My cars broken down.

Needs a new altenator.

RAC man reacons will cost around £150.

*cries*

Bullshit. The alternator shouldn't cost more than £40 and you can change it yourself incredibly easily.

Really? I asked the RAC man if it's something that I'd be able to do myself and he said probably not

Did he say this on the basis of 'probably not, you are a girl and unwise in the ways of car mending'

Is anyone better at stuff like mending cars? If it's possible to do the work myself I'd rather try and do that, I don't have a loan yet so money is somewhat tight.

I'll do a deal, you ('you' being anyone who thinks they can fit a new alternator) help me fix my car and I'll drive to Stanage.... How does that sound? (If it is towards the £150 end of things it's unlikely I'll be going to Stanage)

A quick search online suggests alternators for my car to be between £110-£160 (and that's just for the part).

Focus, 1.8 diesel, 1999 (1998 model)

Oh yeah, and there was a recall on cars made when mine was because of problems with the alternator.

Does anyone know any scrap yards around here?

Apparently I can pick this kind of thing up second hand

check out ebay, and ask Rich - he is a bit of a car wizz. I guess u didnt go to the peak today then?

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Committee position - Christianity and exotic islands Sec

Jaq, call me...

Part will cost around £50 recon id imagine... Iv got the repair manual for that model so ill have a look at it if you would like?...

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Caveman

OK more relevent for Rich or anyone else who's good with cars.

We've replaced the alternator, hasn't made any difference, we've checked voltage over the battery and it appears to be charging when the engines running.

Actual problem - the engine starts as normal, about a minute in the battery warning light comes on, and some stuff gets disabled like the heated windscreen. I've got the relevent Haynes manual, which says this is indicitive of a problem with either the alternator (nope), the drive belt (all fine), or the circuits charging the battery (as the battery appears to be charging I assume not). Any idea what else it could be? Given that the light goes off then comes on I'm assuming it's not just a fault with the light.

(My user manual is really helpful about what to do if the battery light comes on 'turn off all electrical equipment and drive to the nearest ford dealer')

My dad reacons just drive it and see if I break down, so I guess I'll do that... So long as anyone in my car understands the car thinks it's about to break down and doesn't kick up a fuss if it does.

Mark - incredibly easily? Haha, it took us about 4 hours as you have to remove half the engine before you can even reach the alternator, and getting that close still required my super tiny hands to be able to reach the bolts...just, I think it varies somewhat from car to car. I can confirm it's not easy on a focus diesel with aircon.

Ok... Well it could be one of these things...

1) Faulty voltage sensor

2) Faulty voltage regulator (this is actually attached to the altenator so is extremely unlikely to be dead on a new one) Is the replacement a new/ recon/scrapyard?

3) ECU Fault = Absolute pain in ass, Could be a bad connection in either the wiring harness or within the software onboard. You can get diagnostics run at a dealership but im not sure how much that would cost...

4) Failing battery... What is your battery voltage before starting and if you can tell me the voltage drop when the heater plugs are on just prior to starting it would help ...

If you need help with this let me know and i can drop in 2moz nite...

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Caveman

this is why we should all go back to riding horses or donkeys. atleast if they broke you could eat them.

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a rock-face is like a tin of beans. once opened, it should be eaten in 3-5 days.

I'd go with your dad's advise Jaq - drive it till it stops flashnig or the car dies - lot easier to find a dead fault than a faulty fault!!
On my old mondeo the air con light came on every now and then - i just ignored it and it went out again

Michaf C

Awesome.

So my sterio has a code....I've never used it or have any idea what it is, but it's suddenly decided it wants it (presumably as a result of us having to disconnect the battery to fit the alternator), so I rang up ford to see if there was any way of me finding out what it is....they can tell me, but I have to pay £12 for the privilege

Cheers Rich, I don't really have any time to get it looked at again as I'm busy most evenings and have lots of work to do, I guess I'll just hope it doesn't break down before Stanage.

Jaq, is the code written in the manual / a business card type thing thats in the manual binder?

I have found the code, it was in one of the books yeah, after initial confusion as it had a 0 in it and I only have the numbers 1-6 on my sterio and ringing up the ford garage again for them to tell me how it works I now have a working sterio.

It's too late, my spirit has been broken, I want to crawl into a hole and hide until everything goes away.