I love it when you fix things by breaking them!

[philoldsmobile]

over the last few weeks, my 166 has been having erratic flat battery symptoms. The battery on it was far too small, and was of unknown origins, so I went to autolusso (local alfa garage and breaker) for a replacement.

found a used battery of decent capacity, and fitted it, all good. On the way home, the temp gauge started acting up, it would rocket into the red in a matter of seconds, but if you stopped the engine, then immediately re started it would be back to normal for a few miles - the engine was showing no signs of over heating and was running fine.

when I got home, the battery was sounding flat again, so a call to Days Mk for advice suggested I had a bad earth somewhere. Apparently there are two major ones in the engine bay, one by the cylinder head (that was fine) and one on the trans mount - the main one.

sure enough, i took off the front wheel, and right there by the rubber mount, on the bracket was the main earth strap looking pretty grotty. HA! i thought, so grabbed my spanner, and before I had even turned it, the bolt head fell (not sheared, FELL) off. needless to say, the earth strap was filthy and not making good contact. no problem, I center dotted the bolt, drilled through it and broke out the easy-outs.

this is where it all started to go horribly wrong..

the easy out broke off in the bolt, leaving me with a gnarled ultra hard stub, right where the hole should be. 2½ hours of drilling, drifting, punching later, the lug the earth strap attaches to broke off....

thinking on my feet, I looked at the three bolts that hold the bracket to the gearbox. concluding there should be no detrimental effect, I removed the top one (nice and long) opened out the hole in the earth strap, and secured it using the mounting bolt.

well, the bolt still had plenty of thread to tighten down perfectly, the smooth machined surface under it made the perfect earthing place, and whats more, the strap was the prefect length to secure there.

net result? temp gauge behaves perfectly, and the starter motor spins the engine over faster than it has ever done, all electrical systems working perfectly!

oh well, end result could have been a lot worse!

[HardRockCamaro]

As an FYI the correct battery for your car is 700CCA's.

They're £59.50 brand new at the battery place where I was working (bit less to you for cash).

I finally put the right battery on the Camaro before I sold it, proper side mount 72 A/h jobbie.  Didn't now where to get one back in the day and the whole time I could have got one from the shop downstairs...  

[Incursus]

Love it when a plan comes together

[philoldsmobile]

Quoting: HardRockCamaro

As an FYI the correct battery for your car is 700CCA's.

They're £59.50 brand new at the battery place where I was working (bit less to you for cash).

i paid £15 for a Bosch with 640cca

that should hold me untill work picks back up and I get the correct one...

I cant grumble, so far (2 years / 17,000 miles this month) this car has been really good! different world to the blue one!

[Gator]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

autolusso

LOL even their grease monkeys are pretentious

[Fieldy]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

2 years

You've owned that car for 2 years?

[philoldsmobile]

yup, doesn't seem possible eh?

[HardRockCamaro]

Come on Phirrip, what have you spent on that car in the last 2 years in terms of maintenance, repairs, servicing and so on (ie everything but petrol).

I'm curious...

[Fieldy]

I don't believe it has been 2 years since he bought it.....

[philoldsmobile]

Quoting: HardRockCamaro

Come on Phirrip, what have you spent on that car in the last 2 years in terms of maintenance, repairs, servicing and so on (ie everything but petrol).

I'm curious...

uhhh, 1  standard service @ £186

2x upper wishbones @ £125 each fitted
1x Rad @ £120
2x front tyres £120 pair
1x thermostat  @£48
1x clutch at £690 fitted
1 set front brake pads @£79
1x battery @ £15 (used)
1x air con pump (old one ruined by kwik fit) @£50 (used - autolusso) and about £100 fitting

thats it, it had a service FOC with the sale, and its just coming up to the major service in april / may

air con pump was used because new they are £1100, and they rarely fail, so finding a good used one is easy (been on 18 months now with no problems)

non essential;

Novitec front spoiler €280 + about £50 in paint
wheels £125

thats about it.. the clutch was the real wounder, other than that, nothing strikes me as unusual or expensive.

[philoldsmobile]

its made a couple of decent distance forays into mainland Yerp, Hesdin and Auban St Vaast in central northern France (not that far from Le torquet) - round trip of c. 500 miles, the car proving to be an excellent mile muncher, smooth quiet and easy.

bought with 70,074 miles on the clock, now at 87,300

will haul 100 bottles of wine with ease!