EMERGENCY Disco 300 TDi parts request, near Dumfries

[John F]

Hey all

 

A mate of mine is stuck in the Isle of Whithorn near Dumfries with a broken alternator belt in his Disco 300 TDi – nowhere local has got one in stock, either new or used.

 

The part number for the belt is 7PK 1593.

 

Alternatively, a small alternator pulley for the same vehicle will do, he has a belt that will fit that.

 

Can anyone in the area help??

 

Gdhaydock (Zippy) of this parish is up there with him & has mobile phone signal so can be contacted.

 

Thanks in advance on my mate's behalf for any help, I'm sure they'll refund the cost of the belt plus any fuel, etc. required to get the belt to them.

 

 

[doug]

What year is the discovery? My local euro parts lists 3 but not your part number. Quick, it shuts in half an hour!!!

 

 

EDIT: too late they are closed.

 

Edit again: only hope is Halfords...... let me know the year of the discovery.

[John F]

doug, on 29 Apr 2017 - 4:39 PM, said:

What year is the discovery? My local euro parts lists 3 but not your part number. Quick, it shuts in half an hour!!!

 

 

EDIT: too late they are closed.

 

Edit again: only hope is Halfords...... let me know the year of the discovery.

 

It's a 1997 Disco 300 TDi - ta!

 

That part number brings up hits on ebay, it might be a Gates number.

[doug]

Halfords list 3 but not your part number. Also the 3 listed are not in stock! Delivery 4th May, fine and handy. I have 3 batteries here fully charged, any help?

[John F]

Not sure that would help, the Disco needs to get back to West Yorks and then your batteries would all be down there

 

My mate managed 45 mins out of a charged battery before he ran out of electricity, so it looks like a replacement belt is the best bet. It's the longer of the two belts that are available for the Disco 300 TDi that's needed - the part number is apparently the length (according to my stranded mate).

 

Thanks for trying to help though Doug, much appreciated!

[Guest Lord Sward]

Eurocar parts are open sundays now aren't they?

[Guest Hooli]

If it's not fly-by-wire (as the autos & later manuals are) then you can replace the stop solenoid with a bolt & run it with no electrickery at all. I believe a pp9 9v battery bodged in will also keep it running.

 

No heater/lights/stereo etc to be used of course.

[doug]

The local branch to me (Ayr) is closed Sundays. So is Dumfries. There is a local parts place(Q parts Irvine) I think is open on Sunday I could try them tomorrow.

Halfords, Eurocar parts and GFS dont list 7PK 1593 for this year of Disco.

[John F]

That would be ace Doug, thanks!

 

The belt is the correct part number according to my mate, so it doesn't matter whether they've got it listed as being for that year or not.

 

The fault came about when his alternator pulley fell to pieces on the way up to Scotland, he's got hold of another alternator (which might be from a later year Disco, it certainly has a larger pulley) which is why this belt problem has occurred.

 

The 7PK 1593 belt seems to be used for lots of different vehicles, see ebay listing below...

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GATES-7PK1593-ALTERNATOR-DRIVE-BELT-TOYOTA-PREVIA-RAV4-SPORTSVAN-2-0-16V-2-4-16V-/262941135650?hash=item3d38835322:g:wbcAAOSwSypY9gDG

 

Do you mind if I PM you gdhaydock's number? He's with the vehicle (and its owner), it would be easier if you take up the matter with them.

[John F]

Hooli, on 29 Apr 2017 - 5:47 PM, said:

If it's not fly-by-wire (as the autos & later manuals are) then you can replace the stop solenoid with a bolt & run it with no electrickery at all. I believe a pp9 9v battery bodged in will also keep it running.

 

No heater/lights/stereo etc to be used of course.

 

Ta for the suggestion!

 

He's going to need lights, but if all else fails my mate says he'll get his battery charged on Zippy's Disco & do the stop solenoid bodge on his one to reduce the load on the battery.

 

EDIT: nope, it's not an option, the belt also drives the water pump

[DVee8]

Do they have anywere to stay tonight?

[John F]

Yep, they're up there on a scuba diving trip... the problem is going to occur when they need to get back to West Yorks (presumably tomorrow night, since lights are apparently going to be needed).

