Having worked a 44 hour week over four days, so that I could take Friday off to take the kids out. I actually ended up spending a chunk of the time trying to sort out my wife's Matiz.

She's had the charging light staying on intermittently, but then going out, but yesterday she drove home, left it parked for twenty minutes and then it wouldn't start. That night I foud there was nothing, not a hint of a light working, no instruments, etc. My first thought was a diode gone in the alternator and the battery discharging through it - which proved to be correct, a steady 3.75A discharge, once I'd actually managed to get some charge into the battery.

This morning I came to remove the alternator, only to find that some b*****d designer has positioned it between the back of the engine and the bulkhead. With the top bolt almost totally innaccesible to anyone with normal sized hands; the the battery lead bolted on with the warning light/control wiring in the way; the warning light/control plug positioned so that you cannot feel the retaining tab, nor see it in any way; and the alternator bracket being too close to the bulkhead to let the alternator past - with one of its bolts innacessible as it is under the alternator.

I finally, at the expense of much pain, got the top bolt out and both the bottom ones. Much effort, finally allowed the alternator to be moved sideways and tilted just enough, while fighting other wires and hoses catching the lugs, to get a position where I could remove the battery lead. Having removed the lead, further manipulation got the plug to where I could see it and remove it. Finally I got the alternator out - this involves getting it to turn and twist through gaps a fraction of a millimetre wider than the alternator and indeed by the time it comes out, it is upside down and pointing 180° in the wrong direction.

All this took almost three hours.

At that point I sent my father, who was round as tool passer, to go and get an exchange one. He took our youngest son with him, while I took his two older brothers to the swimming baths for an hour and a half.

Having sourced a replacement and now knowing the manouvres, I got it back in twenty minutes or so of more skinned knuckles, cuts and bruises. Started it up and found that the damned regulator on the new one was faulty!!!!

Back out and off to supplier, who was just closing and couldn't do anything 'til morning.

The only good thing is that I'm now practiced enough to do it quickly.

Kids are due at swimming lessons tomorrow 09:30 'til 10:00, then I've got to sort the car and finally I've got to fibreglass a flat roof, while my dad's around to help before he goes to house-sit for my sister on Sunday.

I wonder what else will go wrong?

Take care when fitting/handling the alternator, some of them 'break' if the pulley is turned the wrong way. Not sure of why, but they just do, pick the alternator up, spin the pulley to check the bearing, fit the alternator and find that it just doesn't work. Reason, when the alternator was spun by hand, it was spun the wrong way.

Sounds like an average day at work to me... Except at the end I've usualy got to deal with an old bloke, moaning about the cost, 'cos he used to be able to get an alternater for "2 and 6" and fit it to his Cortina in 20mins.

That must be an old bloke thing, they used to complain to me that last time they got a taxi home it was £2.30 (it was a £2.50 minimum when I started there)

I know your pain.....
V6 Galaxy water pump 10mm to long to remove with the engine in situ, I had to undo all engine and gearbox mounts to shift far enough to remove the pump
Then the thermostat housing is almost inaccessible.
Mondeo TDCI starter motor 4 hours to remove 2 bolts and some wires.

You want to swap it for an old Mitsubishi Colt My daughter crashed her Corsa a while back and I bought a 2000 Colt 1.3 to keep her on the road as she needs a car for work. The engine bay is a wonder to behold, you can nearly walk round in it

quote:

---

Originally posted by snapper

Mondeo TDCI starter motor 4 hours to remove 2 bolts and some wires.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by jollygreengiant
Take care when fitting/handling the alternator, some of them 'break' if the pulley is turned the wrong way. Not sure of why, but they just do, pick the alternator up, spin the pulley to check the bearing, fit the alternator and find that it just doesn't work. Reason, when the alternator was spun by hand, it was spun the wrong way.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ninehigh
That must be an old bloke thing, they used to complain to me that last time they got a taxi home it was £2.30 (it was a £2.50 minimum when I started there)

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by MikeRJ

quote:

---

Originally posted by jollygreengiant
Take care when fitting/handling the alternator, some of them 'break' if the pulley is turned the wrong way. Not sure of why, but they just do, pick the alternator up, spin the pulley to check the bearing, fit the alternator and find that it just doesn't work. Reason, when the alternator was spun by hand, it was spun the wrong way.

---

First I have ever heard of this, seems incredibly unlikely. An alternator, by it's nature will actually produce a current in both directions, though it's typically designed to run only in one.

---

Reminds me of my 1998 Audi A4 Tdi starter motor hell, at least I liked that car.

Nothing worse than nasty jobs on cars you hate.

Just to follow up. Got the replacement this morning and found it much harder to fit - it has a square edged plastic cover on the back, like the original, rather than the curved metal edges of the earlier replacement. It makes getting your hand to the top bolt even harder.

Finally got it on, works fine. Came to replace the "access" panel behind the offside front wheel and one of the plastic clips has broken. If I leave the panel off, the wheel can throw stones straight into the belts. Put it on without the clip and airflow will rip it down onto the driveshaft. So I go to the local car parts shops and each says, "we've given up stocking them, as they're all car specific now, so you'll have to go to the dealer." With very little time before the parts desks shut (why do they shut early on the only day that most people have free to do work on the car?) I rush off. "What's the registration?" they ask. I don't know I answer, it's my wife's, she's not had it long and I'm not used to it yet. "We can't find it on the system without" comes the reply. They get very uppity, when I start getting annoyed with them! Finally, someone actually goes in the back and returns with a variety, all too small. They then send me to their depot, which is open half an hour longer. There they disappear for ten minutes and re-appear with a diagram - of the wrong year. Another ten minutes and they come back with the right diagram. The top two holes (both 6mm) are labelled for two different fasteners (why?) and the bottom one, the one I want, is unlabelled!!!

After much searching, they give up and do what any reasonable place would have done in the first place and just get me a fastener of the right size from a different car (an Astra van), so proving what I said all along - there is no need for each manufacturer to have numerous different fasteners, all unique ot them!

Two bloody hours to get a fastener!

The consequence being that my fibreglassing of the flat roof is only half complete and I just have to hope that there is no rain tomorrow.

Cheer up, I had a Fiat van in the workshop once for new discs and pads (front). Pads were not a problem. The discs however.

The discs however, well, there were three listed, but only one with the right diameter. Ordered, fitted, but fouled caliper carrier on the inboard face. Checked the listing book and checked with the suppliers who then sent down the other options. They didn't fit either, one being vented the other fouled on the out board face but was wrong diameter anyway. So contacted the dealer and supplied the all-important Recambi number and chassis number. Same problem with the first set, fouled in-board. Alternate fouled on the out board, third set vented so no go. In the end we ordered after-market discs, sent them to a machine shop and got them skimmed on the inboard faces to fit. All it proved is that the manufacturers occasionally don't know what they fitted on their product.