Spare me working on vehicles.

[Evans Electric]

  Offside indicator starts flashing  like a demented Zebra crossing light ...Ah  bulb failed I think  ,  purchase two in a pack  , £6   :C   . Dismantle an air intake  to get hand in ,  remove lamp , it  tests OK on the bench .    Fit a new one anyway ,   major struggle to turn  the holder into the headlight unit  . Still doesn't work .   

Get back this afternoon  try again ,   I wanted to get the headlight unit off onto the bench  to see why it s so difficult .    This means  removing the front  of the van  ...I can't see how to do that .  

Test and find I have a flashing switchwire   but no earth  return  but of course they often switch the returns  so I start to wonder if the relay is'nt switching the return  .....Ah  heres a  board with 9 relays in it  , I can hear it ticking  fast ,  which one is it  , can't feel any of them ticking .     Ah heres another box  next to the battery , ticking is loud  ,   its concealed below this  box and I'm NOT tackling  that , thank you ,  nightmare.    Freezing cold .        Eight wires on a multi plug  to the headlight  , I'm thinking why  :C   surely you just need  4 switchwires  and an earth ...parking lamp / flasher/ dipped/  full beam,  no in the car world it needs 8 wires . 

Turns out to be merely levering  a strip of metal  to make better contact  in the holder .   :C

 

[Blue Duck]

Brian been breeding? :C

Its a faff, seem to recal a nice long torx and a lot of swearing got it out.

Almost every vauxhall of this vintage is affected by this issue. <_<

utthekettleon

 

[Evans Electric]

Well some days are Brian days  Duck . 

 

[ProDave]

I had to take SWMBO's car to my local mechanic for a minor job.

While I was there, there were 2 of them completely stripping off the whole front of a large VW van. Everything, radiator grille, all the lights, bumper removed.  I asked them what they were doing (thinking engine out or something).  No, they were just replacing the alternator, but to do that  you must  move the radiator forward half an inch and to do that you need the front end strip down.

I am glad I am not a mechanic.

 

[ruston]

One of the Mercs has to hace the bumper off to change lamps . A lot of cars are a nightmare and  need intensive stripping to change simple lamps.

 

[Sharpend]

One of the Mercs has to hace the bumper off to change lamps . A lot of cars are a nightmare and  need intensive stripping to change simple lamps.

May I suggest that you go to halfrauds as they only charge a few quid to replace lamps  cheaper than a garage!!

 

[ruston]

May I suggest that you go to halfrauds as they only charge a few quid to replace lamps  cheaper than a garage!!

Lol, I still do a bit of auto stuf  , but the room is getting less and less with each new model and complexity.

 Soon they will need a trailer to tow the gadgets.

 

[Evans Electric]

Garage we do work for  told me of  a main dealer   ( forgotten which one now)    who charge up to £1000   to change all lamps on the front .    Madness    ....all the bulbs should be easily accessible .    

 

[Blue Duck]

Just think yourselves lucky that you dont need a cambelt done on an audi a6 biturbo...

https://www.audiworld.com/tech/eng63.shtml

 

[Sharpend]

That all looks worse than it actually is. I had to replace my intercooler rad (sandwiched between wet rad and AC rad) on my caddy, in a hotel car park at 7.30pm. This was bumper off, lights out, front lock carrier out rads out, then reversal. Whole lot took 3hrs to complete. 

So going that bit further to get to timing gear isn't much more. In fact I had to strip the whole front end off and replace all due to a minor bump earlier this year.  

Oh the joy of owning a vehicle. 

 

[Geoff1946]

A lot of headlamps on modern vehicles have motors to adjust beam level for vehicle loading. Those, with associated feedback circuits account for quite a few wires.

 

[ruston]

In a workshop now you nearly need two  bays for some of the most simple jobs . One to store the bits that you have to remove.

 I have an old Sharan  that needs a clutch slave cylinder; piece of cake in the old days. Now it is concentric around the shaft - inside the gearbox.

 Gearbox out and all that goes with it. 

 

[revjames]

Later BMW 2.0 diesels have issues with cam chains. Usually requiring the whole lot - chain wheels, idlers etc changing out. The camchain is located at the BACK of the engine for some reason so engine or gearbox out to do it.

 

[roys]

Ahhh makes me think back to the times in the 80's when I use to regularly change engines in my Capri's and Cortina's could practically (but not quite) get inside the engine bay when you were working on them as there was that much room.

I knew what every wire and hose was for, I now lift the bonnet on a car and I'm lost.

i don't miss the rust that use to be on my Fords though.

 

[ProDave]

I recall doing some work for a small garage that specilised in old air cooled VW's, Camper vans, Beetles etc.  He showed me the tool kit to swap an engine. It was something like  2 spanners and a screwdriver.

 

[Andy™]

not many tools needed here either

 

[kerching]

In the early 70s I cut my teeth on Minis.  In those days you needed to remove the engine to empty the ashtray.

it was a challenge fitting the engine and gearbox from an Austin 1300 into an 850 mini...looking back on it I really think I should have upgraded the brakes  :innocent

 

[ruston]

I used to repair, buy and sell Minis when I was a lad . Mainly subrames and floorpans.

 I knew them inside out and they had some evil little characteristics. One of the ones I particularly disliked was the bypass hose between the head and the block.

 For a love job recently I rewired one making partially a new harness.

 Also an old MGB roadster too.

 

[Sharpend]

In the early 70s I cut my teeth on Minis.  In those days you needed to remove the engine to empty the ashtray.

it was a challenge fitting the engine and gearbox from an Austin 1300 into an 850 mini...looking back on it I really think I should have upgraded the brakes  :innocent

Ahh! That explains how you married the girl next door!!

 

[kerching]

 I knew them inside out and they had some evil little characteristics. One of the ones I particularly disliked was the bypass hose between the head and the block.

Ah yes!......best invention was the convoluted cylinder head bypass hose. I used to keep,a couple of spares in the boot

they had some perculiarities....

rotting under body seam trims due to the electrolytic reaction on the clips....de-seamed mine

battery falling through bottom of box

lower rad hose swap...this awakened my interest in gynaecology

speedo,cable snapping

sliding windows jamming

wire pull door handle

the list goes on