Proper Honda part, and dealer rates. There was a local firm who were happy to take it off and fix it, but it might have been two or three days or even longer, with attendant car hire cost and inconvenience. I looked on the £500 as cutting my losses. It was the only repair bill I had for the car in 96,000 miles.
|
|
It might console you to know that I had a similar problem with my Sprinter van in 2003; the only time it ever went wrong. Cost me a similar amount of money for the alternator, and that was doing the damn job myself outside the Mercedes dealership!
|
I had an alternator go on a Vectra I had. It must have been 1998 - I didn't have the car for long.
It was a 2.0 GLS petrol and I think it was about 5 weeks off the road waiting for an alternator! I had a hire car (Vectra 2.5 SRi so was not in a rush for a fix) whilst waiting for the part.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Sun 17 Jun 12 at 01:16
|
Alternators and starters were both liable to fail on Skoda Estelles. There was a good place just across the North Circular that reconditioned them itself and was helpful. There was a public car park behind their shop with rear access, and you could change them yourself there.
Always annoying when a car lets you down on a motorway of all places, especially when it has been squealing or making an untoward noise which you have worried about but ignored... we may not all have been there but I certainly have.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Sun 17 Jun 12 at 02:44
|
Did you console yourself wth tea and stickies in Betty's at Harlow Carr?
|
"... tea and stickies in Betty's at Harlow Carr..."
After forking out over £400 earlier damned if I was going to pay Betty's prices. £3.40 for tea for one?
|
|
I've just returned from bringing my son home from Nottingham University so I know how bad the M5/M42/M1 weather was yesterday!! Zafira fully loaded with all his kit and I'm thinking all the way home please don't break down or get a puncture. I took him up for the summer term at the end of April in what was probably the worst wind and rain I've ever driven in. Several cars were stranded at the side of the M1 then and it was so windy they couldn't even get the bonnets up.
|
Many years ago I had an Allegro on loan from my boss and I set off from London to Poole.
The alternator was iffy and I lost most electrical power about half way there.
I bought another battery and swopped it over and that powered me the second half of the trip.
With both batteries fully charged I set off on the return leg.
About half way the lights were getting so dim it was time for the battery swop and on to home.
So each battery managed for just under 50 miles. Would a modern car do as well?
|
|
Probably not...ECU resets etc..!
|
>>So each battery managed for just under 50 miles. Would a modern car do as well?<<
An electric car would, just!
:-D
|
>> So each battery managed for just under 50 miles. Would a modern car do as
>> well?
No. The Golf managed 8 miles with the battery light on, and the last 2 were quite hairy, the car running very poorly indeed with the ABS warning light coming on, followed by the MIL light about 30 seconds before it quit altogether. Both cleared themselves after a couple of minutes running with a charged battery and a properly functioning alternator. I had my mate plug it in, and there were historic power supply fault codes in both the ABS module, and the engine control module.
|
Alternators usually fail with warning if it is the alternator itself. Progressively flatter battery that is worse the more you use the car and the more you have switched on. Strange whining or grumbling noises are another sign.
This is why voltmeter read outs in cars are very useful. If it starts to drop from where it normally is you know there's something up!
|
|
The noise told him something was up!
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 17 Jun 12 at 09:38
|
Many years ago I used a 1 x man band to fix the car - it was great - rundown premises but great service - around him was a bodyshop, car electrics, tyreman ...........all 1 x man bands.
Starter motor was acting up - dropped car off, collected 3 hours later - re-furbished in the next door unit and he'd done a service - it was due shortly. Refurbed starter £30 for time and materials (IIRC).
Nowadays it would be a new unit and £300-£500 no doubt.
|
>> Many years ago I used a 1 x man band to fix the car -
>> it was great - rundown premises but great service - around him was a bodyshop,
>> car electrics, tyreman ...........all 1 x man bands.
>>
>> Starter motor was acting up - dropped car off, collected 3 hours later - re-furbished
>> in the next door unit and he'd done a service - it was due shortly.
>> Refurbed starter £30 for time and materials (IIRC).
Yes, it pays to know where those sort of places are, if you're lucky enough to have one locally.
The starter on the GMC died last year; typically as I was about to set out to a rally I'd wanted to do for years. Given that there are to my knowledge only two other V6 GMC's of that era in the UK it looked as though a hefty bill and a long wait for a recon one from the USA was in order; I'd had quotes of about $600 PLUS shipping!
A conversation with my neighbour yielded a small workshop only a few hundred yards from where I work, and I was down there Monday morning; you know the sort of place, greasy counter,tools and bits everywhere and somewhere in the darkness is a little bloke with a brown coat on, who looks gloomily at the starter, sucks his teeth for effect and then says, "Yeah, no problem; come back on Friday and I'll 'ave it done".
And he had; absolutely as new, and change from £200!
|
My Espace used to break down regularly. Its most vindictive episode was one January night when I was 7.5 hours from home, looking to make a late run from just south of Aberdeen to Cheshire. It was already 11.30 pm on a winter's night. Middle of nowhere, unlit B road and out of mobile signal. Throwing it down with sleety rain and stuck half way up a steep narrow hill. No sign of habitation in any direction. Can't actually remember what the problem was that time. Something electrical was the usual cause.
