Stuff you learn(t) the hard way by being your own mechanic

[TheoG]

Just now, 117 said:

L for the bikes left,  R for the bikes right -  which makes no diffs if your hovering around the front end looking back

Left side tighten to the front end (anti clockwise thread) ,  right side tighten to the front end (normal clockwise thread).  It doesn't matter if you use a pedal spanner (on the outside of crank arm) or Allen key (inside of crank arm),  the rotation to loosen or tighten is always the same orientation - tighten towards the front,  loosen toward the rear. 

Pedals of course... 

So left is wrong and right is right ...  🤪

[thebob]

A positive story from my side. My GX Eagle derailleur clutch went pap. Looked all over the web and confirmed the clutch cannot be serviced or repaired, which is pretty piss poor IMO. So I took the plunge and ordered up an SLX rear derailleur. Fitted everything up on Friday afternoon, got the limit screws set, b-tension and cable tension without much fuss. GX Eagle shifter, GX Eagle cassette (10-52) and an X01 chain which should not work, if the people from the brands are to believed. Turns out everything works smoothAF. First ride on the Saturday and I am back to riding a stealthy bike with no chainslap and lovely smooth shifts!

Edited August 23, 2022 by thebob
Pic added

[TheoG]

26 minutes ago, thebob said:

A positive story from my side. My GX Eagle derailleur clutch went pap. Looked all over the web and confirmed the clutch cannot be serviced or repaired, which is pretty piss poor IMO. So I took the plunge and ordered up an SLX rear derailleur. Fitted everything up on Friday afternoon, got the limit screws set, b-tension and cable tension without much fuss. GX Eagle shifter, GX Eagle cassette (10-52) and an X01 chain which should not work, if the people from the brands are to believed, and everything works smoothAF. First ride on the Saturday and I am back to riding a stealthy bike with no chainslap.

And a SLX DR does not cost an arm & leg ....  

[droo]

16 hours ago, ChrisF said:

 

Uhm .... I actually do have the lock ring tool. 

 

With the bike on the stand, and the wheels already taken off I could not hold the bike steady to use it though .....  in hindsight .... should have re-fitted the wheels and placed the bike on the ground.

 

 

@droo I note a "torque arrow" in the anti-clockwise direction.  Does this ring un-do to the clockwise direction ?

Sometimes (most times really) the long way is actually the quick way...

And yes, Bosch lockrings are left hand thread.

[Stoffel76]

3 hours ago, tubed said:

this is me working on my old LR Discovery trying to get the starter motor bolt off - eventually (week later) it did the shameful thing of putting it on a flatbed and having it taken to the mechanic. They just smiled at me and said - dont worry we made a special extension tool to get to that nut - it takes two people to operate, one to guide the tool and the other to crank it. I felt a little better.

 

Lol, we could have a Land Rover dedicated thread on this topic!! 😆

 

Replacing the clutch master cylinder on my Discovery which was going smoothly until I tried to bleed the system... Got the wife to depress the clutch pedal and I was working the bleed screw... Nothing... couldn't get it to firm up. Call a mate over to help (because the wife has had enough)... Hours later, now dark, I turn to the workshop manual... Which tells me because of the angles of the pipes etc, the front of the vehicle needs to be jacked up so the air moves out the system! 🙄 5 min later the clutch was bled and working 100%! 🤣  You need a sense of humour to be a Land Rover owner... 

[tubed]

19 minutes ago, Stoffel76 said:

Lol, we could have a Land Rover dedicated thread on this topic!! 😆

 

Replacing the clutch master cylinder on my Discovery which was going smoothly until I tried to bleed the system... Got the wife to depress the clutch pedal and I was working the bleed screw... Nothing... couldn't get it to firm up. Call a mate over to help (because the wife has had enough)... Hours later, now dark, I turn to the workshop manual... Which tells me because of the angles of the pipes etc, the front of the vehicle needs to be jacked up so the air moves out the system! 🙄 5 min later the clutch was bled and working 100%! 🤣  You need a sense of humour to be a Land Rover owner... 

😆sense of humour, understanding wife, deep pockets, sympathetic mates.......but I do love my LR

[The Ouzo]

Seems appropriate

 

[DJR]

49 minutes ago, Stoffel76 said:

 

.............🤣  You need a sense of humour to be a Land Rover owner... 

You called?

My Defender now has a couple of mods to make those impossible things easier. 1. A hole cut in the load bin to allow access to the diesel pump without removing the whole tank. It makes a day job into an hour job.  2. A trap door in the gearbox tunnel to make removing and replacing easier. It keeps mechanics from needing psychiatric help. 3.  A special extention bolt on transfer box to allow easier access and save grazed knuckles. 

[tubed]

13 minutes ago, DJR said:

You called?

