Got to love the RAC...

[Squirrelofwoe]

My alternator has just died, about 5 miles from home- so i phone the RAC and get the message;

We are currently experiencing system problems, please try again later...

I clearly chose a bad time to break down!

[Squirrelofwoe]

Yep just got the car home, msnaged to get a tow from my girlfriend's dad with his Freelander. Car had completely died, i used the last bit of juice to get the car off of the dual carriageway.

I feel like a proper TVR owner now!

Edited by Squirrelofwoe on Saturday 21st January 18:44

[Squirrelofwoe]

Richard 858 said:

Dave (OP), as has already been said, check the 100/125 amp fuse first before condemning the alternator. The fuse is generally located on the lower off side chassis rail (box section) more or less straight down from the alternator position. It sits in the main positive cable from the alternator to the starter/battery.

I did wonder that, but looking back to when i started the car (successfully) this morning the symptoms were there of a lack of battery charging- it struggled basically. I then drove it 20miles and then had it parked up for the afternoon at my parent's, until I went to drive home and it barely started (but did again- just).

Would the car even have started if the fuse had failed?

[Squirrelofwoe]

Thanks guys, i'll see if I can check the fuse tomorrow- will depend whether my trolley jack will go under it, I might need to get a more slimline one.

Brilliant advice as always, ta!

[Squirrelofwoe]

CanoeSniffer said:

Give me a shout if you need a hand Dave as I'm not far away! I'm no genius but I can grunt and swear at things as well as any RAC bod

If I bring the Tiv over and we get yours sorted would be a good excuse for a drive out....

Very kind of you chap, I'd never turn down the opportunity for a spot of assistance!

[Squirrelofwoe]

QBee said:

ClassicChimaera said:

Squirrelofwoe said:

Thanks guys, i'll see if I can check the fuse tomorrow- will depend whether my trolley jack will go under it, I might need to get a more slimline one.

Brilliant advice as always, ta!

Drive onto a block of wood or a decent sized brick

Errrr....that's if it will even start....

Yeah the whole 'not-starting' thing will probably prevent that, I might be able to push it onto a couple of smaller bits though, might be enoug to get a jack under!

[Squirrelofwoe]

I was busy with family stuff yesterday so didn't get a chance to have a look, but I figured I'd get a replacement fuse ordered and see about changing it this coming Saturday.

On the subject of the 100amp fuse, I've seen this:- a replacement holder with 2 fuses (giving me a spare) for £7.

http://chimaerapartsonline.co.uk/product/100-amp-f...

I take it that will do the job?

[Squirrelofwoe]

QBee said:

Yes, though you can just buy the fuses if you prefer.

Ta, I figured for the sake of £7 I may as well get a new holder and spare fuse as well- if the holder that's on the car is still in good nick then I'll have a spare for that too, if not I can change it for the new one.

[Squirrelofwoe]

N7GTX said:

Milky400 said:

Happens to the best of us......

Must choose your time better next time, maybe ring the RAC prior to leaving just to check if it is ok to call should you get into difficulty

Clearly QBee knows this....

I've only just seen this

Did you have to make an appointment Anthony?

[Squirrelofwoe]

QBee said:

The PH massive told me where the thing was and the RAC guy's first words were "sorry that took so long, I am here until it's fixed, sir". He got on with checking the basics, but listened about the fuse, got under the car and fixed it - he had a spare on the van. I was well impressed.

In fairness I've been with the RAC for almost 8 years now and have had them come out (with previous cars) probably 6 times- and on every occasion they have been utterly brilliant.

One time in particular was an alternator failure on my Starion- similar symptoms to Saturday, the car gradually died on the way to work. They spent half an hour charging the battery from the van, phoned a garage and booked my car in (arranging a courtesy car at the same time), then followed me all the way there and dealt with everything on my behalf.

On each of the other occasions they were able to fix the issue at the side of the road and couldn't have been friendlier/more helpful.

Saturday was obviously a one-off due to a technical problem causing their phone service to go down, and having been on the other end of those kind of problems I can sympathise! I was having 'one of those days' on Saturday (the drivers electric window stopped working on my Accord barely 15 mins after I had recovered the TVR) which certainly came through in my original post

[Squirrelofwoe]

swerni said:

I broke down on Friday. Sat in traffic, engine cut out and wouldn't start.
Managed to push it off the road into the Tesco Express car park



Yes that is the disabled bay I'm sort of in

RAC took less than an hour to turn up.
Diagnosed it was the rotor arm ( only a few months old)
He set off with my £20 in hand to pick one up from a motor factor less than a mile from my house.
Came back fitted it and off I went.


