945 Niggles

[bluebrickrick]

I'm going to have to stop posting this late Dave, trouble is it still won't be as early as you if I do

I think emery board may be a misnomer - you should never use emery on a comm or similar as it can bed into the copper forming a lap. Sand or glasspaper on the other hand is self destructing and the Americans have an abrasive, the name of which currently escapes me, that you can chuck into a new built engine, hot plain bearing etc which will hone the tightness out and breaks down into a non abrasive slurry !

The pulsing battery conditioners are not something I have encountered before so your info is very interesting - sorry someone beat you to being the Bill Gates of lead acid enhancement

Where in the past I have kept lead car acids as infrequent use supplies I've tended to have a timer and relay to give them a weekly discharge through a bulb then recharge - there is so little lead in 'em now its probably not worth it ! I also have what may be the last half dozen sticks of Chattertons compound in captivity for repairing damage to the cases - its a great short term cure to a slack alternator belt

Well it was an ideal day, I've cleared the 'leaners' which the storm pushed into standing trees and pulled a couple of stumps to open my trackway up a bit and felled some smaller stuff in the way, about 2/3rds of the way to my target trees, I can just see them. The trouble is herds of deer, they have barked most of the small stuff up to about 4ft above ground - birch, beech & rowan, the xmas trees are not to their taste and oak alder & chestnut are probably too rough or tough for them.

Tied up tomorrow but if it lasts till Friday I'll head back

Good news on your tracking - FJ still has speakers BTW

TTYL

Rick

[Laird Scooby]

I'm never early when posting Rick, usually extremely late!

Emery board could well be a misnomer, however those abrasive lolly sticks keep the ladies happy usually.

When the intelligent chargers go into the mode where they charge-pulse-charge-pulse etc it's usually referred to as the "Conditioning Charge" or "Float Charge" mode, just enough to keep the battery at full charge with a bit of high frequency pulsing to help desulphation.
I don't know if the high frequency pulses are present during the normal charge mode on these intelligent chargers, i suspect it probably isn't so they can sell the feature as part of the float charge.

Just waiting for those speakers to land now, i've already got the same sort in my other two beasts and am happy with them so should work well in the Volvo too.
Annoyingly during the extended test run after doing the tracking, the O/S/F ball joint gave up the ghost so once i've sorted that i'll need to recheck the tracking. Either that or the wheel bearing has suddenly collapsed! Worrying thing is there was no warning, it just started banging!

If it stays dry i'll have a proper look soon, if it is the BJ then it will be a challenge for the ATF/acetone mix as i couldn't release the tapers back in the autumn when i renewed the shocks and springs. Even with a heavy duty commercial spec BJ splitter!

[Joe of Loath]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

If it stays dry i'll have a proper look soon, if it is the BJ then it will be a challenge for the ATF/acetone mix as i couldn't release the tapers back in the autumn when i renewed the shocks and springs. Even with a heavy duty commercial spec BJ splitter!

You should get two Italians in a hire car to change lanes without indicating and crash into the side of your car. That makes changing ball joints a cinch, as the force of the impact does all the hard work of releasing the taper for you! Until you realise the hex head inside is rounded off and you have to grind the taper in half. Thankfully they aren't hardened like I expected them to be.

Little bit of karma though, although it cost me £120 to fix my blue turd, I haven't heard anything from Avis, which means the Italians didn't pay for the optional insurance and now have to pay for a new door and wing on a brand new Astra out of pocket, and I get to keep my NCB.

[Laird Scooby]

That's the track rod end Joe?

I'm on about the ball joint on the bottom of the suspension strut. I'll try and get some pics up later if it stays dry. Blowing a hoolie out there at the moment though!

[bluebrickrick]

Ah, now I've run out the odd wheel bearing when on the road Dave and the ABS going absolutely mental ('interesting' at speed !) was a strong indication, the sensor misreads the cogged ring.

Can you get a bearing puller over the ball joint ? mine came off OK.

I always try the Newtons Cradle for rod ends first, two lump hammers travelling in opposite direction at velocity, centred on the eye housing, a screwdown splitter helps pre tension he joint - I've never tried one of the forked cold chisel jobs but have an old, thick bolster chisel in the box to cut down into one just in case I've one more end and two ball joints to replace, let you know if my luck runs out..............

Sorry to hear about your close encounter of the fourth kind Joe - the number of people running cars untaxed and uninsured, despite the big brother camera network, makes a complete mockery of this proposal to force SORNed vehicles to be insured.

