I was driving my 3dr Abarth this morning at about 20MPH, when I heard a 'tearing' sort of sound from under the bonnet, rapidly followed by "Alternator failure - drive slowly to dealer" appearing on my dash - I then lost power steering (and believe me, Stilos without PAS are *damn* heavy) and air-con.
I pulled into a side-road and investigated.
I could see that a drive belt was shredded and had come off the pulleys - 'twas the main belt, which in turn drives a pulley to drive the alternator etc.
So, I called the AA again - twice in a week :-(
Credit to the AA - with me in 20 minutes and a friendly mechanic agreed with my diagnosis and proceeded to remove the wheel arch liner to take the belt off.
I had pulled-up, intentionally, next to Halfords and this was opportune. Surprise surprise - they didn't have the correct belt in stock (what's a Stilo sir ?), but myself and the AA man proceeded to go through all the belts on show to find one as similar as possible.
We found one that was slightly too small. He removed an idler wheel and the belt fitted and works OK as a temporary fix until the proper one can be fitted with the idler wheel refitted.
Now what *really* pisses me off is the fact that this was wholly avoidable. Regulars may recall that my Stilo has had a complete new engine, due to head gasket failure at 12,000 miles. Co-Op Fiat Derby have only gone and fitted the old drive belts which clearly show wear and cracking. That and the reason the belt shredded in the first place is that when they fitted the new engine, a metal clip holding a coolant pipe was incorrectly fitted and has been rubbing on the drive belt all the time, slowly abraiding it away !
Is there no end to the ineptitude of said dealership ? Will they ever employ competent spanner monkeys ?
Suffice it to say that one extemely cross Stilo owner will be paying a visit to said dealership tomorrow morning, with a face like thunder. I'm just waiting for them to tell me that they don't keep the belt in stock and it will have to be ordered, to which I will say, "Sorry. I couldn't care less. Your screw-up. You fix it. Now. I don't care how you get a new belt - take one off the car in the showroom, but I am not leaving here until you DO fix it".
*Sigh*
--
Neil Barker
I pulled into a side-road and investigated.
I could see that a drive belt was shredded and had come off the pulleys - 'twas the main belt, which in turn drives a pulley to drive the alternator etc.
So, I called the AA again - twice in a week :-(
Credit to the AA - with me in 20 minutes and a friendly mechanic agreed with my diagnosis and proceeded to remove the wheel arch liner to take the belt off.
I had pulled-up, intentionally, next to Halfords and this was opportune. Surprise surprise - they didn't have the correct belt in stock (what's a Stilo sir ?), but myself and the AA man proceeded to go through all the belts on show to find one as similar as possible.
We found one that was slightly too small. He removed an idler wheel and the belt fitted and works OK as a temporary fix until the proper one can be fitted with the idler wheel refitted.
Now what *really* pisses me off is the fact that this was wholly avoidable. Regulars may recall that my Stilo has had a complete new engine, due to head gasket failure at 12,000 miles. Co-Op Fiat Derby have only gone and fitted the old drive belts which clearly show wear and cracking. That and the reason the belt shredded in the first place is that when they fitted the new engine, a metal clip holding a coolant pipe was incorrectly fitted and has been rubbing on the drive belt all the time, slowly abraiding it away !
Is there no end to the ineptitude of said dealership ? Will they ever employ competent spanner monkeys ?
Suffice it to say that one extemely cross Stilo owner will be paying a visit to said dealership tomorrow morning, with a face like thunder. I'm just waiting for them to tell me that they don't keep the belt in stock and it will have to be ordered, to which I will say, "Sorry. I couldn't care less. Your screw-up. You fix it. Now. I don't care how you get a new belt - take one off the car in the showroom, but I am not leaving here until you DO fix it".
*Sigh*
--
Neil Barker
