neilpinleeds

I've had a bit of bizarre behavior from my 04 TF over the last week. Went to my garage on Friday unlocked and started up the car no problem. Left it to run for about 15 minutes while I sorted out some parts etc. When I came to lock the car up no response to the Pektron fob so locked the car with the key (had to close the passenger door lock manually). Back at home I changed the fob battery.

Went back to the car yesterday. Opened up with the the key (passenger door unlocked electronically). The clock had stopped or lost 50 minutes (on top of the change to BST). Started the car and drove 5 minutes to fill up with petrol. Didn't lock the car when going to pay. Come back and the car is completely dead, no dash lights, no starter. While sat blocking the pump contemplating how to push the car into the parking area and call the AA I had the brain wave that perhaps the battery isolator switch had come loose? It hadn't, but I turned off the battery then turned it on again producing a click from somewhere. All lights back car starts instantly. Back at my garage the fob locked the car as usual. Did this twice more as a test.

Does anyone have an explanation for this? Are these symptoms due to the battery getting low on charge? Does disconnecting/reconnecting the battery reset the alarm/immobilizer?

The other evening just after starting and putting the lights on I got a nasty noise from the engine compartment. A mix of auxiliary belt slip and a metallic grating that rose with revs. I sat contemplating going to get my other car for around a minute or less when the sound stopped dead and hasn't come back so far. The belt was new around 1K miles ago.

Any ideas? I thought the bearing in the alternator had gone but a worn bearing wouldn't instantly silence itself in my experience.

2004 TF.

My passenger door lock 'machine-gunned' intermittently for quite a while after I bought my TF. However this eventually seemed to clear up, so I wonder if lack of use is an issue as much as imminent failure. My car basically hadn't been used for 3 or 4 years before it came to me.

The early TFs have a much harder ride than a good F IMO though they are fine on a good road surface. It's only really noticeable to me on cobbles/potholes or other cut up roads.