alternator wobble?

[boma23]

just picked up a new (old) 3.0 Surf, but noticed the alternator which was recently relaced seems to vibrate quite a lot on what might be rubber mounts when ticking over. Is this normal for this engine? As I'm pretty sure anything with those sort of belts around it has been fixed in place on any other motor I've owned...

[TonyN]

Alt shouldn't move, its solidly fixed if fitted properly.

[boma23]

am picking it up again tonight with some luck, so will look at it while the engine isn't spinning before it's hot and report back.

it made it from Glasgow to Oxford like that without falling off, so I'm hoping it's well attached

[boma23]

obviously a bodge job... it's loose on the top bolt, which appears to be two crappy little locknuts spinning a skinny bolt that's not gripping.

the there's enough movement to allow the belt to slack off and the pulley to be at a dodgy angle

no tools and a cast on my right wrist means I had to leave it and drive from Oxford to N Wales with it like that (it's already made it 700kms), but it's going to be rectified in the local garage 1st thing tomorrow

[NiftyNev]

There's a larger pivot bolt at the bottom as well. Better tighten that also. These belts also operate the water pump so you risk overheating if you don't fix it.

Nev

[boma23]

overheat.... eek!

Got my local mechanic on it who sorted it - basically they'd threaded the top bolt, and bodged an incorrect sized one in with a locknut which had slipped - all sorted now.

BUT...following on, the mystery deepens a little.


The seller told me he'd replaced the alternator after having the dash lights light up and the truck die on him. He also replaced the starter.

Now, having driven some 1400 faultless kms since buying it last week, I was coming up a pretty steep, bumpy road yesterday when - yup, all dash light flashed, and dials died for a moment (although engine continued running as expecetd for a diesel) - this happened a couple of times.

My brother was following and flashed me to pull over - he'd seen sparks coming from underneath the vehicle.

Now I can only assume there's a loose cable or part of the loom somewhere, that may be shorting out when climbing and being shaken. I'm about to put the truck's front wheels on to ramps to have a look, but being new to this vehicle, any suggestions on where to search would be appreciated. I'm guessing could be connected to starter or alternator...

Thanks

Dom

[Albannach]

Which side of the truck did the sparks come from? Starter is on the Nearside, alternator on the Offside.

Check the 100A fuse, if it was the alternator, it's probably blown that.

[boma23]

thanks Alb

traced the leads from the passenger side battery, all way to starter... only point was where it was bolted to the starter casing as the cover was cracked off - was thinking there may be enough engine movement to touch the upper arm pivot/torsion bar, but no. Fuses all good too...

went back to the top... turns out the battery is oversized (off a tractor?) and nearly comes across to get really close to the power steering reservoir - i noticed it was sitting a couple of inches over the battery tray. I saw a small arcing mark on the reservoir - looks like the battery and terminals had enough movement to tilt back and arc against it! had even burnt a small area off.

re-seated the terminals and all good. happy bunny - mystery electricals are not my favourite

[Albannach]

Have you changed the battery for the correct one?

[boma23]

no, haven't. should be OK now that the terminals can't contact - battery itself cant move too much, but will also strap it down properly. extra capacity shouldn't hurt

[Albannach]

Remember, the engine can move too, not just the battery.