Diana and Jackie

Corsa's have a similar type of fault which makes no sense at all with extremely wierd symptoms,

Its simply the instrument conector behind the dash, remove the instrument pod and pack out the connector with double sided tape forcing it towards the instrument pod.

The idiot designer attached the connector to the dash fascia so it moves as the plastic expands/contracts and generally moves about.

People have paid hundreds to dubious garages to have this fault fixed - worth checking out. Also belive Vauxhall Meriva's have the problem too.

D&J

Sorry, I know this is quite a step from MV's! but have any of you had or heard of the same or similar problem? It would seem like it's not uncommon hence the ask.

 

The car in question is my other-halves Vauxhall astra, it's a 55plate with 1.7ctdi engine its done nearly 100k if that makes any odds.

 

The problem:

in the past week it has been doing subtle things to play up, ie, lights not wanting to dip and it wouldnt lock one night.

However, yesterday, started it, it sounded well rough and was tick over was 300rpm higher than normal, turned it off, and on, drove it to town, no issuses.

That night, took the car to our friends house, idle was high, drove it, mile down the road battery warning light came on, turned it off, then on, it was ok, carried on, the wipers didnt work and the light got stuck on main beam, another couple of miles and the battery light was on again and it felt down on power, then we started to loose the power steering pulled up at his house, there was no power steering at all and idle was really high.

 

Turned the car off, then it wouldn't start, instead, you turn the key and it was making a ticking sound and flashing the reverse lights and interior lights. left it for a couple of hours, and it started, it was running fast again and none of the lights worked, turned it off and it ticked and flashed the lights!

 

We got a lift home and will trailer the car home later today, any ideas? I think ECU and my mate reckons don't rule out bad earth? The battery is good and the aux belt is fine

 

either way I'm sick of the sight of it!! bring back the days of mechanical diesels! :nut:

Hi,

After spending all aftenoon removing the offside mudguard and suspension spring we're now stuck at getting the spring seat out.

The pin holding the seat is seized solid, and we cannot get the control link pins out either.

If the suspension is jacked up (with the suspenson spring removed) it stays there! so we had to put the wheel on and jump on it till it drops.

Thoughts are using a grease gun inject diesel oil into the suspenson spring pin, but we suspect the pin is seized to the spacer that runs through the shock absorber base.

Also using an air hammer to knock the pin out maybe

Any ideas on how to get the pin out are very welcome.

D&J

Strongly suggest you strip and clean the carburettor, as well as fitting new diaphrams. The work will not be wasted since you will at least know it wont need looking at for a while.

It would appear you are using electronic ignition - normally the series resistor for the coil is kept in circuit permanently or at least that's what Mr Jolley reccomends. Just wonder if there maybe an issue with that resistor going inter dis?

D&j

The latest thought here is Hilti studs - Know they are fired into girders but will it work on armour?

D&J

D & J,

 

Good idea about a mag drill, we did not have these 20+ years ago when drilling hulls. Beauty of an air drill is you can keep the speed real slow.

HSS hire out a stud welder - its a capacitor discharge stud welder so not sure if it's up to the job.

But if it works you may have to use metric studs and not unf

We have the same problem - a lot of missing studs.

Cobalt drills are available as are other drills for this job on e-bay, but you may also need a magdrill to stick on the hull since as Richard says a lot of pressure will be needed, and even then can is there enogh room for the drilling machine as these drilling machines are not small

.

D&J

The studs in question hold the mudguards to the hull and are welded flush onto the hull, not screwed into it.

Hi,

Followed through on Richards advice and here is the info from Belzona :

Hello Diana

Thank you for your email. The best product for you to use would be Belzona 1111 Supermetal, this is a paste grade two part epoxy resin that has excellent heat and chemical resistance, heat resistance is 200C.

The surface should be prepared as thoroughly as possible with a wire brush, the rougher the profile of the substrate the stronger the bond will be. I would suggest terminating the crack by drilling a small hole, the supermetal will repair the crack and bond the substrate together. Please ensure the surface is clean and dry we would suggest using a cleaner degreaser prior to using the supermetal. Once the supermetal has cured it us fully machinable.

Prices start at £56.00 for £400g. I have attached the information for the product and should you require any further assistance I am happy to help.

Since welding rods cost £36 a pack plus carriage plus labour of a welder (who may not quite know how to go about this) it works out at a comparable price.

