Hugo, Good thinking apart from the mustard gas which would leave residues in the car afterwards.
You need to refine this idea.

Chris,

My daughter's P-reg 106 has at least 70,000 miles on the clock and is on the original alternator. My son's 205 GTi went well over 100,000 miles before the alternator failed (regulator, not bearings). If you've had two, or perhaps three, fail there must be something wrong, like the belt tension or pulley alignment.

Peugeots are recognised as having very reliable cambelt adjusters and should be able to go many more miles than yours before trouble arises. I would have guessed at a minimum of 140,000 miles.

If you can find the space and not get in the way of moving parts, you could press a stick of wood or a long screwdriver on the alternator body and put your ear to the other end. If the alternator bearing is shot you should hear this very clearly.

If you are still not sure, it really shouldn't be difficult for a mechanic to determine exactly where the noise is emanating from. I would take it to someone who knows what they are doing!

Im unconvinced no country would strike against another with nuclear weapons. In the gulf war the major admisitration with the americans told saddam they would retaliate with nuclear force if Saddam released any weapons of mass desruction on coalition forces. the kind of weapons they believed him to have been harbouring would of be capable of killing just as many people as a primitive nuclear device.
One should relaise that many of the figures heard on the tv relating to the number of years oil reserve will last, are often calcualted with present market values in mind. these are the oil reserves that are financially viable to access given present price levels. As prices rise, more oil reserves will be viewed as viable targets for investment. There is loads of oil under the poles etc.
the threat to the world economy resulting form a number of mass casualty terrorist attacks is as much a worry as likely fluctuations on oil prices in the short term for me. the tecrit clique that run the Iraq have bancrupted it. Saddam has a history of poor judgement. I hope a way is found that leads him to his own coffin.

Ben

Claude offers good advice, as the BCM can suffer from water ingress. Unfortunatley, with RR air suspension, it's not a matter of if it breaks, but when. You can get a kit to convert it to normal suspension, usually for less than the cost of fixing what you have.

My dad's F reg Orion had it and was still working fine when he traded up to a BMW 3 series when K reg came out (92?)

Then he missed that particular toy as the BMW didn't even have a radio! :) The Orion had everything, heated screen, computer, an engine that went like a rocket when you put your foot down and a great stereo with seperate amp. I never understood why he changed...

Blue