Spend the last few days ordering numerous spares for the boot

No complaints on the RAC from me

To be fair that does reflect my past experience of the RAC- their actual roadside assistance is exemplary.

It was just frustrating that I couldn't actually get one of their excellent mechanics to the roadside as their central phone system was down at the time my car decided to breakdown...

Out of interest I did try all of their numbers again an hour later after getting the car home- it was still saying the service was unavailable and to try again later- so I'm quite glad I didn't just sit there waiting for their system to come back on again!

[Squirrelofwoe]

Steve_D said:

Squirrelofwoe said:

QBee said:

Yes, though you can just buy the fuses if you prefer.

Ta, I figured for the sake of £7 I may as well get a new holder and spare fuse as well- if the holder that's on the car is still in good nick then I'll have a spare for that too, if not I can change it for the new one.

When you have the new holder it may be worth checking it as some require trimming before they will fit. This is not a failing it is simply that the clip over cover needs to protect the live terminals which may only have small cables running to them. We have somewhat larger cables so some of the plastic needs trimming away before the cover will close. Not something you want to be doing on a wet/dark roadside.

Steve

Ta for the info Steve, will keep this in mind.

[Squirrelofwoe]

Just an update- Mike (CanoeSniffer) came round and we got my car jacked up and checked the 100A fuse... which rather annoyingly was absolutely fine.

So after a spot of swearing and a tea, we got the car fired up and took a reading off of the alternator output- it was barely outputting anything, so fairly confident now it's the alternator itself that's at fault.

Jesfirth has also helpfully emailed me in the meantime suggesting getting the alternator rebuilt if it turned out to be that, which I'll look into.

Overall top marks to the PH TVR community, I owe you all a virtual pint- and I owe Mike an actual pint for coming round with his electrical gadget and spending the afternoon crawling under my car- top man! Always happy to return the favour

[Squirrelofwoe]

QBee said:

Doesn't hurt to know where that fuse is.

I got my replacement alternator from Hobson Industries in Donnington-on-Bain. http://www.hobsonindustries.co.uk/
They take the standard ones off new army landrovers to replace them with uprated ones. Hence they have the originals, brand new and spare.

A couple of years ago the genuine Landrover Magnetti Marelli alternator I bought off them cost £106 delivered. It has the correct part number on it too

Cheers Anthony, I've got a load of options to look at now regarding the alternator.

Just to confuse matters further, I remembered that my (dealer purchased) car is still within it's 12 month warranty that supposedly covers the alternator, so I might give them a quick call first just to see what they say- however I suspect it's going to be easier to simply pick up a new one or repair the existing one than bother with the warranty if it requires somehow getting a non-charging Chim the 60 miles back to the dealer...

But at the same time I'm an accountant so if someone else is willing to foot the bill I'm happy to at least ask the question!

[Squirrelofwoe]

QBee said:

Squirrelofwoe said:

QBee said:

Doesn't hurt to know where that fuse is.

I got my replacement alternator from Hobson Industries in Donnington-on-Bain. http://www.hobsonindustries.co.uk/
They take the standard ones off new army landrovers to replace them with uprated ones. Hence they have the originals, brand new and spare.

A couple of years ago the genuine Landrover Magnetti Marelli alternator I bought off them cost £106 delivered. It has the correct part number on it too

Cheers Anthony, I've got a load of options to look at now regarding the alternator.

Just to confuse matters further, I remembered that my (dealer purchased) car is still within it's 12 month warranty that supposedly covers the alternator, so I might give them a quick call first just to see what they say- however I suspect it's going to be easier to simply pick up a new one or repair the existing one than bother with the warranty if it requires somehow getting a non-charging Chim the 60 miles back to the dealer...

But at the same time I'm an accountant so if someone else is willing to foot the bill I'm happy to at least ask the question!

On a bright sunny summer's day mine only did about 40 miles with a dead 100 amp fuse before the battery ran out of electrons.
Up to them to recover it, I would say. Most garages have a recovery vehicle or car trailer.
When I lost reverse gear 4 days before the end of my three month warranty, the dealer paid for my TVR specialist to take out the gear box and replace the reverse light switch mechanism that had failed and dropped the spring etc into the bottom of the box.

That was my thoughts too, I'm going to give them a call at lunch and see what they say.