I had an interesting drive in the rain today, and then everything slowly went dark, and a little heavy...
After 400 miles, rain stops play.
It started out as what I thought might have been a partial loss of output from the alternator.
First, the voltmeter dropped under 12volts, and slowly crept down, eventually registering 8volts.
Keeping the RPMs up helped a bit.
Surprisingly, the ABS stayed functional until the terminal volts dropped a long way below 10volts, and of course, once it tripped off, it was off for good.
The Battery light did NOT come on solid, though. It was flickering at 1/4
intensity, as was the CAT light. Windscreen wipers initially ran fine, and the engine was running for a good long while.
I managed to nurse the car to some convenient services. The alternative was to stop on the hard shoulder in the miserable conditions. An of course, that was still an option if all went completely wrong.
When I pulled off the motorway, the steering was very heavy, and notchy, as if the pump wasn't running correctly (belt loose?)
So-
Seized Alternator
Seized PS pump
The car started a few minutes later, and seemed a little better for a while, before finally dying on it's own.
While it was running, the belts were ok, no noises, no squealing. I guess the poly belt is a pretty good grip.
A whole hour later, the car started normally, and all was fine, except volts still low, at about 10v, for about 30seconds, and then it all decayed rapidly, and the steering went heavy again.
Zuletzt bearbeitet von Mark Hanman; 18.10.2011 01:55.