[Rusty_Rocket]

If it helps-

 

Disco' 300TDi serp belts

 

1994-1996 - ERR3287 or 7PK1595.  Alternator is YLE101113

1996-             ERR5911 or 7PK1580.  Alternator is AMR4248.

 

Alternators are interchangeable if you swap the pulley.. maybe not so helpful in your friend's case..

[alf892]

You won't get a belt at bloody halfords.......maybe worth talking to a few locals to find independent parts places open on a Sunday.

 

Or see if there are any 4x4 'exeperience' type places you could scrounge one off?

[KruJoe]

Does Zippy have his tow pole with him?

 

 

Alternatively, do you have any Landy forum buddies up that way?

[Captain Furious]

Is it a ribbed v-belt? If so they usually have numbers on them which relate to the number of ribs and length, might be worth checking out stores for ones which might not be the exact right one, but 'close enough' that they'll go on

 

You normally get a certain amount of tolerance in the tensioner.

[cobblers]

Is it a ribbed v-belt? If so they usually have numbers on them which relate to the number of ribs and length, might be worth checking out stores for ones which might not be the exact right one, but 'close enough' that they'll go on

 

 

 

 

7PK 1593 = 7 ribs, 1593mm long.

 

AFAIK 6PK, 5PK have the same rib pitch so will fit. As above with length, there's usually leeway either side of the size.

[Matt]

Shit wish I had seen this sooner. I'll drop a message to a LR nut friend of mine and see if he can help source one. Someone want to drop me a PM with one of their numbers if they still need help?

[KruJoe]

Matt, PM incoming...

[Matt]

Just been asked if it has air con or not if anyone happens to know.

[Matt]

I got a hold of Skippy thanks to KruJoe and it sounds like they are sorted. They've managed to get a smaller belt to fit.

[doug]

Good stuff!!

[Guest Hooli]

Ta for the suggestion!

 

He's going to need lights, but if all else fails my mate says he'll get his battery charged on Zippy's Disco & do the stop solenoid bodge on his one to reduce the load on the battery.

 

EDIT: nope, it's not an option, the belt also drives the water pump

 

Bugger forgot about the waterpump.

 

Good to hear it's sorted anyway.

[John F]

Yep, I've just spoken to Zippy... they had the Disco running for half an hour last night & it seemed OK, no signs of HGF at this point.

 

On the lads' behalf, thanks to you all for your help & input, this place is genuinely ace

[beko1987]

Hope they get home ok (or at least closer to home!)

[gdhaydock]

All home now - cheers to everyone involved.

 

For once it wasn't my motor which let us down though  

[overrun]

Great stuff!

[knacklers yard]

Howdy chaps / chappess's,

 

First off, yeah, it was me suffering mechanical shenanegans. Big cheers to all who took part in the replies and offers of arseistance, it's appreciated, even tho at the time I had no idea it was happening.

 

So, if yer like stories, read on, if yer's not bothered about stories, accept the above as thanks!

 

Friday, all set for a bank holiday on the Isle of Whithorn, with hopefully some diving to do........

 

The folk's pilfered caravan hitched up to the back of the disco, 10 hundred weight of diving kit stuffed in the back, the missus, the child, and the two hounds, off we set from West Yorkshire at 4pm. 

 

A pain in the arse of traffic through Shipley, Saltaire, Keighley, and a complete muppet of a ditherer pretty much the length of the A65.

 

M6 saw a steady 55mph, dropping to 50ish climbing Shap, then steady away up to Carlisle.

A75 towards Dumfries, small inconvenience of a load of roundabouts, but at that time it wasn't too busy.

Couple of hours later saw the turn off at Newton stewart, and onto the winding roads 20 miles off Whithorn.

 

Now, this is where stuff began to surface.......

 

Being the sort of cheapskate I am, couple of years back I had an unrelated alternator issue. This necessitated a rebuild of a spare alternator so it worked, using a regulator of suspect origin. (the rectifier was changed so it worked)

Now this regulator, although it allowed the alternator to charge, it didn't give me a charge warning light or rev counter. This was to be the first downfall........

 

Somewhere down these winding little roads, with little more than a couple of degrees of steering wheel movement every so often, it became sort of apparent that maybe the steering wasn't as light as it possibly could have been......

