Julian O'Connor 1998 825 SDi

Post by **Richard Moss** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 2:30 pm

I'd ring around a few motor factors see Yellow Pages (under "Motor factors", unsurprisingly). They are usually cheaper than Rimmers for this sort of stuff.

I only have a spare LH caliper, I'm afraid.

JulianO'Connor · Post by **JulianO'Connor** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:51 am

Well the diesel weasel has been a pain recently and it's that old chestnut the belt tensioner system.

Now the pulley wheel bearing has worn to the point where it tilts by a milimetre or two. This might not sound much but it skews the run of the belt so that by the time it reaches the pas pump it rides up onto the rim of the pas pulley wheel. Needless to say the belt doesn't last long like this..!

I have had an ebay search running for one for ages now and nothing has come up, I cant find any 825 diesels being broken and no one I know in the trade can find a spare.

So, I have a car that can't travel more than a short distance and that's no good to me. What to do? Offer it for sale (it has 12 months MOT and a couple of weeks tax remaining) or break, sell and scrap the shell? Unfortunately leaving it isn't really an option as I can't store it untaxed. Not good.

CHR15E · Post by **CHR15E** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:59 pm

That's not good.

Could you cheat for a while and use a belt that fits without the tensioner?

JulianO'Connor · Post by **JulianO'Connor** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 4:08 pm

Dunno, I suppose I could measure the run with some string and see what might fit.
I could also try running it with less tension and see if I can strike a balance between letting the belt run more freely and letting it flap about a bit.

Trouble is it doesn't solve the issue - how far would you rely on it? I wouldn't trust it much!

CHR15E · Post by **CHR15E** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 4:22 pm

No joy on this other setup to replace the tensioner then?

JulianO'Connor · Post by **JulianO'Connor** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 6:07 pm

It was working fine, so was packing the tensioner with a few 15mm nuts instead of having the spring in there.

I was just out looking at it, using the tensioner-with-nuts and running it a little loose, it started fine and ran for a couple of minutes without jumping off the pas pulley. It was squeaking a little but that's to be expected with a loose belt. Suddenly it started squealing and making a bit of smoke though, so I switched it off sharpish!

I've always had cars with v belts before - it makes me wonder if the flat ones do stretch quite a bit in use and then shrink again when cold. If so then I need to get the spring back in there.. great..

But then why would I have been able to do thousands of miles without a problem? Blummin cars..

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 11:50 pm

Figured anything out yet with regards the tensioner?

Other cars fitted with the same engine:
Chrysler Voyager
Jeep Cherokee (rekon theres more of these than the voyagers so probably best bet)
Also in some hilux/landcruisers

JulianO'Connor · Post by **JulianO'Connor** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:16 pm

Yep, easy, I sold the car!

The problem was that I had no daily transport, no long term storage and no forseeable way to fix the car. Also, the missus said we can only raid the savings if I the replacement car was newer and not a rolling project

The car went for Â£260 and I still have some spares to sell so I expect to make about 300 or maybe a bit more. The car should be going on Saturday, the new owner has contacts with a former Rover dealer in Ipswich and reckons a spare can be found. He wants the car for his own and not breaking/scrapping so I'm chuffed about that. I'll put him on to this place asap.

So I'm Roverless again and probably for a while. I'll have to make do with the good old B again, which really deserves far more attention than I have given it. Maybe it will be welcome at one of the meetings?!

Post by **Richard Moss** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:18 pm

JulianO'Connor wrote: Maybe it will be welcome at one of the meetings?!

You don't even need to ask that question - any car is welcome as long as it's not a BMW!

CHR15E · Post by **CHR15E** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 3:40 pm

Richard Moss wrote:You don't even need to ask that question - any car is welcome as long as it's not a BMW!

Oh dear. Best take it back then.

JulianO'Connor · Post by **JulianO'Connor** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 8:25 pm

OK, no beemers I promise!

Post by **Richard Moss** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:29 pm

You can bring a BMW - just park it a 200yds away!

schuwolf · Post by **schuwolf** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:30 pm

Make it 400 yards

JulianO'Connor · Post by **JulianO'Connor** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 10:04 pm

Well, an eighties or mid-nineties 7 series would be quite good..

CHR15E · Post by **CHR15E** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:27 pm

I like the mid 90s 7 series, all autos though.

Rover800.Info

Julian O'Connor 1998 825 SDi

Who is online