Alternator, Battery, Serpentine Belt Fiasco
#1
Alternator, Battery, Serpentine Belt Fiasco
So i was extremely busy a few weeks ago, but had a long trip planned for my '96 disco. I brought said vehicle to my local mechanic (good guys, but not specialists by any means) to have the serpentine belt replaced... just in case. They ordered one in and had me on my way in no time.
A few weeks go by and I'm on another four-hour tour with the vehicle when the tach stops taching. I knew it was bad news, but kept on. An hour or so later, the speedo quits. By the way it's about midnight... and I'm on the interstate. Long story short, I bucked my way into the parking lot of my destination with no lights, no accessories, and no wing... just a prayer.
So, next day, I ordered up an alternator and installed it because I knew the battery was good. No prob. (BTW, fan shroud with clips for removal instead of bolts? GENIUS!) Truck now needs a jump because battery is utterly dead. But, it wouldn't take a charge at all. I had killed it running it so low. It was under warranty, so no biggie. Had that replaced and voila, runs great. But tach still isn’t working. Which leads me to believe that either something’s wrong with the tach (doubtful) or that the alternator’s not throwing off enough juice and I’m just running off of the battery again. What else could it be, really?
So, I get nosing around in there and wonder if the serp belt replacement had anything to do with anything. I find a fine gentleman from this forum has posted a link to a belt routing diagram (THANKS!):
Series I
Series II
And guess what? Yep, they had the belt routed wrong. My guess is that it worked fine for a while until the belt stretched out just enough for it to slip. So, I went in, rerouted the belt correctly, fired it up, and everything was kosher. All this because some genius couldn’t take 30 seconds to make a note of the belt routing BEFORE he took it off. Next time, I’ll change the belt myself.
A few weeks go by and I'm on another four-hour tour with the vehicle when the tach stops taching. I knew it was bad news, but kept on. An hour or so later, the speedo quits. By the way it's about midnight... and I'm on the interstate. Long story short, I bucked my way into the parking lot of my destination with no lights, no accessories, and no wing... just a prayer.
So, next day, I ordered up an alternator and installed it because I knew the battery was good. No prob. (BTW, fan shroud with clips for removal instead of bolts? GENIUS!) Truck now needs a jump because battery is utterly dead. But, it wouldn't take a charge at all. I had killed it running it so low. It was under warranty, so no biggie. Had that replaced and voila, runs great. But tach still isn’t working. Which leads me to believe that either something’s wrong with the tach (doubtful) or that the alternator’s not throwing off enough juice and I’m just running off of the battery again. What else could it be, really?
So, I get nosing around in there and wonder if the serp belt replacement had anything to do with anything. I find a fine gentleman from this forum has posted a link to a belt routing diagram (THANKS!):
Series I
Series II
And guess what? Yep, they had the belt routed wrong. My guess is that it worked fine for a while until the belt stretched out just enough for it to slip. So, I went in, rerouted the belt correctly, fired it up, and everything was kosher. All this because some genius couldn’t take 30 seconds to make a note of the belt routing BEFORE he took it off. Next time, I’ll change the belt myself.
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mgabriel
General Range Rover Discussion - Archived
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12-11-2008 11:53 PM