Comments by "SeanBZA" (@SeanBZA) on "speedkar99"
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@volf4o Funny thing is that when BMW took over Rover, they finally had a Rover engine that did not leak like a sieve from new, and the only started leaking after a high mileage. Maintain a BMW well and it will never leak, it only starts when you do not keep up on the little things and neglect regular oil changes. Seen plenty of BMW's of all types well into the 200 000km mark where, because of regular maintenance, the engine is still oil leak free and runs well.
Of course that is only now for the first 7 years, while the vehicle is in Motorplan, as the dealership will keep it nice, and bill BMW for all that gravy work. After the Motorplan is over you will cry at the cost, though the good thing is that there are plenty of aftermarket suppliers of parts that will fit the engines, some of them coming from the OEM themselves, just not supplied in the BMW bag and box, but otherwise identical parts.
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Alternator can recharge the battery on idle, providing there is little load, so lights off, no blower fan running and no AC, no heated seats, no demister on and no radio on, so that all the limited power the alternator can deliver goes into charging the battery. Easy though to have more load than the alternator can do at idle, so best is yes to drive for a half hour to do something else, so that you both have engine RPM up higher, and thus more power available to charge, and also are not wasting fuel along with diluting the oil with blow by.
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Not really, aside from a redesigned gasket with some sealer between the surfaces, but they will all do this with time. Essex engines are pretty reliable though, not going to give issues other than those head gaskets, simply from the conservative design. The only way to fix them would be a cast steel head, which ISTR was an aftermarket thing, that made them really bullet proof. They did a good bit of work on them over the decades, as this started out with a single barrel carb, and had fuel injection added later. Just they did find a lot of use as power plants for other applications, little more pep that a 4 banger, but not too much change in length, so lots were used in agricultural and specialist equipment. Not a bad V6 engine though, friend had one in his Ford, and the engine was not an issue, but the diff, sure was, little underspec for the 3.0l power plant. Sure was heavy on fuel though if you were ever hard with the right foot, but enough torque you could drive all day in 4th gear in town, and never change gear.
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@speedkar99 True, but the alternator is also generally going to deliver full output at roughly normal driving RPM, and at lower or higher RPM will limit power, high side regulator cuts power, and at low side the magnetic field cannot put enough power out. Idling will provide a certain amount of power, but with heavy loads on, like lights, heating and such, idling will actually discharge the battery down further, till the resistive loads drop in power to closer match the alternator output.
Modern cars though control alternator output via the ECU, so the regulator is merely there as power amplifier, with the ECU determining power demand, and backing off power as engine RPM rises, though idle will still cause discharge, but the ECU will also then command loads off when the voltage drops too far. Done so the manufacturer can use a smaller, lighter battery, and thus only has really enough capacity to start the engine, it will idle at higher RPM to charge the battery automatically, which them is a big fuel waste, in that you use fuel to charge a battery only, and thus are throwing 70% of the energy in the fuel away as heat.
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@speedkar99 Yes a nominal 12V battery can be charged at up to 14.4V, but should float at 13.8V for most of the time, If you have large loads you put in a 100A, 200A or more alternator, and thicker wiring to the battery, so the alternator can provide those loads with minimal voltage drop. Regular vehicle you have a 60A or 80A alternator instead, as they will provide enough power, and the efficiency is acceptable. Larger current ones have to be bigger, as you need the room for all the thicker copper windings, the bigger cooling fan, the larger rotor and the bigger high power rectifier block in there.
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