Thanks again Richard!

Diana and Jackie

Hi,

 

Thanks to everyone who has replied.

 

We'll check out Belzona and I have located the appropriate welding rods..

 

Will let you know how it goes as the same company is repairing the mudguards - if the cost is right of course!

 

Diana and Jackie

Hi,

Thanks to everyone who has replied.

We'll check out Belzona and I have located the appropriate welding rods..

Will let you know how it goes as the same company is repairing the mudguards - if the cost is right of course!

Diana and Jackie

Diana an Jackie,

 

Just remembered doing this job some years ago and had great success in building up pitting on the hull sealing surfaces, with Belzona metal repair.This is a professional product used in heavy industry, providing preparations ot the surface are done right, it will work, then face it off with a block and abrasive paper, it will be good again.

Hi.

Shortly we will be taking our ferret to get the hole where the exhaust passes through the body welded, there's not just a small split there but the surface is badly corroded making sealing the exhaust fumes difficult.

Can anyone advise what process to follow or welding rods/materials to use to repair the small split, build up the corroded metal and grind it flat

D&J

Makes no sense at all to spend money on electronic ignition and botch the spak plug wiring.

If you do have electronic ignition its more than likely that the spark is flashing over to chassis through the poor connections as Richard suggests.

You can also check inside the distributor cap for burning as well as on the rotor arm.

Our Ferret was botched in may places, we've spent a lot of time and money unbotching it and still have some to go.

Diana and Jackie

I haven't check for spark or fuel flow to the carb yet...but I will. It does have an elctronic ignition kit put in. The lead bits I have. When I removed the plug wires the two lead bits were being held together with the fabric wrap that surrounds the wire...except there was no wire showing (see pic). Looking at the plug wire connection on the no 2 cylinder the wire is weaved around the lead bits ensuring a good contact.

Hi,

Do you have a good spark? Check points, condenser. If you can afford it replace the lot with electronic ignition and then forget about it!

:-D

Looks like someone has lost spark plug lead bits as well

The accelerator pump diaphrams and economy device diaphram are suspects as is the carburettor. Clean and check - there are two filters in the carb jets.

Champ Spares have all the carb bits - what they will not supply as part of the carb kit are the three seals - at each end of the butterfly spindle and the cold start device spindle which will also need checking.

Diana and Jackie

Marcus Glen has the correct oil for the fluid flywheel - The Diagram Off Andy's website and the service manual are quite clear as to what lubricants go where.

DOT 5 is a synthetic brake fluid - not to be used under any circumstance unless you change ALL the seals on the braking system. So use DOT4.

Carlube do an EP90 for the wheel gearboxes, the transverse box (normally) and the other 4 boxes. and SAE 30 byMorris lubricants is Ok for the gearbox and engine.

Check local motor factors for all the oils, and the correct grease, You may have to ring around a few, apart from the fluid flywheel oil which as said can be got from Marus Glen who is prompt with his service.

Diana and Jackie

Glad you know what you're talking about!

Hi - a page is missing, will add it tomorrow and make the picture bigger so easier to read.

Page added - Note after undoing the domed nut undo the cone nut first before loosening the sleeve nut ----If you do not you will break the pin that stops the armature turning

The tone disc is aluminium and likely to suffer corrosion as may the outer rim of the horn which is also aluminium. Paper gaskets need to be coated in petroleum jelly - NOT gasket compound under any circumstance.

D&J

very interesting, thanks for taking the time to post

Very helpful as ours are leaking both sides and will have to be done sooner or later

D&J

Tonight we tackled the last remaining problem in getting a safety (MOT for you UK folks) done prior to the new owner taking delivery of 02DA45.

 

In our province, Ontario, when a vehicle is purchased, prior to it gaining a registration, a safety check is required to be performed and signed off on by a mechanic who holds papers in this province. I feel it is a good rule, the vehicles being held to the standards of the time of manufacture not present day.

 

Anyhow, i'm loosing the plot a bit.

 

With the right steering relay unit loosing oil at a reasonable rate, it was a fail for the safety, so it had to be dealt with.

 

I consulted with a number of people while preparing to tackle it, I would like to thank, Dan Sicotte and Bill Mullholland for their learned advice.

 

The splined shaft that connects to Pitman arm is where the leak was coming from. When we took the arm off the splines fluid poured out and the perished remains of an o ring came off.

