davemar 16 Posted January 27, 2008 I've been faffing around trying to sort out engine starting and idling issues for a while, but just as you think you've solved one problem another one comes along! The fanbelt (why do we still call them that?) starting screaming like a banshee, so I decided to give it some attention and tightening up a little. The screaming went, but when I was looking down at the alternator past the inlet manifold (MI16 engine), I could see sparks flying off it when I revved the engine. I was difficult to see where exactly they were coming from on the alternator (which is the only moving thing down there) as I've got a piece of metal mounted over it (bolted to the engine mount) to prevent parts of the wiring loom catching on the alternator's fan blades. However, I can't see that causing any problems, and the sparks were coming from the rear of the alternator, well away from it's external moving parts. I think I may have a spare alternator lying around of unknown pedigree, but I'd like to know what could be causing this. Has anyone else seen anything similar? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davemar 16 Posted January 30, 2008 I removed the alternator and it did seem to have a little bit of play in the rotor, so maybe the belt has been too tight and worn out the bearings. Let's hope the spare one I'm fitting works... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
