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Alternator gone?

caffeinehigh
caffeinehigh
in Ford Focus Club

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I have a focus 2007, petrol 1.8 with 99k on the clock. For a while now it's been making a whiny noise when revving the engine.

Today the noise stopped, swiftly followed by the battery light flashing then the power steering and abs light. About 5 minutes later the power steering went out.

The car still starts but if I turn the steering wheel the abs light flashes.

I'm tempted to think the whiny noise was a bearing in the alternator which has now gone and taken the alternator with it? Are the power steering pumps powered by the alternator?

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    I'm far more tempted to guess the auxiliary drive belt has snapped !!!

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    • Like 1

    As above, check the aux belt (fan belt, drive belt, whatever you want to call it)

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    • Author

    Thanks for the replies. I started it up and can see the belt going around and still seems to be in one piece. 

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    With the engine switched off (key removed from ignition for safety) get hold of the aux belt and see if it is slack, can you pull it round ?

    If your alternator has one of the energy saving pulleys fitted then the clutch system may be starting to fail.

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    I had one of those pulleys go on a 1.8tdci.  I thought the alternator had failed and bought another, but when I started replacing it I found it was just the one way clutch in the pulley that failed. Until then I did not know that type of pulley existed.

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    • Author

    I pulled the Aux belt and it feels the same as before its not slack. I then put a multimeter across the battery with the engine off and it was 11.9v. Fired it up and it dropped to 9.8v. After that initial start the battery has now died and the engine won't turn over. So I think points to the alternator? 

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    • 2 weeks later...
    On 7/27/2022 at 12:21 PM, isetta said:

    I had one of those pulleys go on a 1.8tdci.  I thought the alternator had failed and bought another, but when I started replacing it I found it was just the one way clutch in the pulley that failed. Until then I did not know that type of pulley existed.

    That ***** pulley for the 1.8 TDCi is over £100 these days from Ford!

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    I got a good 2nd hand one on eBay for about 15 quid. 

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    • Like 1

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