As a novice to Range Rovers this forum is proving invaluble to me. I bought a very nice 4.6 HSE as a second car about three months ago, it is on an "M" plate but with 70K on the clock and the cleanest interior I have ever seen it was a bargain. I had it checked and everything seemed fine!

Then last weekend whilst driving down the M3 the suspension collaspsed and I had it recovered to my local dealer where it turned out that a height sensor had broken so I have had that replaced along with a new centre box for the exhaust to get it through MOT. Anyway, I picked it up from the dealers on Saturday morning and all was fine. Drove it the whole 1.5 miles home and parked it. Woke up yesterday to drive to the service of rememberence at the Cenotaph, got in started her up and pulled out of the parking space in my one-way street with cars parked on both sides! 25 yds down the road there was a loud squealing noise and then everything stopped! Message centre read "Gerabox Fault" and "Alternator Fault". coasted to just past an empty parking space and much to my good fortune I found three helpful gentlemen that agreed to push to car into said space. Having spent 5 mins trying to reverse park the car with no power steering into a space two inches longer than it, I managed to start it and had drive power but no still no steering (it took two of us to turn the wheel!). There was a puff of grey smoke from under the bonnet, which once parked in space rather excellently in the end! I popped the bonnet to have a look. The fan belt had completely come off the drive.

From this am I able to assume that the belt had not been tightened properly?

I this why the above faults registered and why there was no power steering?

Was the smoke from the belt burning?

Sorry to ramble on......it was an annoying way to start a Sunday morning! Any help from the knowledge of the forum would be hugely appreciated!

Nick.

i think the tension is automatic, at least on my 96 4.0 it is, if one of the pulleys has seized it could cause this or just if the belt has 'come off' for whatever reason. i would check every pulley for movement, use a long handles screw driver to pull on the pulley, new belt on and see how it goes.

my 4.0 give gearbox fault if the engine stalls so i wouldnt worry about that.

hth

Thanks for that. What I should have said is that the belt has broken and not just come off.

Nick.

I suspect the squeal you heard was the belt being forced over a siezed pully. Check the tensioner hasnt seized up, the belt being forced round this will eventually cause it to wear through and snap. Thsi would also explain the alternator fault coming up on the dash. Quite an easy fix and fairly inexpensive too. If you can freely turn the tensioner pully, then work round the other pulleys in turn, i.e. alternator, water pump, etc. Just remember to check the pulley and not the fan when testing the water pump as the viscous unit will still turn if the water pump itself has siezed

Again, Thanks!

I will have a look when its not raining!

A quick question: As the dealership has just done a full health check on the vehicle, should they have picked this up? I've only done 9 miles since I picked it up on Saturdday!

I have ordered a new Serpentine Belt, which should arrive tomorrow. Does anyone have a diagram of how to fit one that they could send to me please?

Nick.

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This should help.

Most certainly sounds like the tensioner has seized. Gearbox faults get thrown up when the voltage drops and as your alternator is driven by the same belt this is nothing to worry about. The trick to fitting the new belt is finding the right lever and volunteer to hold the tensioner whilst you slip the belt on.

Brilliant....thanks guys. I will have a go and let you know how badly I get on! I will check all of the pulleys first!

If the tensioner has seized, is this fairly easy to replace without huge garage bills?


Oh....and what do you think of my earlier comment re. the dealership do a full health check?

nick.

when you put the belt on, i found this by trial and error, do the bottom two pulleys first and from the underneath while someone holds the belt up, it can be quite hard/fiddely to get between the bottom two pulleys, the put a 13mm?? spanner on the tensioner to move it clockwise to get the belt on. sounds simple and is but can be an arse to do if your not informed!!

re the dealer, i would suspect they will say they can only check the condition at that time and could not forsee something of this nature!!!

Belt has arrived so I'll let you all know how I get on with fitting it!

Nick

Right!

Replaced belt on Friday morning with a hangover! All went fine there. Got her started and there was still smoke that appeared to be coming from the alternator. However, I had checked all the pulleys before hand and they were fine. Could this be the bearing? land rover did say it was worn but would last a bit longer! assume a seized bearing would stop the pulley turning at speed but not with a turn by hand?

Anyone know the cost of replacing said alternator and the ease of fitting a new one? ie. does the car need to go to the garage or can I do it in the street next w/e?!!!!!!!

Thanks in advance

Nick.

ps. I need another new belt now too.......!

where abouts are you?

LR Centre Ltd - Petrol Engines P38 is in merseyside i think

paddocks in derbyshire

or total 4x4 in barnsley <<<<he is good

or gaybay RANGE ROVER P38 V8 - 100amp Alternator - New! - AMR4247 on eBay, also, Range Rover, Car Parts, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 12-Dec-08 12:27:43 GMT)

you should be able to do it in the street, i did my exhaust and plug lead/plugs, aircon rad repair. just a case of swapping parts.

Bang in the middle of London! Luckily had a parking permit for where it decided to stop otherwise it would be in the pound now!!!!!!!!

What is a good price for an Alternator generally? and what amp should it kick out....is 100 enough?

i assume 100 is the standard, i wouldn't be paying anything near 500 quid for the large amp one.

Range Rover P38 - 100amp Alternator AMR4247 on eBay, also, Range Rover, Car Parts, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 21-Nov-08 18:45:00 GMT)

guy called rangerover heaven, he's in wiltshire, no doubt there will be others i'm sure also you can get an alternator from kit car supplies as the rover engines go into quite alot of them too!!!, unless your anywhere near that guy who does chop shop, he always uses 4.0l rover engines and no doubt has a few sitting about!!! lol !!!!!

Thanks once again. I have ordered the alternator from rangeroverheaven and it should arrive tomorrow.

Does anyone have a guide to replacing it? It doesn't look too hard but as a complete novice any help would be appreciated!

Nick.

never done one before but i would suggest taking off belt(in your case dont fit new one yet!!!) undo the bolts that secure it to the bracket, unattach elec plug(i say plugs last to avoid losing it somewhere or maybe shorting it on another part), and put new on on in reverse order.

save the old one as you may be able to have it re furbed as a spare or sell to recover costs or just as a table ornament, although by the time you have done with a p38 you'd need a bloody big table!!!