Cambo_oldjaguar
15th January 2016, 09:01 PM
So this happend this morning....
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/410.jpg
Wife called me 5 minutes after she left the house "car just made a loud whizzing / whirring noise" no warnings on the dash and after she pulled over the sound had disappeared. No idea at the time what had happened.
She got another 15 minutes down the road, called again. Dashboard had lit up light a Christmas Tree, every possible warning under the sun flashing in the instrument cluster; Gearbox Fault, Traction Not Available, HDC Not Available, etc... she had pulled over somewhere, shut it down and it would not start again.
I figured the Haldex had just crapped itself, so I set off to swap cars with her, and deal with it. Off she went in the XJR, I hopped in the LR2 and wow, the battery is completely dead. I have Alex' updated instrument cluster so I was looking at the voltage on the trip computer. 11.6V, then with the lights on 10.5V, hit the starter and it fell to 6V-something before the dash blanked out.
Get it towed home, hook up my 40A power supply and bam! Starts up immediately, no warning messages, no funny noises, just running perfectly. So I leave the battery charging for a bit, come back and start it again, watching the voltage in the instrument cluster it's dropping pretty quickly as the car's running. Not charging and running everything off the battery.
So I have a closer look and the alternator pulley is not spinning. But I can just see the shaft that the pulley mounts to, and it's spinning away. So the pulley on the gearbox for the accessory drive is loose...
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/411.jpg
Funny that there's no warning on the dash about the charge...
Anyhow, I recognise the problem, but it's a bastard to fix... having just swapped out the alternator only months ago I remember it too well...
So straight in, rip it all off...
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/412.jpg
Funny how it's much faster/easier the second time...
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/413.jpg
Alternator, once the intake manifold is gone.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/414.jpg
And there's the pulley, the bolt is totally loose not even finger tight. :censored: :censored: :censored:
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/415.jpg
Not a trace of any threadlocker on the bolt.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/416.jpg
And because there is no keyway on the pulley, it relies on the bolt being tight. Awesome engineering Volvo!
So I need to put it back on. And make sure it never comes off again...
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/417.jpg
Lots of Loctite all over the bolt and in the socket of the pulley. But there is a problem, I can't torque the bolt because I end up turning over the engine :censored: I need a strap wrench or something. Quick look through the toolbox and I find an oil filter wrench. PERFECT!!!
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/418.jpg
This thing is never coming off now, well not without an oxy torch...
So that was that. But now that I had half the engine apart, I suppose I should change the accessory drive belt which was kind of due now-ish anyhow.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/419.jpg
This turned out to be an absolute bastard of a job, took me several hours which is kind of appaling after I had everything apart and the alternator pulley sorted in less than an hour. But it's done now...
I also changed the spark plugs, and put in a new thermostat. For me thermostats have a very limited life. I expect them all to fail at 8-10 years or from 160'000kms onwards. Not quite at that point yet but while it's all in bits and in the hope that I never ever have to do this again, it's all done now.
Once it was all back together, I had a revelation.
Since we'd owned this car it always made a bit of a whining sound from the engine, I just figured it was the ridiculous gear drive set up on the Volvo engine. But after fixing the alternator pulley, and replacing the aux drive belt and tensioner pulley, the sound was gone! It just sounded like a nice, quiet, normal engine. I was really shocked!
So listen up. If you have an i6 / Si6 Freelander, or a Volvo with the same engine, and you can here a whining sound from the engine, it's probably this crappy alternator pulley slipping. Get in and fix it, despite the awfulness of the job, you'll be happy with the newly quiet engine, and knowing that you won't find yourself without an alternator. AND I must say, you probably won't have to replace your alternator like I did some months back.
Yes in hindsight I think that the slipping pulley probably contributed to the alternator dying. If it's not spinning fast enough then the voltage regulator is probably going to be working overtime to keep the power up. If it gets overworked...
I never touched this bolt when I swapped out the alternator prior. Why
would I?