 

We approached the problem by tackling two fronts.

 

First, after Bill told us about the retrofit lip seals some of them have which this one did not have, we went the O ring path. After loking at the width of the washers and the width of the bushing surface from which a leak could come from we decided to use two o rings, a smaller one snug to the splines and a larger one outside of that, two circles one inside the other.

 

Then because of how we had seen oil coming out from the splines themselves, we used pipe dope in the splines.

 

The washers were cleaned and a couple replaced and back on with the arm and the castellated nut and a new split pin and then back together at the tie rod below.

 

After at least half an hour there was no sign of oil and the vehicle was rolled back onto some dry floor for a visual in the morning.

 

Quite a simple fix really, not rocket science.

 

Hope this helps someone

 

 

R

For those that want info on the Ferret Horn (maybe fitted on other vehicles)

WARNING on this horn DO NOT attempt to remove the centre nuts on this horn unless you read these instructions.

Diana And Jackie

Did you check the master cylinder?

Slide the rubber boot back if possible and see if there's liquid inside.

If so master cylinder is likely to be gone as well.

Use cable ties to hold the boot in place if the steel rings are shot

D&J

Exactly right

 

I had a leaking cylinder and changed the seal, the fluid was terrible (not changed at all by a previous owner by the look and bore was corroded) Anyway, I cleaned the bore - it still leaked even with a new seal (from champ spares) I ended up replacing all 4 cylinders and flushed the system, they were all shot :-).

 

Cheers

 

Matt

Hi,

if one wheel cylinder is suspect then it is likely they all are, as in the master cylindern all probability.

Master Cylinders are freely available on ebay if you do need one and not at the price one organisation who deal in military spares is charging either.

If you intend useing synthetic (DOT5) brake fluid then you must change all the seals and flush the system.

In hindsight I think we would have had, when we had similar problems, all the cylinders relined in stainless steel, as after shopping around for quotes to do that it would have been cheaper.

Diana & Jackie

well, thanks for the posts chaps and ladies.

 

The cup is an inch and an eighth as described, the cup looks near perfect but the bore does not look so perfect.

 

We will "borrow" a new cup from a stack of Land Rover spares we know about and replace afterwards.

 

We will touch it with a hone in the morning and see what happens, if not we will have to await a new housing.

 

We are crossing our fingers.

 

Note to file, change this puppy over to silicone brake fluid long term plan perhaps.

 

Thanks to all concerned.

 

R

Hi,

Have you removed and examined the cylinder - not hard to do. It may be that you will need a complete cylinder, since they are made of an aluminium alloy they are prone to corrosion of the cylinder bore.

The alternative is to get the cylinder resleeved in stainless steel. which is about the same cost or less than a complete cylinder with cable.

Champ spares in the UK hold the seals - quite quick service as well as cylinders. The cylinder and the cable can be split and exchanged to save downtime if cable is sound.

Be sure it is the cylinder since an overfilled hub can appear to be a leaking seal on initial examination.

Another problem can be the steel bleed screws seizing in the clylinder. Stainless steel bleed screws are available from http://ccsfasteners.co.uk/index.php.

Diana and Jackie

In the parts manual fig G6 shows the brakes.

 

It is unclear what the make up of the parts related to the wheel cylinder piston are.

 

Conventionally one has a rubber cup mounted on the front face of the piston facing inwards and a dust excluding seal around the mouth of the bore.

 

Does anyone know the sizes of either of these or have a picture they can post?

 

We have a Ferret in for a safety check (MOT) and the wheel cylinder is leaking and we are trying to expedite the process and get it on the road asap by buying seals locally.

 

Some dimensions would help, if not we are waiting over a week for seals or new wheel cylinder from the UK

 

Any answers welcome here or by email

 

Robin

Isnt it the responsibility of the provider of the service to tell the user? and not the user having to search the internet to find a service they bought and paid for has been discontinued

Adrian Flux provide a full isnurance with Breakdown AND it covers commuting unlike Cherished Vehicles

D&J

This was discussed sometime ago. http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/search.php?searchid=977106

Our insurance is due up at the end of the month.

We were stunned to discover that since May 2011 there has been no breakdown recovery with Cherished Vehicle insurance on our HMV.

Good thing we didnt breakdown but they didnt tell us of the change until our policy was due for renewal.

D & J

Hi,

At last found my Dad's service book!

