The Sasha Saga....
Discussion
My little car is causing me more problems than not..... 
As you may know I had the alternator changed a couple of months back courtesy of the AA parts cover policy i took out just in time....
Well, after a couple of snapped belts and a cracked radiator i noticed the alternator pulley was sitting real far forward compared to the other pulleys, after the third belt snapped i called out the AA who confirmed this...
So..
back to the garage that fitted the alternator ('OH NO' they said 'we fitted the wrong one')
After a few phone calls between me and the garage about engine size they fitted a brand new alternator for a 1.8 (mine is 1.6) which lines the belts up fine... this was 2 days ago..
Last night driving back from my parents i lost all power, lights, radio everything, then she spluttered to a halt... crap..
AA recovery truck turns up, checks the battery, its flat, totally dead it had a reading of 2.2 or something... All belts were intact..
Before I go back to garage ( Who I must say I've had the worst experience with ) is there anything i can check to solve the problem?
When the original alternator packed up, and when the belts snapped a light came on on the dash - CHARGE - indicating it wasn't charging the battery.... no light this time...
Today I have bought a battery charger, but is there any way to test if the alternator is faulty? (bearing in mind its brand new) or if the battery is faulty?
The last thing i want to do is go back to the garage as i may take a baseball bat and some petrol bombs with me for their incompetence...
Can anyone help??
As you may know I had the alternator changed a couple of months back courtesy of the AA parts cover policy i took out just in time....
Well, after a couple of snapped belts and a cracked radiator i noticed the alternator pulley was sitting real far forward compared to the other pulleys, after the third belt snapped i called out the AA who confirmed this...
So..
back to the garage that fitted the alternator ('OH NO' they said 'we fitted the wrong one')
After a few phone calls between me and the garage about engine size they fitted a brand new alternator for a 1.8 (mine is 1.6) which lines the belts up fine... this was 2 days ago..
Last night driving back from my parents i lost all power, lights, radio everything, then she spluttered to a halt... crap..
AA recovery truck turns up, checks the battery, its flat, totally dead it had a reading of 2.2 or something... All belts were intact..
Before I go back to garage ( Who I must say I've had the worst experience with ) is there anything i can check to solve the problem?
When the original alternator packed up, and when the belts snapped a light came on on the dash - CHARGE - indicating it wasn't charging the battery.... no light this time...
Today I have bought a battery charger, but is there any way to test if the alternator is faulty? (bearing in mind its brand new) or if the battery is faulty?
The last thing i want to do is go back to the garage as i may take a baseball bat and some petrol bombs with me for their incompetence...
Can anyone help??
There is this little thing from Gunson;
Gunson Start Check
Depends if you want to splash out on one before taking it back to the garage.
Gunson Start Check
Depends if you want to splash out on one before taking it back to the garage.
The alternator will have 3 connections, +12v from the battery (will probably come via the starter motor), earth (big F-off black cable or earthed via the mounting), and field (a small wire which should disappear through the bulkhead and goes to the bulb in the dash (which will be of a particular wattage).
Firstly, check continuity of positive / earth connections (multimeter on appropriate terminal of alt and of battery).
Then, jump start the engine and see if the voltage output has changed - should be somewhere around 14-15v. If it is the same as the battery voltage when not running then the alt is not charging and either the alt or voltage regulator (built in to the alt) is goosed.
Also check the voltage from the field. From memory if the output of this is much less than the charging voltage then the P.D. will make the alt warning bulb light.
If the light is not lighting either your alt is OK or the bulb is blown I would guess.
Does the alt light come on with the ignition before you start the car?
Best way to check the battery is to charge it with a decent charger/conditioner.
Firstly, check continuity of positive / earth connections (multimeter on appropriate terminal of alt and of battery).
Then, jump start the engine and see if the voltage output has changed - should be somewhere around 14-15v. If it is the same as the battery voltage when not running then the alt is not charging and either the alt or voltage regulator (built in to the alt) is goosed.
Also check the voltage from the field. From memory if the output of this is much less than the charging voltage then the P.D. will make the alt warning bulb light.
If the light is not lighting either your alt is OK or the bulb is blown I would guess.
Does the alt light come on with the ignition before you start the car?
Best way to check the battery is to charge it with a decent charger/conditioner.
Edited by NiceCupOfTea on Friday 29th August 20:19
Well i took the car to my local garage, Alternator is not charging the battery at all.....
Went back to the garage who fitted it and it appears its the wrong alternator again!!
They cannot seem to find the correct alternator with the right pulley.
Mine is a '92 Eunos with ribbed belts, aparantly it should have V belts...
The problem they had with the first alternator is that they fitted the old pulley to the new alternator but it stuck out too far...
Has anyone else come across this problem? What belts do you have on your Eunos's?
Went back to the garage who fitted it and it appears its the wrong alternator again!!
They cannot seem to find the correct alternator with the right pulley.
Mine is a '92 Eunos with ribbed belts, aparantly it should have V belts...
The problem they had with the first alternator is that they fitted the old pulley to the new alternator but it stuck out too far...
Has anyone else come across this problem? What belts do you have on your Eunos's?
Yeah I've seen this, when you get a reco alternator you often don't get a pulley with it so you swap them over or seek a new one.
A good auto-sparky should be able to provide you the pulley, or a pulley that will suit the alignment, they often have this stuff off the shelf.
You've been stuffed around so much, time to take this into your own hands and fix it yourself IMO
A good auto-sparky should be able to provide you the pulley, or a pulley that will suit the alignment, they often have this stuff off the shelf.
You've been stuffed around so much, time to take this into your own hands and fix it yourself IMO
MX-5 Lazza said:
As far as I'm aware, all MX-5s models have always used ribbed belts for alternator/ps/ac etc...
I'm wrong. The Mk1 1.6 89-94 used a toothed v-belt!So did they really fit a multi-rib belt on a v-belt pulley? That is such a numpty thing to do! Once you have a car that is working you should definitely report them to the AA - I can't believe they would use a garage like that if they knew how bad they were!
Edited by MX-5 Lazza on Monday 1st September 19:47
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