Sunday afternoon i took a trip from Bridgend in south wales to Leighton Buzzard, just above London (about 160 mils between them), me and my mate Dan went down to take the alternator out of Stunts car and put it in mine then come home again. Simple

Leave Bridgend at 2 in the afternoon we did notice that my battery warning light was staying on rather than just flickering when we stopped before we left but we didnt worry about it too much and decided lets go in the felly rather than dans ranault 5 as its a lot comfyer for a long journey

Get to LB and after spending about half an hour getting the alternators out of the two cars in the snow we find out they are not the same as Stunts one has power steering whearas mine doesnt and the mounting brackets were different but oh well spent a bit longer putting them back in their original cars and we had a few little bits out of stunts car (headrests, wiper blades and a wheel). We start back on the journey to bridgend

Twent mins down the road and the wiper blades start getting slower and slower and my lights are getting dimmer and dimmer then thecar just cuts out and wont start again so were stuck on the side of the road in the snow in the east of england! After a phone call to my breakdown cover and 45 mins of sat under a quilt i just happen to have in my car the first breakdown ruck arrives and takes us to a petrol station down the road, sat there for two hours and another truk arrives who take us to a serice station about an hour away, then another tow truck comes and takes us down the road to their office, then another tow truck takes us all the way home - at 5 o clock in the p!ss!ng morning!!!!! dan had work at 6 and i had college at 9!!!!

So after our little experience i have found that the alternator is dead...yet another one to die in my car!!! and i need RAC breakdown cover!!! does anoyone know of anywhere i could get a new alternator cheap on the internet?

You need RAC cover?

Personal or Vehicle cover?

ive got brittania rescue cover fully comp

i would have RAC but someone offered this to me free as they just wrote off their car and didnt need it

Snow? I have just driven back from MK and saw no sign of snow. Saw plenty on the way down down though in Derbyshire

there was snow in bedfordshire on Sunday night

I'd had my Felly a couple of months and I decided to drive up to Oban to share a birthday with my oldest online friend, only to find out that I needed a new alternator and exhaust by the time I reached Edinburgh. Fortunately I had basic AA cover with my bank account & they eventually sorted it for me - but not until I'd spent the night sleeping in the car in a garage forecourt waiting for a mechanic to quote me £130 which I didn't have & then sell me a battery & charge my old one up too. The hope was it didn't get dark or rain...

I reached Lockerbie (I know, I went the scenic route ) and yep! it peed it down. I didn't even have a spanner to swap batteries with.

Phoned the AA again, he swapped my battery then I followed him & his mate down the back-roads to Dumfries where we JUST caught the local motor factors. Fitted my new alternator, I signed for it and then back home.

I worked out that if I'd have taken the sensible route to Oban, I'd have broken down halfway up Loch Lomond!

A 650 mile round trip for an alternator - no, I can't think of anywhere there's a cheap one :P

and i need RAC breakdown cover!!!

I'm with Britania rescue, they've always been very quick and reliable when I've needed them. Once had to go from Portsmouth to Devon on the back of a lorry, all done in one go and we set off within a couple of hours of my original call.

does anoyone know of anywhere i could get a new alternator cheap on the internet?

You could try a breakers yard, or has Jorily Skoda on ebay got any ?

Phill.

Try Butts of bawtry, they cost about £90 with delivery and fast delivery as well but then again i did pay for the 1 day delivery service.

On another note, while I was in traffic this morning my car almost died. I noticed the lights getting dimmer and the stereo switched off. I think my problem is the battery though. This is my second new alternator so I hope it isn't that. Gonna buy a new battery tonight and hope all is well.

i can get one from halfords with trade discount as my mate is a mechanics and has a trade card so im gonna see how much that will cost, dont want to go to another breakers yard as thats where i got the one i have now from and it only lasted me a few months

Whilst I realise that people will use Halfrauds because they recognise the name, they're really still a pushbike shop. Saying that, Laurent & Klement started out making pushbikes!

If your mate can get it cost from them (their discount rates aren't that good apparently) he'll be better off telling a Motor Factors he's Trade & getting it from there. In fact any of you can do that They're like a Motabits Discount Warehouse

Another thing about Alternators, usually it's the £15 regulator that quits rather than the £70 rest of it!

Jaysus Jeffers - it just wasn't your day was it?!? It was a real shame that the alternator didn't fit - an abstract lesson in life learnt unfortunately. Just as a footnote to all and sundry - if you are buying or swapping an alternator frim a 1.3mpi to a 1.3mpi there are different types out there! Check first before travelling too far........

Still gutted for you and your buddy Jeffers.

Whilst I realise that people will use Halfrauds because they recognise the name, they're really still a pushbike shop.

and there c**p at that to.

I'd call up a Skoda Dealers and ask for a quote for a part. They're sometimes more reasonable than you would think and can get things in the next day. I found on the phone they tend to quote prices without VAT. Just times the price by 0.175 and add that value to the price and that's the price you pay. Even if you don't buy one fom them it gives you a guide price to beat.

Are you sure the belt is tensioned correctly? Could it be a replaceable part on the alternator itself, like just the voltage regulator?

to be fair i think i just need a new alternator as i got this one from a scrappies and thinking about it - thats a 9 year old alternator, and the one that was in my car before - was a 9 year old alternator, i think these things will just naturally die over time so by putting a new one in i should solve my problems once and for all

HEY! My alternator was 9 years old too!!

times the price by 0.175 and add that value to the price and that's the price you pay.

If you times it by 1.175 you don't have to add anything

If you times it by 1.175 you don't have to add anything

I've done it the long way around all this time

thats not the long way round!

work out 10%

half it for 5%

half that for 2.5%

add those together with the price and you have you total!

well halfrauds won't fit a battery to my laurin and klement

well halfrauds won't fit a battery to my laurin and klement

It's because of the strut brace. Apparently they have an advisory notice not to touch felicias as they have to remove the strut brace. Not sure if it's laziness or they're concerned about their gimps causing damage to people's cars, or because when they tighten the bolts back up they have to be torqued and the Halfords people don't know what a torque wrench is. Oh I am nasty about these halfords people, sorry halfords people

I'd be grateful that they won't do it :lol:

agh! £100 for a new alternator and thats with trade dscount i dont really wanna spend that much as im gonna have to get rid of the car soon - its insurance renewal time and i cant afford it this year gonna have to get something a bit smaller :(

Like I say, if you're even half competent with screwdrivers & a soldering iron (or your mate is) fit the charging pack to your old alternator. That's all new alternators are usually - reconditioned ones. That's why garages etc. return them to the manufacturer.

The reason I couldn't do that in Edinburgh was because all I had with me was a Swiss Army knife...

where would i get one of these charging packs from? someone please tell me somewhere other than butts

Sorry to hear your trip to the 'buzzard was such a mare....

where would i get one of these charging packs from? someone please tell me somewhere other than butts

Any motor factors or car bits shop will be able to order you one. Best to find the model number of the alternator to be sure you get the right one. Skoda dealers will get you one too (& will be able to look up the correct part from list & may even have one in stock).