He was discharged on the 10/04/1948 and enlisted on the 3/12/45 under national Service with The Royal Armoured Corps where he served as a driver mechanic - it says 'C' 68 in his paybook. He served in the middle east, where he got injured and I have a photograph of the other soldiers he served with.

I also have a photo of a Daimler armoured car with its front end blown off after it had just had its fluid flywheel repaired and engine refitted and travelled 10 miles. My Dad says on the photo that it was a new vehicle he had just repaired.

Diana (and Jackie)

PS....The quote below is absolutely correct.

Not in 1867 it wern't. It was a compeitor to the Punch magazine. So it proves to Diana and Jackie, their Dad was human! He must have read comics once. Ally Sloper was portrayed as a ner do well, drunk , in debt always doing stupid things. I can see why he appealed to squadies. The carachter reminds me of Mr McGoo's grandfather.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ally_Sloper

It also shows that squaddies habit of reading comics and naming things after carton carachters goes back a lot farther than you'd think.

 

(I will be leaving the Zimmer frame on the club house steps so that a certain person trips over it!)

Imperial copper washers are not hard to find on ebay, including kits. some of the metric sizes will also fit (depends on the bolt size).

As a temporary fix use ptfe tape, wrap ir around the washer lengthwise, 5 or 6 turns usually does it. Heating up copper washers usually softens them enough so that they re-seal - Dont like aluminium washers.

You could also try any company that sells hydraulic lines and piping/fittings.

D & J

D&J

Thought I would remove the main jets to clean some of the gum out, but after putting them back on I discovered the gum was sealing them so now they weep gas a bit. Looking to replace the washers and find they are aluminum and sized 11.1mm and 9.3mm.

Where does one find replacements for these? Doing the internet search I'm comming up empty. Also I'm in the states so if anbody knows where to get them here would be good.

???

-Chris

Hi,

I am looking for information on a Daimler Armoured Car which my father drove in Palestine.

It was blown up with, and one of the soldiers, my fathers mate, was killed. My father survived, but was permanently deaf in one year.

The vehicle registration was E 20204 and written on its front was the slogan Ally Sloper.

If anyone can shed any light I would be grateful.

Diana

We - that is Jackie and I are amazed a garage with all their technical know how cannot get the tyres off ferret rims!

We can do it in 20 minutes with two 39 inch tyre levers, gallons of washing up liquid and a lot of prodding.

The trick is, working on the outer rim to to work the washing up liquid under the rim bit by bit then once the outer rim pops off (assuming of course that the rim nuts have been removed), work the washing up liquid between the inner rim and run flat insert, or if there is no run flat insert under the remaining rim.

Make sure they put a rim band(tyre flap) around the rim if the runflat insert isnt being used.

Wash all the washing up liquid off with clean water as it is highly corrosive (contains a lot of salt)

D & J

Clive

Yippee, they managed to get it started.

 

On investigation electrician found there were a few bad connections.

1. Battery

2. One in the area of inter-vehicle starter socket box.

3. Connection to the starter.

Main problem however was the starter motor which was supplied as brand new (case had a couple of scratches) and almost certainly was brand new. They were getting 24 volts to the motor but then they worked out that 24 volts not getting past the terminals (believe they used your information to find this problem). There was a coating on the terminals which garage did not realise was a coating and once they scratched off all good.

There was another cable which had almost been cut through by rubbing on drive coupling??(not sure re part rubbing on) which eventually would have been another problem.

So now they are starting on what I originally took it in for, the roadworthy inspection. They have five brand new tyres to fit but they cannot break the bead with their gear so are taking to a lorry tyre place to use their equipment.

Once roadworthy done, then the battle with Queensland Transport to register the Ferret , I have examples of others they have done so should not be insurmountable, only problem is they did not actually see the other vehicles and they may ask to see mine.

Thanks a lot for the great information you provided and when /if you come to Australia look us up. We are just north of Brisbane.

Cheers, I will be having a cold beer to celebrate tonight.

Ken

Hi, We'll have six smoke launcher covers (if the price is right of course).

D&J

Hi ..

Direct from Michelin :-

we would suggest pressures for normal road use.

Front Axle = 2006 kgs front tyres 40psi

Rear Axle = 2387 kgs and rear tyres 46psi

These pressures are based on the use of Michelin tyres in the size 255/100

R 16 XZL 126K TL with vehiclle fully loaded.

D & J