Rick aka Beligerent of Bogside

[rogerthechorister]

My Twin cam had a bitch of an offside lower suspension balljoint. In the end Max the Mecco had to get a friend with precision laser cutting equipment to remove it. Also a previous mecco had bodged the fitting of a new leg shortly after I acquired her from Octo, so that had to come off and the upper mount be restored (welding).

[Joe of Loath]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

That's the track rod end Joe?

I'm on about the ball joint on the bottom of the suspension strut. I'll try and get some pics up later if it stays dry. Blowing a hoolie out there at the moment though!

That's what I mean. Same taper, different joint.

I gave up with my ball joints on the Volvo and took them to the garage.

The 3rd party car wasn't uninsured Rick, just odd circumstances being a hire car. I spoke to a friendly insurance adjuster, he said that if they didn't pay for the extra insurance cover, the hire car company doesn't care where the money comes from, they just want paying. And it's easier for them just to demand payment from the driver, who ends up paying out of pocket unless their insurance cover has hire car cover... TL;DR always sign for insurance unless you're already covered

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by bluebrickrick

Ah, now I've run out the odd wheel bearing when on the road Dave and the ABS going absolutely mental ('interesting' at speed !) was a strong indication, the sensor misreads the cogged ring.

Can you get a bearing puller over the ball joint ? mine came off OK.

I always try the Newtons Cradle for rod ends first, two lump hammers travelling in opposite direction at velocity, centred on the eye housing, a screwdown splitter helps pre tension he joint - I've never tried one of the forked cold chisel jobs but have an old, thick bolster chisel in the box to cut down into one just in case I've one more end and two ball joints to replace, let you know if my luck runs out..............

Sorry to hear about your close encounter of the fourth kind Joe - the number of people running cars untaxed and uninsured, despite the big brother camera network, makes a complete mockery of this proposal to force SORNed vehicles to be insured.

Rick aka Beligerent of Bogside

Oddly the outer bearing kept the wheel vertical Rick so the ABS didn't have some kind of blue fit.

Got some (not so) pretty pictures to upload later but it was definitely the wheel bearing! Sounded like a bag of spanners in the tumble dryer once i got it in the air and gave the wheel a spin!

They're NLA at Volvo (although oddly you can get the hub nut and grease cap) but they did very kindly give me the part number. I tried FCP Euro first who had them in stock but wanted $372.49 each!!! Plus of course shipping to the UK!

Typed the number into ebay and found two NOS units (mine is the one with the bearings ready-fitted to the hubs) For the princely sum of £2.99 each + £9.95 P&P - EACH! Still, at under £26 all in, a lot cheaper than any other options.

Still need to do the ball joints at some point so i'll douse them with the mix at some point - i tried all the usual, the two hammers, a "normal" ball joint splitter that has a leadscrew and two jaws and even (after the other splitter disintegrated) a commercial splitter and they still wouldn't shift!

[bluebrickrick]

Strange set up Joe but hire always was cut throat I suppose - might be worth trying firing a small claims court warning across their bows (although by now the cost of starting one may match or exceed your cost) compared to their cost to defend it, a small claim payout is often a no brainer.

Sounds like you need to dig a branch in your tunnel Dave, to that building which does not exist and where putty like substances likely to separate ball joints if packed around the joint are not stored

I doubt the taper will be rusted or have enough gap even for Kroil to enter - a short dose of oxy propane may be needed unless you have a mig in which case a short run around the outside of the eye might help (tend to use a run of weld inside boiler tubes to shrink them enough on cooling to loosen them in the tubeplates)

Good luck with the bearings, I think mine went due to fording - the dip under the railway bridge at Hoveton used to flood deep and frequent (sometimes so deep I would reverse through to avoid killing the engine) and if I'd come back from somewhere distant at speed, the rapid cooling vacuum would suck mud in a bit at a time.

Hoping for a nice day tomorrow but the forecast is not so optimistic

Have a nice weekend folks

Rick - one time eater of miles, now eater of humble pie.........

[Laird Scooby]

Knowing my luck Rick, if i did divert my tunnel i'd break through next to Sgt Bilko in a knocking shop with no self-diminishing abrasive compound to be found!

I don't think the taper is rusted as such, i think it's been in there so long with so much weight on it that it needs something to help break the seal. Given the capillary action of the acetone there's a good chance it will get in whatever gap there is.

That could well have caused your bearings to go Rick, i think mine just went from wear which is another reason i'm replacing both, especially at the price i got them for - bit of a no brainer really!

As for the weather, it dawned bright, sunny and warm - somewhere on the planet! Just not round this neck of the woods!

Great for the ducks, not so good for us!