Hi

On the way to my vacation home on the Belgium coast, about 35 km before arrival on the highway, the drive belt for the alternator, PS and AC went off due to blocked AC compressor. I only heard a snap , no abnormal indications , no low voltage or charging warning lamps ?? Is that normal ? All my other cars when having such issues brought a charging warning up. This one makes me feel uncomfortable now as I will not be able to get any warning if the alternator fails until the batterie is flat and the car stops somewhere.

By the way, finding a Voyager drive belt with 7 rips and being 1.395 or 1.400 long isn't easy if you don't have time to order it via Internet ( E-Bay ), but I managed after several tel calls . Disconnected the Compressor by removing it's connecting rubber wheel between it and the PS pump , installing a new Gates belt and home I drove with it.

Rgds Günther

 

Hi

Nobody who can tell me if his car brings up a charging awrning light when the alternator is U/S or the serpentine drive belt is off ?

Rgds Günther

 

In the USA it will(turn on battery light) on our motors, NOT sure what EU spec, year,motor you have.

 

Hi

That's minimum I expected as well. Will have to check if this light exists at all.

I guess there shouldn't be a big difference between our cars as the 'door ajar ' light exists on my one and ' ajar' is not a usual word over here. Actually many don't know what exactly it means.

Is this battery light included on the top indication bar above the instrument panel ?

Rgds Günther

Edit. Sorry, you're right. It's a grand voyager 3 from 1996 witht eh 2.5 liter diesel engine. The italian VM engine actually.

 

sounds like MANY differences between USA and yours. We never had a diesel motor option! And for the couple of post 95's I have owned, the battery light is in the main instrument cluster. Just turn the key to the run position(not engage starter) and look for a RED battery icon.

 

Hi

OK, that is a difference. This diesel engine is build by VM Motori in Italy . The car was assembled in Austria ( if I remember right now ). The engine is a truck engine, 4 cylinder with 4 ea cylinder heads made from alu. Never saw an engine like that. The valve drive is by chain and this is an issue as it breaks sometimes from 50.000 km upwards. When I bought the car, I was told that the chain is maintenance free, hence I didn't worry. At 240.000 km, it broke from my vacation trip back home about 30 km from home. It holed the cover and oil was on the street . Before it broke, the car lost power especially driving uphill , but I misinterpreted this for a failing turbo compressor. The engine also heated up to max temp and I had to watch this. Well finally the chain broke.
Chain was replaced by me with a new cover, all valve pushrods got replaced as well as they were bent ( valves are 100% in line with the pistons, hence do not get damaged ) and off it drove another 20.000 km until it started to loose cooling water. Actually, the water got burned up , so I removed all 4 ea heads , got them pressure tested and 1 was leaking . As I didn't want to keep the car for much longer, I decided to only replace that 1 ea. The car now has 295.000 km down and still drives like a champ. I suspect the cylinder head leaking due to overheating when I drove with the failing chain . Guess the injection timing was well off with the lengthened chain before it finally broke.

Actually offtopic, sorry for that.

rgds Günther

 

That is fine being a little off topic. It is your thread, and nice to converse with someone from EU!