A stroke of luck

[360beast]

Well out of a bad situation everything fell in to place.

I had just picked some family up from the train station, I was a few streets from home when my battery, SRS and ABS light all came on, I knew straight away that it was the alternator belt that had snapped.

I got home and opened the bonnet to find the belt lying on the undertray.

I had just received my new Gates belt for the power steering, luckily it happened to be the same as the gates belt on the alternator.

I don't have any tools at home, yet today I received my new 3/8 ratchet set so I brought my old set home.

10 mins later on the drive and the new alternator belt is on. Luckily I had removed my A/C belt and left it off when I did the cambelt as it has a massive leak so I left it off until I sort it out. This made the job a lot easier as I found the A/C belt to be a bit of a pain to remove.

So there you go, everything was just meant to be on that one.

I also had a listen while the engine was running to bed the belt in a bit and my engine sounds very tappety, also the brake servo hose has almost rubbed through on a part of the brake fluid reservoir.

You win some and you lose some

[Stephen Edwin]

The "new problems" are just ordinary care jobs that you have discovered early by diligent listening and so you can fix them.

3/8 drive, yes. Most of my car work is done with 3/8 drive. It covers a large range of socket sizes, gives access to many places, what's not to like? Yes I use 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 also.

Re the belts. I change all the belts when I change the cambelt. Job done. I change the coolant hoses including heater hoses every second cambelt change.
.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by 360beast

I also had a listen while the engine was running to bed the belt in a bit and my engine sounds very tappety, also the brake servo hose has almost rubbed through on a part of the brake fluid reservoir.

You win some and you lose some

A couple of simple fixes there Luke! Replace the brake servo hose with a new length of hose ( think it's 10mm bore from memory, don't forget to get the reinforced stuff for vacuum) and while you're about it, fit a second Non-Return Valve in the hose, a bit closer to the manifold - the valve built into the servo connection has a habit of leaking, especially on higher mileage cars.

As for the tappety sound, add 0.5L of synthetic ATF to the engine oil when there's room to do so. Unless your tappets are way out of adjustment (unlikely) this will help clean off the gum/residue that collects on the valve guides, valves etc and often stops them closing completely. It worked on my B280E and also on my last 740 with a B230E, neither of which have hydraulic tappets which is usually why i'd suggest adding some ATF to the engine oil.
It also revitalises the rubber seals so can cure minor oil leaks and help prevent further leaks.

Even if the ATF doesn't cure the tappets and you still need to adjust them in 1-2000 miles or so, at least you'll be safe in the knowledge that the valves are closing completely and not just almost closing because of dirt on the valve guides etc.