Confirmed on a tighter corner than usual, the steering was heavy.

Cock.

I've lost power steering. Better stop and check.

 

Suitable (closed) car dealer forecourt found, in some obscure village I forget the name of, we pulled in. Engine left running, bonnet popped, to discover the fan belt had disappeared.

 

Ballcocks.

 

Engine shut off, and the immediate kittling of boiling water in the block ensued.

 

Ahhhhshiittt.

 

a quick diagnosis revealed a seized alternator pulley.

 

Bollocks.

 

Approx 15 seconds codgitation on how to get the water circulating through the rad, and an idea pops up.

Being a cheapskate, (did I mention that earlier?) and making a chunk of me own diving tackle, I had a bunch of snoopyloops kicking about under the drivers seat.

 

(now, i'll explain what I did, but I aint saying what a snoopyloop is just yet )

 

Long shot I thought, but a snoopyloop from the crank pulley to the water pump pulley, might just save me a boiled engine. Burny hands and arms stretching the thing between the two pulleys, fired the engine up (which only just started due to lack of charging for the last feck knows how long!), and wow! The snoopyloop turns the pump!

 

Twylight is fast approaching, and aware we've not got much umph left in the battery, not helped by an extra 8 sidelights hanging off the towball, a quick broken phonecall to the zipmeister, and we decide to push for the last 13 miles to the site.

 

Leaving the dim ambience of the obscure village's street lighting, the realisation hit us it was actually darker than we thought. This was confirmed when the narrow twisty turny road, plunged us into a forrest. Well, it was actually a wood, with maybe a couple of dozen trees, but piloting 2 ton of disco, with another 18 feet of tin tent behind, while trying to drive with as low revs as possible to keep the snoopyloop in place, while trying to maintain enough momentum to keep going, hoping like fuck that no one came the opposite direction and failed to see the half candle power of light hidden behind a glass bowl with half a million Scottish midges stuck to it...........

 

Whithorn!

 

9 miles later, now dark, Whithorn has a really nice wide main street, going slightly up hill.

 

This is just as well, cos' this is where the snoopyloop decided to jump off. (only way of monitoring if it was still there, was by driving with the heaters on hot, feeling the waft of hot air coming out the vents. Halfway up the main street, they started blowing cold)

 

Common sense prevailed, and I drove to the top of the main street, stopped, and shut the engine off. By now, the front sidelights on the van were barely visible, the disco sidelights were a backlit feeble glow of yellow with a tint of red through the splattering of midge. Fortunately, the top tail lights on the van looked like some LED light, giving off a healthy indication of our presence, unlike the indicator / brakelight cluster, that might have resembled a token gesture of an extinguished candle.

 

Spare snoopyloop at the ready, the bonnet popped, and sat there on the top hose was the previous snoopyloop!

 

Duly reattached with burny hands again, we didn't even attempt the starter. The entire rig rolled backwards down the main street, ignition already on, gearstick in the backwards position, and a quick dump of the clutch, fired into life.

 

I'd already had the forethought to dig my diving lights out. Just as well really, as the road was impossible to navigate now, not being able to tell where the tarmac ended and the hedgerow / wall / fence started. Also fortunately, I have a handle for the sunroof. Unlike the electric windows, which now refused to go down, I could open the sunroof, and freeze the hand off the missus by making her shine a divelight onto the road. Apologies to the two cars that flashed me coming the other direction, I don't know if you were trying to tell me I had no lights, or if you got blinded by 47 watts of LED divelight.

Either way, I couldn't put the window down to wave at you!

 

3 miles later, we pulled up onto the Isle of Whithorn, dumped everything in the field, and went to the pub.

 

Saturday saw the search for an alternator, which is pretty much where this thread originated from.

 

And finally, before some pictures, Joe suggested Zip's solid tow pole.

Yes, we had it. It was actually on my roof rack, as it's my towing pole.

Unfortunately it was next to useless, as the Zipmeister was 13 miles away, and in a pub. Pissed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KruJoe]

Blimey, what a pickle.

 

Zipmeister was ... in a pub. Pissed!

You surprise me!

 

Anyhoo, glad you're all back home safe now.

[John F]

Ha!

 

I see what you mean when you said your "alternator pulley had spun on the shaft" now.

 

That's fucked.