Lesson learned....
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/410.jpg
Wife called me 5 minutes after she left the house "car just made a loud whizzing / whirring noise" no warnings on the dash and after she pulled over the sound had disappeared. No idea at the time what had happened.
She got another 15 minutes down the road, called again. Dashboard had lit up light a Christmas Tree, every possible warning under the sun flashing in the instrument cluster; Gearbox Fault, Traction Not Available, HDC Not Available, etc... she had pulled over somewhere, shut it down and it would not start again.
I figured the Haldex had just crapped itself, so I set off to swap cars with her, and deal with it. Off she went in the XJR, I hopped in the LR2 and wow, the battery is completely dead. I have Alex' updated instrument cluster so I was looking at the voltage on the trip computer. 11.6V, then with the lights on 10.5V, hit the starter and it fell to 6V-something before the dash blanked out.
Get it towed home, hook up my 40A power supply and bam! Starts up immediately, no warning messages, no funny noises, just running perfectly. So I leave the battery charging for a bit, come back and start it again, watching the voltage in the instrument cluster it's dropping pretty quickly as the car's running. Not charging and running everything off the battery.
So I have a closer look and the alternator pulley is not spinning. But I can just see the shaft that the pulley mounts to, and it's spinning away. So the pulley on the gearbox for the accessory drive is loose...
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/411.jpg
Funny that there's no warning on the dash about the charge...
Anyhow, I recognise the problem, but it's a bastard to fix... having just swapped out the alternator only months ago I remember it too well...
So straight in, rip it all off...
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/412.jpg
Funny how it's much faster/easier the second time...
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/413.jpg
Alternator, once the intake manifold is gone.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/414.jpg
And there's the pulley, the bolt is totally loose not even finger tight. :censored: :censored: :censored:
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/415.jpg
Not a trace of any threadlocker on the bolt.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/416.jpg
And because there is no keyway on the pulley, it relies on the bolt being tight. Awesome engineering Volvo!
So I need to put it back on. And make sure it never comes off again...
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/417.jpg
Lots of Loctite all over the bolt and in the socket of the pulley. But there is a problem, I can't torque the bolt because I end up turning over the engine :censored: I need a strap wrench or something. Quick look through the toolbox and I find an oil filter wrench. PERFECT!!!
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/418.jpg
This thing is never coming off now, well not without an oxy torch...
So that was that. But now that I had half the engine apart, I suppose I should change the accessory drive belt which was kind of due now-ish anyhow.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/419.jpg
This turned out to be an absolute bastard of a job, took me several hours which is kind of appaling after I had everything apart and the alternator pulley sorted in less than an hour. But it's done now...
I also changed the spark plugs, and put in a new thermostat. For me thermostats have a very limited life. I expect them all to fail at 8-10 years or from 160'000kms onwards. Not quite at that point yet but while it's all in bits and in the hope that I never ever have to do this again, it's all done now.
Once it was all back together, I had a revelation.
Since we'd owned this car it always made a bit of a whining sound from the engine, I just figured it was the ridiculous gear drive set up on the Volvo engine. But after fixing the alternator pulley, and replacing the aux drive belt and tensioner pulley, the sound was gone! It just sounded like a nice, quiet, normal engine. I was really shocked!
So listen up. If you have an i6 / Si6 Freelander, or a Volvo with the same engine, and you can here a whining sound from the engine, it's probably this crappy alternator pulley slipping. Get in and fix it, despite the awfulness of the job, you'll be happy with the newly quiet engine, and knowing that you won't find yourself without an alternator. AND I must say, you probably won't have to replace your alternator like I did some months back.
Yes in hindsight I think that the slipping pulley probably contributed to the alternator dying. If it's not spinning fast enough then the voltage regulator is probably going to be working overtime to keep the power up. If it gets overworked...
I never touched this bolt when I swapped out the alternator prior. Why
would I?
Lesson learned....