Tried to flag down several of the few vehicles which passed but perhaps not surprisingly they mostly drove around the apparently deranged, soaking spectre leaping about in front of them in that lonely place.
I guess one of them might have told the police as about 4.00 am a local cop car came by to ask what I was doing.
Eventually, about 6.00, it went on the back of an AA truck.
|
|
Years ago I was leaving a car park in Christchurch when my Capri suddenly made a loud screeching noise. A look under the bonnet (after getting the metal hook from the boot to poke through the grill and pull the badly stretched bonnet release cable) revealed an alternator that had seized solid. The AA man took me to a spares shop where a replacement cost a whopping thirty five quid.
|
I bought some new brushes for me dynamo once, cost me £1.17 they did.
:}
|
I must have been ripped off, my Lucas alternator brushes were about a fiver but they did include a diode pack. :-)
Can you still get bits for alternators and starters?
|
The alternator failed on our mk4 Golf GTI but luckily only locally ad the car made it to the end of our street before quitting.
Got a secondhand one off eBay from a VAG breaker, with a 28 day guarantee, for £35 delivered. Fited it, charged the battery, and all was well again.
It was a perfect set of circumstances, by the standards of these things. Local trip, and a second car which we could afford to have sitting idle for a few days while the part arrived. Also an easy DIY job. Alternators on many cars are an utter pig to get at.
Last edited by: DP on Sun 17 Jun 12 at 15:57
|
|
Had one go on our diesel BX back in the late nineties. Unfortunately Green Flag misdiagnosed a battery issue and sold Mrs B a new one. She then set off for Stoke only for the lights to go dim before the A50. Back on a flatback and off to the indy next day. .
|
|
RAC breakdown plus recovery for me and SWMBO is 40 quid odd a year in Clubcard points, cheap for the relative peace of mind. The alternator on SWMBO's Zafira died at around 140K, it had been making a whining noise on full lock for years, which I thought was the aircon compressor (not unreeasonably as the noise stopped when you switched the aircon off)
|
Had had a really strange alternator fault on the Punto. Battery light kept coming on. Took it to my uncles who had a look at it, he then took the alternator to a electrical specialist who confirmed the alternator was actually fine. Puzzled he re-fitted the alternator and said see how it goes. Amazingly the next 20,000 miles it was fine, until the car was written off in a bad accident [the only fault accident my dad has ever had].
So it must have either been a loose connection or faulty belt tensioning.
|
I had an alternator bearing go noisy whilst on holiday. I found an auto electricians in Hereford who replaced the bearings and brushes the same day.
On the journey home the radio became increasingly noisy and putting a 'scope on the battery with the engine running showed a very dirty waveform.
Off with the alternator and the greasy finger mark was clearly visible on the slip rings. Where do they find these morons?
|
>> Hereford ?? :-)
Wye valley, Symonds Yat. Closest major town.
|
|
The car broke down and you where lucky to get to a garage.I wouldn't be without a breakdown service,they charged you a lot for a altenator replacement.
|
I don't belong to a breakdown service because I reckon even if I have to fork out when things go wrong, it's still cheaper in the long run as I've saved a lot of premiums. And presumably no breakdown service is going to replace the alternator at the roadside, so I might still have ended up at QuikFit.
I don't take that line when driving abroad, when I think breakdown cover is a good idea. For example, even though my French is passable, I wouldn't like to have to deal with last Friday's situation if it took place on an autoroute somewhere in la France profonde.
Similarly, it's probably a good idea for a female who drives a lot on her own, even if she's well clued-up about cars.
Anyway, I'm back home now without further incident and basking in the thoughts of being grandfather to a lovely baby. Never thought I'd say that!
Last edited by: FocalPoint on Mon 18 Jun 12 at 11:12
|
>> I don't belong to a breakdown service because I reckon even if I have to
>> fork out when things go wrong, it's still cheaper in the long run as I've
>> saved a lot of premiums.
BUT it's not always possible to find a breakdown van at a moment's notice if you break down at a busy time. Members get favourable treatment. It's the only form of low-level-financial-risk insurance I pay for.
|
>> BUT it's not always possible to find a breakdown van at a moment's notice if
>> you break down at a busy time. Members get favourable treatment. It's the only form
>> of low-level-financial-risk insurance I pay for.
The Breakdown cover will also pay less for the recovery than the 'rack' rate for the uncovered which in turn affects the premium. Both my cars have had to be recovered in past year, hydraulic leak and cluch failure as well as two non-starts at home. The clutch would have been doubly expensive as we arrived back in Northampton out of garage hours and needed another call on Monday morning.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 18 Jun 12 at 13:05
|
>> I don't belong to a breakdown service because I reckon even if I have to
>> fork out when things go wrong, it's still cheaper in the long run as I've
>> saved a lot of premiums. And presumably no breakdown service is going to replace the
>> alternator at the roadside, so I might still have ended up at QuikFit.
