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Anon
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How to fix a Bedford with a Christmas Tree

I thought I would share this with you, as I think it highlights what sort of person is crazy enough to own a CF!

I was travelling to meet some friends when I hear a clunk from the engine compartment of the van. Normally this would not worry me too much, but seconds later the battery light came on and the voltmeter dipped to around 12 volts.

I went to pull in to a layby and found I had no servo assistance on the brakes. By this stage I was a little worried. My friend, who is a nervous passenger and her 1 year old son (who thinks the van is the best thing ever!) were due to ride with me. I knew the van would get us to our destination, but emergency stops may not be as quick as usual!

Anyway, I arrived at said friend's house and looked under the bonnet to find that the fan, brake vacuum pump and alternator were totally motionless. Further investigation found that the alternator bracket had self destructed and as a result there was no tension on the belt. My friend's garage is not exactly well equipped, and the only thing I could see that was suitable for a running repair was a christmas tree holder with the four bolts.

Ten minutes and one spanner later the bracket had been temporarily repaired. I was complemented on my ingenuity, but to me that is the mindset you need to keep a classic vehicle running. We all know it will fail more often than a new car, but we all have the means to make repairs to get us off the roadside.

The new bracket has now been built, and plenty of thread locking compound and anti vibration washers should prevent a repeat occurence. Since there is a tiny possibility the bracket could fail again, my roadside repair toolkit now has a bolt which is just the right size to do the job, and my friend has all the parts of her Christmas tree stand back.

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Tue 09 Feb 2010 @ 15:05 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
Anon
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Well Done!!;] Speaks volumes for Beddie owners and their ingenuity. The old one of a pair of tights for a fan belt springs to mind, rubber band for a throttle spring, stuffing a tyre with grass to get home, a friend pulling on the remains of a throttle cable poked through the bulkhead whilst you did the rest, rubbing half a potato on the screen when the wiper's failed, are but a few more I can remember. Funny though, this sort of thing was the "norm" years ago, but we always got home.;D Cheers, John and Sue.

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Tue 09 Feb 2010 @ 15:44 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
Anon
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My 350D snapped the alternator bracket 3 times in 12 months! I think it is worth checking that the alternator pulley is in line with the others.

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Tue 09 Feb 2010 @ 23:22 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
Anon
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My Cf1/280 2.3 petrol used to go through alternator bearings. I think there is a misprint in the Haynes manual, which gives the fan belt tension for the slopey petrol engine as 1/8" slack which seems awfly tight to me. Mine was fitted with the 45 amp altenator though, so maybe had a different bracket.

My 350D snapped the alternator bracket 3 times in 12 months! I think it is worth checking that the alternator pulley is in line with the others.

Make sure the altenator isn't mounted on the "wrong side" of the engine bracket, and you have the correct model of altenator.

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Tue 22 Nov 2011 @ 14:25 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
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