: Information
Customer Tips

Please select from the list below: Alternator / Starter Motor Tips Braking Tips Cooling Tips Fan Belt Tips Fuel Tips Shock Absorber Tips

Alternator / Starter Motor Tips

5% of Alternators fitted to vehicles with a discharged battery will FAIL within 30 minutes. Great you’ve bought an alternator. You can now fit it and forget it, not quite true, you must first make sure your battery is fully charged, if it isn’t; the alternator isn’t and can’t cope with handling both electric’s on the vehicle and the charging of a flat battery, the likely result, the alternator will overload and blow the rectifier. Rendering the unit useless. Alternators and oil don’t mix! Can you imagine pouring a few pints of oil into your washing machine motor, it would’t last long! There are two ways it damages the Alternator.

1. Oil gets between the brushes and the slip rings, causing them to shred and form a paste.
2. The oil impregnates the stator and as the alternator operates, it prevents the heat generated from dissipating therefore causing overheating and failure of the unit.

Alternator fitting
Common wiring mistakes. What happens when…? You put the earth lead to the phase terminal by mistake! The alternator will not charge, however if you lucky this will not damage the alternator. You put the suppresser lead to the warning light terminal and the warning light lead to the suppresser terminal. The unit will not work’ also when the ignition is turned off the warning light will glow, this won’t damage the alternator. You put the suppresser lead to the phase terminal. Radio suppressers pass AC current and although the unit may work, an additional load is placed upon the alternator and in particular the rectifier. You put the warning light lead to an earth terminal. The warning light will be on all the time, the alternator may charge at high revs but damage often occurs to the rectifier. You put the main feed to the warning light terminal. This will damage the alternator permanently.

Starter Motor Loading

Diesels in general can be poor starting. The cranking time on a diesel with just one heater plug faulty can be tripled, causing excessive wear to the starter motor and possible failure through internal components melting with the load. Some diesel car manufactures advise that if a vehicle doesn’t start within 10 seconds the starter should be allowed to ‘cool’ before attempting to start the vehicle again. Another ‘Killer’ of diesel starters occurs when the vehicles run out of fuel. The temptation is for the driver to fuel up and try to ‘crank’ the engine until it starts. Unfortunately the armature melts first. See further on for how to bleed diesel fuel systems of air! Starter Motors running in Mesh Causes : Ignition switch sticking or starter relay problem.

1. Blue (overheated) drive or armature
2. Slipping Drive
3. Teeth ‘Chewed’ by ring gear.
4. A strong smell of burning ,often the armature will have exploded causing loose fragments of metal to drop from the nose cone.

It can quite often be an intermittent fault which causes a problem. So after fitting the replacement unit the vehicle can be ok, for some weeks or even months before the problem re occurs. Most common cause of Starter Failure is : Damage to teeth!

Damage to solenoid caps.
A large quantity of starters returned under warranty have been damaged by a ring spanner. You must use a socket when fitted the main feed. A loose main feed which has overheated and will burn the solenoid cap. This starter you sold me is noisy! The distance between the starter motor drive teeth and the ring gear is critical. Starter motors locate into the main gearbox housing n two different ways in order to maintain this correct positioning.

1. The unit has a raised circle of a precise diameter which locates into the gearbox.
   
   or
   
   
2. The unit has a locating dowel which is situated between the gearbox and the starter which ensures correct alignment of the unit.

If either the locating dowel is damaged or missing or the starter is not located correctly in the gearbox then the unit will be noisy on the vehicle during operation.

Braking Tips

Poor Braking?
Rovers are extremely heavy vehicles making them very tough on brake pads and brake discs. We’ve found that depending on your driving style, brake pads can last between twenty and thirty thousand miles. You should have a brake pad wear sensor on your Rover’s instrument binnacle, but this has been known to not work properly all the time. Check pads and brake discs at least once a year for wear. Because of their design, Rover brake discs cannot be machined and must be replaced. Replacement is a snap and faster than you can say "Lucas-Girling," you’ll be back on the road.

Cooling Tips

Where’s the Needle?
Your Rover’s temperature gauge should never read much above half way. If it does begin to creep higher, you first should check the coolant level. If your coolant level is fine, have the flow volume checked by a radiator shop. Rover engines love to build up significant deposits in the radiator core that will block the flow and eventually wreak havoc with your engine. Also, if you have a leak, don’t use radiator stop leak, (It’s only used for roadside emergencies) using it permanently is false economy, you’ll just end up doing far more damage to your cooling system. Radiators are easily replaced, but please respect the environment and dispose of your old coolant properly.

Fan Belt Tips

FAN BELT TENSION A fan belt tensioned too tightly will place immense pressure on the alternators bearings which in a very short period of time will cause even the best made bearing to fail. What you probably won’t know.. FAN BELT GRIP A fan belt is designed to grip on the sides of the pulley not the bottom. When a fan belt stretches it becomes narrower and grips less and less on the sides and more on the bottom of the pulley, eventually because there is very little traction between the bottom of the belt and the pulley it begins to slip. A worn fan belt will cause a problem the average mechanic wouldn’t think of. In this situation the fan belt only occasionally grips the pulley, assuming it hasn’t gripped for a period the battery is likely to be flat, once the belt then grips the alternator is faced with the task of charging a flat (or nearly flat) battery; something the alternator was never designed to do. Result: A blown rectifier rendering the alternator useless.

This fan belt has stretched and worn and is and the main area of contact is on the Bottom of the pulley causing It to slip; no matter how tight it may be.

This fan belt is unworn gripping the pulley on the sides with a much greater degree of traction.

Fuel Tips

You’ve probably got air in the system. Diesel injection systems usually run on an airless system. This means that by changing the fuel filter air has got into the system, but don’t worry here’s some tips to make the job easier. Firstly…

When changing the fuel filter fill the new filter up with clean fuel then fit it, remember to replace the seals as well and make sure the fit is perfect. Leaks often occur, as seals are not fitted correctly!

 Having completed this, next you must bleed the air out of the system. This is done by opening the bleed valve on the body of the distributor pump. Next you must hand prime the fuel pump, underneath the fuel pump body there will be a lever this must be pushed backwards and forwards until you can see fuel coming out of the bleed valve. At first you will here hissing, this is the air escaping, when the hissing stops fuel will come out.

 Keep pumping on the fuel pump and with the other hand shut off the bleed valve on the distributor body. Then stop and just nip the bleed valve up with the correct spanner. (Do not tighten too much, as you will snap the bolt). Once this is done you should find that your diesel will start much easier. Remember to check for leaks in the system and respect the environment when disposing of waste products!

Shock Absorber Tips

P-OLY BUSH’S The fitment of Bearmach bushes has been developed to give more positive location at pivot or Fulcrum points. These suspension components are particularly recommended if your vehicle carries or tows any sort of load. They’re ideal for Four-Wheel-Drive, if you tow caravans, boats or trailers and heavy duty off-roading.

A-NTI ROLL BARS Use these to stop Roll without compromising the ride comfort (Available for Front and Rear).

S-HOCKS The Toughest –SPAX OR KONI for Off Road use 10 position adjustable and Coil assisted the Ultimate. The Best-BILSTEIN for Off/On Road use quality Gas Shocks, durability and performance. OEM Quality – WOODHEAD or MONROE availability for those wishing to keep within the manufacturers specifications.

S-SPRINGS Heavy Duty - Up to 510 Lbs. available for those permanently Towing or Carrying. Standard - Please use chart to establish exact application.

Use the combination of P-A-S-S to get ahead of the competition.