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

[dave303e]

28 minutes ago, MORNE said:

my mother owned a pearl white one (the nice looking last iteration), full house with sunroof and everything up until she emigrated. When she left she 'gave' me the thing because she didn't want to sell it. It had 40k km on it. Being a 25y old ish at the time and having to spend (back then) around R650 to fill its tank with diesel was just batchit crazy to me. So I kept on driving my 1983 golf Gti haha. Passed the Paj on to my now wife to drive around, since someone had to and she lived closer to her place of work back then. She loved it too....It is a womans 4x4 afterall 🤗.

But what got me in the end was when i had to take it for it's routine 60k km service at the dealership. it was still on motorplan...and the list of things they replaced..or had to replace that back then amounted to a R12k invoice,  just made me realise that once that thing was out of warranty/motorplan....you will be keeping it for life to make it worth the investment...why people DO drive them to to infinity...thay cant afford not to haha. It was pretty...but the SWB is borderline as useless as a Jimny. absolutely no space to pack anything other than a few shopping bags lol. The epitome of an urban mom SUV. It's (like the Jimny imo)...a toy at best.

PS: Our 2.5DiD Fortuner in 2014 cost R2400 to service at 60k km. Our 2017 Rav4 VX 2.5 just had it's 75k km service...R2200. 

 

OK I'll bite....

I'd rather be put in a convertible series 1 Land Rover Defender as a daily driver for a 50km commute during a cape winter than own either of those though. Plus the Fortuner insurance costs will make up the 10K difference in service fees within a year anyway. And when last did you look back at your fortuner as you walked away and think- man that is a cool car.

But yes SWB Pajero's are small ish(hence I ended up selling mine) but they are far bigger than a jimny inside and perfect for a bachelor though. Mine lived with the back seats flat. If it is just 1 or 2 of you there is plenty of space for all manner of adventure

[dave303e]

Also for the Land rover fans and DIY mechanics, I have been eyeing this out for a while, I am not sure if it is sacrilege or genius but it is some serious power output. Would make an awesome plaas vehicle in bakkie format, capable and just plug it in each night. Conversion comes as a kit

 

https://www.electrogenic.co.uk/cars/land-rover-defender-high-voltage

[Hairy]

50 minutes ago, dave303e said:

OK I'll bite....

I'd rather be put in a convertible series 1 Land Rover Defender as a daily driver for a 50km commute during a cape winter than own either of those though. Plus the Fortuner insurance costs will make up the 10K difference in service fees within a year anyway. And when last did you look back at your fortuner as you walked away and think- man that is a cool car.

But yes SWB Pajero's are small ish(hence I ended up selling mine) but they are far bigger than a jimny inside and perfect for a bachelor though. Mine lived with the back seats flat. If it is just 1 or 2 of you there is plenty of space for all manner of adventure

If you watch a Fortu'nah driver, you will note they always close the door silently, and slink away from the car stealthily in the hope that nobody they know could possibly see them driving that thing

[PhilipV]

2 hours ago, MORNE said:

my

PS: Our 2.5DiD Fortuner in 2014 cost R2400 to service at 60k km. Our 2017 Rav4 VX 2.5 just had it's 75k km service...R2200. 

 

But the Fortuner costs another 2400 at 70k, and at 80k, and and then 9500 at 90k. 

I hope the rav at least has 15k service intervals?

I have one Toyota left in my fleet, it's paid off, does its job, and none of my driver's get the same gag reflex  like I do when they need to drive it. So it's safe. 

 

 

[ChrisF]

6 minutes ago, PhilipV said:

But the Fortuner costs another 2400 at 70k, and at 80k, and and then 9500 at 90k. 

I hope the rav at least has 15k service intervals?

I have one Toyota left in my fleet, it's paid off, does its job, and none of my driver's get the same gag reflex  like I do when they need to drive it. So it's safe. 

 

 

 

Yes, the RAV4 has a 15k service schedule in SA. (Shorter in some other markets)

 

EDIT .. 15k for the petrol models, not sure of the diesel models.

Edited August 24, 2022 by ChrisF

[117]

The irony of Land Rovers in the thread title... 

[tubed]

Apologies - I seem to have derailed this thread from bikes to LR's.

So back to things I have learnt.

Suddenly/ inexplicably my 1x10 setup wouldn't work and I needed a longer b screw for an XT derailleur. A few bike shops later and all I could get was too short or wrong thread. Until a genius online suggested just put the shorter b screw in from the other side where it usually protrudes to create the push against the derailleur. So simple, so effective, so satisfying.

[mazambaan]

16 hours ago, dave303e said:

OK I'll bite....

I'd rather be put in a convertible series 1 Land Rover Defender as a daily driver for a 50km commute during a cape winter than own either of those though. Plus the Fortuner insurance costs will make up the 10K difference in service fees within a year anyway. And when last did you look back at your fortuner as you walked away and think- man that is a cool car.

But yes SWB Pajero's are small ish(hence I ended up selling mine) but they are far bigger than a jimny inside and perfect for a bachelor though. Mine lived with the back seats flat. If it is just 1 or 2 of you there is plenty of space for all manner of adventure

To keep the derailment going; Pajero's are great (I am considering a Sport or Isuzu Mux after my Fortuner (Tuna;s seem to be getting stolen at accelerated rates)) BUT you must check the timing chain on that 3.2, even before the intervals given.

