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Dollywobbler's Lexus - £SOLD


dollywobbler

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I'll see your Lexus alternator and raise you a Clio 182. Bumper and headlight off are required to get at it!

I'll see your 182 alternator and raise you a RenaultSport Megane 225 starter motor. Engine out according to the factory Renault service manual!

 

Reading that put me off buying a cheap one.

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A bit academic if you've already ordered a replacement alt, but the slip ring on mine looked fairly worn. I figured that since it had taken over 100k miles to get to that stage, it would probably be good for another 20k miles, or at least another 4 years of my average annual mileage. You can apparently get replacement slip rings for very little, I've no idea how much of a faff they are to fit mind. The complete replacement regulator just went on with 3 bolts and a feeler gauge (or more likely knowing me, a paring knife) to hold the brushes in while you feed it on.

 

Edit: and while we're willy waving about doing well hard jobs, Mk3 Mondeo V6 requires unbolting and/or removing inner wheelarch liner, track rod end and ARB drop link.

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I'll probably rebuild the original alternator, but in my own good time (ha! like that will ever happen). That way, I've either got a spare, or a sellable recon unit. 

 

Getting the alternator undone was very easy, but it would have been a lot easier to remove from the car if I'd dropped the anti roll bar off, OR removed the power steering pump, OR removed the cooling fan, OR the entire rad assembly and a couple of hoses. I'm not looking forward to trying to get the new alternator back in again. I had gravity on my side to get it out...

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Easy? It took me almost an hour to get it out! And that was after I'd actually unbolted it from the engine.

 

I really must work on my typed sarcasm skills :D

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To be honest, getting the one in the Lada out (it ate one of its brushes), I had to remove the under tray...

 

Then I discovered that Thor himself had tightened the retaining bolts.

 

Ended up with the radiator and thermostat housing out so I could get the 3/4" driver and a 6' long breaker bar on it!

 

...then ended up taking the rest of the engine bay apart and fitting fuel injection while I already had half of it apart.

 

Brush pack was all of £2.50 I think and took about 30 seconds to fit to the alternator though!

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I must admit, I'm not sure what I was whinging about. With the radiator cowling off (after I broke it...), it was easy to lower the alternator down, balance it on the anti-roll bar, reconnect the wires and hang it back in place. The most difficult bit was remembering the routing for the enormous serpentine belt (had to resort to The Internet). The most annoying bit was having to crawl under the car when the ground is absolutely sodden.

 

I'm sure running without the cowling will be fine through the winter months. The cooling fan won't be operating very efficiently without it, but meh. I'll have to get my hands on another one. I'll be using the Lexus for a trip to Devon this weekend. Let's hope it behaves.

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You usually knock vicious fans off with a sharp crack with a long punch on one of the hex corners . Need to find if it's lh or rh thread first

 

Oh and did you get your stickers ?

 

I did. Sorry, forgot to mention it! Naturally, none of them have made it anywhere near a car yet, but then I think they're all due a service about now...

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Hai DW.

 

I just watched your alternator replacement video and managed to snip the screen when you were naughtily displaying some engine porn.

 

The S-shaped bit is the bit we (i.e. my father and I) replaced, because the smaller bit attached to the part circled in red snapped off and created an EML light via a vacuum leak of sorts and, in the right condition, a moshing rev needle.

 

post-19970-0-46249900-1510941829_thumb.jpg

 

This may explain why the jubilee clips look so shineh.

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Very boring.

Devon was achieved.

DO_3PqYXkAE6IpV.jpg

 

Some hours later, Wales was achieved.

DPBEIROW4AELQ2S.jpg

 

In between, much waftage and gratuitous use of the Cruise Control.

 

Conclusions.

The suspension really is quite shite. I may actually have to do something about that.

 

The front brakes really are quite shite. I may actually have to do something about that.

 

The tensioner for the aux belt is really quite shite. I may actually have to do something about that.

 

There is an exhaust leak, possibly manifold on one bank. I may actually have to do something about that.

 

I have a set of clear indicators for it. That's clearly the priority.

 

It isn't much fun to drive on twisty Welsh roads, due to the aforementioned suspension and brake issues. It's great on the motorway though, where I genuinely believe it might be possible to touch the dizzy heights of 35mpg if I stuck to 60mph. Sadly, any motorway fuel savings are very much wiped out by asking it to haul its heavy arse up Welsh hills.

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Very boring.

Devon was achieved.

DO_3PqYXkAE6IpV.jpg

 

Some hours later, Wales was achieved.

DPBEIROW4AELQ2S.jpg

 

In between, much waftage and gratuitous use of the Cruise Control.

 

Conclusions.

The suspension really is quite shite. I may actually have to do something about that.

 

The front brakes really are quite shite. I may actually have to do something about that.

 

The tensioner for the aux belt is really quite shite. I may actually have to do something about that.

 

There is an exhaust leak, possibly manifold on one bank. I may actually have to do something about that.

 

I have a set of clear indicators for it. That's clearly the priority.

 

It isn't much fun to drive on twisty Welsh roads, due to the aforementioned suspension and brake issues. It's great on the motorway though, where I genuinely believe it might be possible to touch the dizzy heights of 35mpg if I stuck to 60mph. Sadly, any motorway fuel savings are very much wiped out by asking it to haul its heavy arse up Welsh hills.

most important

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  • 3 weeks later...

Turns out auxiliary belt tensioners are like bleedin' rocking horse shit for these. Plenty for pre-1995, plenty for post-1997. None for the year I own. Typical!

 

Mind you, it was a bloody nice feeling when I FINALLY got the old one out. What a pain in the arse. First of all, remove almost everything.

DQXZrx0X0AAjfy0.jpg

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