So, plan is to service the DAF today. Forecast: Sunny.
Go outside to check the weather – it’s cold, but dry.
Go inside to get jumper. Get jumper. Go outside. It’s raining.
Pump up tyre on DAF hoping that it’ll pass – ideally quickly.
It’s still raining.
Damnit.
I have, however, looked at the manual and it appears that to change the fan/alternator(generator) belt you have to remove the bonnet(uh, hood) and the front panel, and the bumper. The bonnet is, apparently, a two person job, so I need to ask Kathryn to come and lend a hand; other than that, plan (such as it is) is to pop the car up on ramps and see if I can locate the source of the unpleasant noises – and then to set rocker valve clearances, change the oil, and theoretically change the fan-belt and check alternator tension.
Another distressing possibility revealed itself to me – perhaps the reason the alternator light comes on, and it’s not charging, is that the alternator’s dying. I’ve never had much luck with alternators, spawn of satan that they are, and the possibility that it may, in fact, be on route to the grave would not surprise me deeply, but it would be annoying. Anyway, it looks as if it’s stopped raining, and the ground’s now nice and damp, so I suppose I should go out there…
