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preventive maintenance

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by st@ven, Jan 3, 2009.

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  1. st@ven

    st@ven F1 Rookie

    Aug 4, 2008
    3,318
    Germany
    Full Name:
    Steven
    #1 st@ven, Jan 3, 2009
    Call me oldfashioned but i do believe in preventive maintenance. For this reason ( and to be honest, to replace some leaking camseals) i stripped my 328 engine. If interested see http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=220768 and look around, lots of pictures there.

    So I did this mainly to check everything and replace all suspicious parts making sure there will not be any nasty surprises during driving season.

    One fellow from our ocal community advised my taking a look at the starter and alternator as well. Now here is my question:

    The car has a modest 26000km on the odo. What could be worn with both starter and alternator? As I do like to do all maintenance myselfe but more a mechanical guy I am just curious what could or should, from preventive mainenance point of view, be done on both these parts. Peronally I do think with this low mileage there cannot be lots of wear already but maybe time did its tricks also. And, as both parts are out of the car now, it would not be wise Not to do anything if I can prevent any actions in the near future ( when both parts are IN the car again.....)

    Please advice.
     
  2. bert308

    bert308 Formula 3

    Nov 30, 2002
    1,776
    Roermond Netherlands
    Full Name:
    Bert Kanters
    #2 bert308, Jan 3, 2009
    My alternator failed and it turned out the copper (I think) part were the bushes ride was worn very rough and the bushes didn't make proper contact. Since I have no lathe I put the whole rotor in a column drill and used sanding paper to make the surface smooth again. I think the roughness was caused by oil leaking over the alternator. Worth checking.
    Also the connecting tabs on my starter solenoid broke off and I got a new solenoid from Superformance, they are not expensive.
     
  3. Stew

    Stew Formula Junior

    Apr 16, 2006
    547
    Los Angeles
    #3 Stew, Jan 3, 2009
    I took the time to look and the thread you listed.

    Great thread and great pictures and very nice work !

    IMHO: Starters and altenators are not highly complicated and are generally pretty robust parts. If you were previously having trouble with them you would know by now. If not, leave them alone. Clean the contacts and put them back in.


    Regards,

    Stew
     
  4. st@ven

    st@ven F1 Rookie

    Aug 4, 2008
    3,318
    Germany
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    Steven
    #4 st@ven, Jan 3, 2009

    Thanx Guys, nice to hear that the (photo)work is indeed appriciated.

    I never had bad experiences with both alternator and starter, but my experiences with Ferrari are pretty fresh..
    I'll have a look at the obvious parts and contacts and put them back in than I guess
     
  5. doug328

    doug328 Formula 3

    Mar 11, 2004
    1,599
    The Space Coast, FL
    Full Name:
    Doug B
    #5 doug328, Jan 5, 2009
    Yes I also believe that preventive maintenance builds reliability. On these older cars you have 2 kinds of maintenance: regular and preventive. Each year when I do my annual stuff, IE; fuilds/filiers/ect I also have picked a system to "go over" First year I had the car it was the fuel system, then the cooling system, now this year it will be the brakes. I think its fun to do, improves the car and gives you piece of mind when driving. If you have both the alternator & starter out, get them bench tested. Easy enough for the alt. to see it its putting out the required voltage. For the starter don't know how much they can tell, mabe see if the wire contacts are in good shape and how easy the spring moves the drive gear in/out, though I think the spring either works or its broken. Lots of time with the electrical stuff its age not milage that is the deciding factor. Good luck.
     
  6. 275 GTB

    275 GTB Formula 3

    Nov 21, 2008
    1,337
    Sthrn Highlands
    #6 275 GTB, Jan 6, 2009
    Preventive maintenance can build reliability so long as you avoid "maintenance induced faults" and you are careful which replacement parts and consumables you use. Unfortunately, "new" these days does not always mean better.
     
  7. RGigante

    RGigante F1 Rookie
    Owner Project Master

    Nov 1, 2006
    2,874
    Portugal
    #7 RGigante, Jan 6, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    I've rebuilt my alternator at 74.000 Km and it had major wear at the bearings and bushes (electrical contacts). Also the pulley had a lot of wear and had to make a new one.
    Replaced the bearings and the bushes and here it is after a good cleaning and zinc plating:
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  8. FasterIsBetter

    FasterIsBetter F1 Veteran

    Jul 22, 2004
    5,856
    NoNJ/Jupiter FL
    Full Name:
    Steve W.
    #8 FasterIsBetter, Jan 6, 2009
    If your engine is still out of the car, it will take no effort to remove the starter and alternator and have them bench tested. A rebuild on the alternator should be relatively inexpensive. Same for the starter. When I had the engine out of my 308 two years ago, I swapped out the old Bosch starter for a modern high torque starter from Gustafson Machine in Gloucester, Massachusets. I believe they are also sold on Ebay these days. The new starter turns the engine over much faster and stronger than the old Bosch unit, and weighs only about 9 lbs. It was an easy swap and worth the effort and money, IMHO.
     

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