My Defender now has a couple of mods to make those impossible things easier. 1. A hole cut in the load bin to allow access to the diesel pump without removing the whole tank. It makes a day job into an hour job.  2. A trap door in the gearbox tunnel to make removing and replacing easier. It keeps mechanics from needing psychiatric help. 3.  A special extention bolt on transfer box to allow easier access and save grazed knuckles. 

Ah yes, the body modifications to get to those places only LR engineer thought possible to locate a nut. Yours are extensive and well planned. I have things to learn.

 

[The Ouzo]

18 minutes ago, DJR said:

You called?

My Defender now has a couple of mods to make those impossible things easier. 1. A hole cut in the load bin to allow access to the diesel pump without removing the whole tank. It makes a day job into an hour job.  2. A trap door in the gearbox tunnel to make removing and replacing easier. It keeps mechanics from needing psychiatric help. 3.  A special extention bolt on transfer box to allow easier access and save grazed knuckles. 

its for these very reasons that the mechanics at land rover told me its easier to separate the body from the chassis for most jobs on these vehicles.

[lechatnoir]

My dad an I rebuilt a Renault 5 from scratch. Just about every job needed a 'special tool'. To do the starter motor basically needed the dexterity of someone wallpapering a room through the keyhole... with the key in the lock! one of the engine oil seals needed a gearbox removal. but only after removing the driveshafts, but only after undoing the front suspension. but the good news was the wheels only had 3 wheelnuts on each.

never. ever. again.

[ChrisF]

6 hours ago, droo said:

Sometimes (most times really) the long way is actually the quick way...

And yes, Bosch lockrings are left hand thread.

 

JIP !

 

The bike went onto the stand as part of a strip down and rebuild major service.

 

The 38 ring was picked up when I bought some other parts ... by which time the bike was already in pieces.

 

 

Hindsight .... would have been a LOT easier to just swop out the ring at the end of the service.

 

 

@droo do you use a chainwhip to keep the ring and spider still while undoing the lockring ? 

(the e-bike has a ratchet on the "BB" side as well, EDIT - which may make REMOVING the lockring a bit more fun, for tightening holding the pedal on the other side will work)

 

 

Maar so leer ons mos .... and with any luck somebody learns from my school fees ....

Edited August 23, 2022 by ChrisF

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, lechatnoir said:

My dad an I rebuilt a Renault 5 from scratch. Just about every job needed a 'special tool'. To do the starter motor basically needed the dexterity of someone wallpapering a room through the keyhole... with the key in the lock! one of the engine oil seals needed a gearbox removal. but only after removing the driveshafts, but only after undoing the front suspension. but the good news was the wheels only had 3 wheelnuts on each.

never. ever. again.

 

1275E Mini ..... enough said .... 

 

 

DAM .... I mis that car !!!

[droo]

12 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

JIP !

 

The bike went onto the stand as part of a strip down and rebuild major service.

 

The 38 ring was picked up when I bought some other parts ... by which time the bike was already in pieces.

 

 

Hindsight .... would have been a LOT easier to just swop out the ring at the end of the service.

 

 

@droo do you use a chainwhip to keep the ring and spider still while undoing the lockring ?  (the e-bike has a ratchet on the "BB" side as well, which may make re-fitting the lockring a bit more fun)

 

 

Maar so leer ons mos .... and with any luck somebody learns from my school fees ....

Chain whip or just hold the crank in place with either your hand or your foot on the pedal. Just make sure you've either bolted the lockring tool to the spindle or someone's helping you so it doesn't slip on the spline.

[BaGearA]

22 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

JIP !

 

The bike went onto the stand as part of a strip down and rebuild major service.

 

The 38 ring was picked up when I bought some other parts ... by which time the bike was already in pieces.

 

 

Hindsight .... would have been a LOT easier to just swop out the ring at the end of the service.

 

 

@droo do you use a chainwhip to keep the ring and spider still while undoing the lockring ?  (the e-bike has a ratchet on the "BB" side as well, which may make re-fitting the lockring a bit more fun)

 

 

Maar so leer ons mos .... and with any luck somebody learns from my school fees ....

I use A t40 and press it hard into one of the motor mount bolts then tighten until the chainring presses on it.

 

Only with bosch tho , its the best way I've found to hold it solid while getting up to torque spec.

 

Sometimes the chainring gets a little mark and I go through t30 & t40's monthly now but haven't scratched a bike due to slip ever since 

[ChrisF]

32 minutes ago, droo said:

Chain whip or just hold the crank in place with either your hand or your foot on the pedal. Just make sure you've either bolted the lockring tool to the spindle or someone's helping you so it doesn't slip on the spline.

 

Aaahhh, nice tip !!