>>
True, but assuming you've got recovery then you've got the option of having the offending vehicle dragged to your destination or home, which gives you a somewhat better chance of getting a reasonable deal on repairs.
Plus there's significant peace of mind factor for SWMBO knowing if the car breaks down / has a blowout in the middle of nowhere / somewhere dangerous somebody will come out and help, even if I'm working the other side of Europe.
|
|
I have a car, or more accurately I have the use of a car, which would apparently ring its head office if it broke down and they'd send a chap to fix it. Which is, um, sehr gut, nicht wahr?
|
What is it Humph?
A Trabbie?
|
|
I don't like to say Kevin...
|
Takes a while to get there from Stuttgart.
Just keep clicking the handbrake, someone will come to your aid eventually.
|
|
Edit. Re Humph's comment. Ah, a Rolls Royce then?
Last edited by: NIL on Tue 19 Jun 12 at 12:35
|
>> I must have been ripped off, my Lucas alternator brushes were about a fiver but
>> they did include a diode pack. :-)
>>
>> Can you still get bits for alternators and starters?
>>
Sahib's Auto Electrics on the Hanger Lane Gyratory. They seem to have brushes and electronic packs for just about everything. I've stood there while they soldered new diodes into a Lucas unit[1] for me too. Charged me a tenner for the privilege (and another fiver for the diodes).
That was a while ago, but Google says they're still there and now do online mail order too. Bonus.
If they're anywhere near as good and helpful as they used to be, they get a big thumbs up from me.
[1] Old Navy: Lucas alternator diodes are large and soldered in place onto the windings. The pack you can easily swap on the end is the voltage regulator.
|
>> [1] Old Navy: Lucas alternator diodes are large and soldered in place onto the windings.
>> The pack you can easily swap on the end is the voltage regulator.
>>
Thanks, I can't remember what car was involved, probably an Austin 1100 or a real MINI. It was several light years ago in the fix it yourself or walk days. These days I fix cars with my wallet, and can't remember the last time I had to do that, they must have improved reliability. :-)
|
>> real MINI
That would be a Mini then :)
|
|
The BMW version is almost as big as my Ceed! (on the outside, fashion victims car).
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 19 Jun 12 at 12:47
|
>> The BMW version is almost as big as my Ceed! (on the outside).
I walk past a Mini on my dog walking route and you tend to forget how small they are. Similarly I saw an old Audi 80 (mk1?) recently and it looked tiny compared to things like Insignias.
Last edited by: Focus on Tue 19 Jun 12 at 12:49
|
|
I saw a 1990-ish Audi 80 this morning on the M4. Oddly, my thought was how dated it looked - especially given how covetable I thought the 80 back then. The ultra-thin pillars made it look like a greenhouse, and it looked awkward and flimsy in modern traffic. BMW's and MB's shapes from the same era have aged better, I think, perhaps from not trying so hard to be cutting-edge.
|
|
The Golf mk1 and the E30 3-Series are the two that illustrate how bloated their modern equivalents have become. The mk1 Golf in particular looks like a toy next to anything from a mk4 onwards.
|
|
The current Polo must be about the same size as the MK1 Golf.
|
>> The current Polo must be about the same size as the MK1 Golf.
>>
Excellent observation , ON. In fact, it is bigger! :-)
From Wikipedia:
Golf mk1
Length 3,705 mm (145.9 in)
Width 1,610 mm (63.4 in)
Polo m5
Length 3,952 mm (155.6 in)
Width 1,682 mm (66.2 in)
|
|
Similarly the Fiesta started out a a small Ford. It's now probably bigger than a Mk2 Escort and the Ka has been slotted in below.
|
>> Similarly the Fiesta started out a a small Ford. It's now probably bigger than a
>> Mk2 Escort and the Ka has been slotted in below.
>>
These are the very damned, annoying reasons why SWMBO is having so much difficulty finding a replacement for her bone-shaker Ford Fiesta Zetec 1.4 (shape before current one).
The problem is that her car must be garageable so that our landscaped, newly arranged front garden will allow my Golf to do a two point turn so that I can exit facing forwards.
Our integral 1930's garage is long and very high with a loft but is narrow and all the new super minis are wider than her Fiesta, especially at the mirror extremities.
Apart from pokey small city cars, which are out of the question, is the Vauxhall Agila/Suzuki Splash which I reckon might be suitable but don't really know how it would fair as a general purpose comfortable runabout. There are certainly not many used ones around of a year or so old. Only a decent road test would satisfy me and our local W.J.King dealer only do short road tests accompanied by a salesperson.
|
|
I've yet to try one but the road tests say that the new VW Up / Skoda Citigo feel like bigger cars to drive, as opposed to pokey and small as you graphically put it. Maybe SWMBO should give one a go - in my experience Skoda dealers are better at giving proper test drives than VW dealers. The 5-door version will be easier to get in and out of in a narrow garage.
|
Damn car broke down on the M1 - Stuu