LR Disco 1 starter motor; removed on my lawn using just about every wobble and universal joint extension in my toolbox. That Disco did 320 000km (inc Moz, Zim, Nam, Bots & Lesotho) when I sold it, mechanicals never opened (elec windows and door locks a pain as was the cooling system (replace plastic plugs and new expansion bottle)) and its still going.

[dave303e]

To help get the thread back on track, something I can suggest to Scott owners- Get a syncros multitool, it has everything needed for your bike.

I always try to do as much of the work/maintenance on my bicycle with the toolkit I carry. Obviously knowing certain things are impossible(removing bottom brackets, pulling cassette's etc) but what it does is it gives you a trail knowledge, when something goes wrong you know you have the tool to be able to fix it. You also then can make sure your multitool matches your bike, or if you need to change bolts in places to allow you to be able to fix them on trail.

And back off topic, ya that timing chain block and timing have a close eye kept on them.

[reteid]

On 8/23/2022 at 8:26 AM, tubed said:

I always chuckle to myself when I see my boets permanent marker arrows on the inside of his cranks - clearly he learnt the hard way.....

 

i also drew tippex directional arrows on the inside of the crankarms to remember which way is loose.

[Fleming]

Mr Min is great for giving your bike that shiny look but dont under any circumstances use it to polish you saddle.

[MORNE]

something about modern bikes....

never assume your axles are still as tight as the last time you torqued them. ESPECIALLY if you almost never take them off. 

when i took my bike apart after doing  around the pot, I realised the rear axle was so close to coming out. I could undo it with my fingers. It obviously loosens itself over time. They should really consider making them reverse thread too. 

PS: this is those bolt up ones...not "QR Thu axle" - those are better imo. 

 

Edited August 29, 2022 by MORNE

[MORNE]

On 8/24/2022 at 5:35 PM, PhilipV said:

snip

 

On 8/24/2022 at 4:17 PM, Hairy said:

snip

 

On 8/24/2022 at 3:26 PM, dave303e said:

snip

i have to ad that we are tuna free for a long time now. not that i really care about what other people think haha, but ill take it as I dish it out.  

We thoroughly enjoyed 'trokkie' though. took it all over the place, saw most of the country in it...even to richterveld in namibia

The rav is a great car, so great in fact...everybody is now building one lol.

It's my wife's car - and she loves it that all that matters. 

 

Ive mentioned it on here before,

I literally don't own a car...havent since that same Pajero and 1983 golf mentioned earlier actually haha. We get around with one car (and bicycles) just fine. The office has a small toyota Aygo - aka the office cockroach, which i use in a pinch. We call it cockroach because it literally wont die. it has 180k km on it...has been driven with no oil in it, almost no water in it...hasnt been serviced in 5 years, and the staff all think it's a formula 1 car. It is fun thrashing it about though. 1.0, 3 cylinder so sounds like a small beast and has no rev limiter haha. Felt bad for the thing so took it to toyota to get it major serviced beginning this year - expecting them to full well tell me the thing is f'd and we could get a new one - and all they did was put new oil in it...and a filter and said it was still going strong haha

 

 

[MrJacques]

3 hours ago, MORNE said:

something about modern bikes....

never assume your axles are still as tight as the last time you torqued them. ESPECIALLY if you almost never take them off. 

when i took my bike apart after doing  around the pot, I realised the rear axle was so close to coming out. I could undo it with my fingers. It obviously loosens itself over time. They should really consider making them reverse thread too. 

PS: this is those bolt up ones...not "QR Thu axle" - those are better imo. 

 

Yup. A while ago on a ride something felt off and I noticed something almost like when you have a loose headset. Turned out to be the front axle that had wiggled it's way out. I suppose you can add a drop of loctite if you want it more secure, but it might make a trailside repair difficult if you overdo it.

[The Ouzo]

Always carry one slug up in your Ryder Slug Plug.

 

This morning I picked up a nail in the rear tyre. Stupidly I pulled it out before getting the slug plug ready. So with one hand I was closing the hole to keep some air in, with the other hand I fished out the slug plug, opened it and got it ready to insert the plug. I would not have been able to get a plug and put it into the tool with one hand.

 

Also. If you know you have a dodgy CO2 inflator, dont forget your pump at home.

[ChrisF]

53 minutes ago, ouzo said:

Always carry one slug up in your Ryder Slug Plug.

 

This morning I picked up a nail in the rear tyre. Stupidly I pulled it out before getting the slug plug ready. So with one hand I was closing the hole to keep some air in, with the other hand I fished out the slug plug, opened it and got it ready to insert the plug. I would not have been able to get a plug and put it into the tool with one hand.

 

Also. If you know you have a dodgy CO2 inflator, dont forget your pump at home.

 

Thursday night I was doing my last checks on the bike ... realised I had not replaced the slug after helping another rider at Trans Augrabies.

 

Put a new slug in .... and ended up using it on Saturday to help a rider at V&V event.

 

 

 

excuse me while I run off to replace the slug .....