Car D.I.Y.

[Deleted member 26715]

I don't think the pride of repairing old Rav4's has changed much. Indeed, likelihood is they'd write it off at rhe slightest excuse rather than repair.

And if that's their excuse, then why has the renewal for my 2008 come in about £8 cheaper than last year? It'll be the first time in donkeys that I've stayed with the same firm two years running.

I'm sure you will anyway, but shop around @Phaeton

Already done that AA (under somebody else's guise) are offering £147 with a slightly lower excess, maybe at 61 the wife has moved out of LV's demographic & they want to move her on.

 

[fossyant]

Quick oil change on MrsF's car. Used my son's 'home made' ramps for speed. They work well, but when you do it at the top of the drive (our drive has a slight slope), I needed a step to peer into the bonnet area as the front was high off the ground. Left the splash cover in place, sump drained OK. Popped rag under oil filter and undid that. Unfortunately it was a little windy and we got some splash back of oil onto the sheet I put under the car. Needed to mop up some oil, but that oil is on the oily rag I use for chains. All sorted and put away in 20 minutes.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

When the weather has been getting really cold the Rav has been taking a 2nd start to fire & run, it's got keyless entry & start so all you do is clutch in (stupid Merkin idea) press the bottom & it goes through the start procedure, it holds the glow plugs on for a time based on how cold & then tries to start. If it hasn't started in X seconds it stops & you have to press the button again. But once started that's it, all the starts through the day are usually fine.

Figured it was the glow plugs, 15 years old, I was dreading trying to take them out, breaking one making the car underivable. So approached with trepidation, but good old Toyota all 4 unscrewed without any fuss,



Tested each one & they all lit up as expected

Rang the motor factor & of course there are 2 versions one with DFP & one without, not sure which version we need, there was a little corrosion on a couple of the nuts, so cleaned all them up as it went back need the car to fetch the parts, but tried it when it was all back together & started immediately but it wasn't really cold by then

I do like it when a plan comes together, took a flyer & ordered a non DPF set, they arrived today, all 4 out & all 4 new ones in, all within an hour, very happy after the horror stories you hear about removing glowplugs, but not bad I suppose 150K & 14 years of use.

 

[Jameshow]

Quick oil change on MrsF's car. Used my son's 'home made' ramps for speed. They work well, but when you do it at the top of the drive (our drive has a slight slope), I needed a step to peer into the bonnet area as the front was high off the ground. Left the splash cover in place, sump drained OK. Popped rag under oil filter and undid that. Unfortunately it was a little windy and we got some splash back of oil onto the sheet I put under the car. Needed to mop up some oil, but that oil is on the oily rag I use for chains. All sorted and put away in 20 minutes.

How did he made the ramps?
I'm thinking of sleepers cut at a slope.

 

[fossyant]

How did he made the ramps?
I'm thinking of sleepers cut at a slope.

Glued and screwed some timber joists together - 150mm by 50mm ish, cut the ends at an angle and screwed/glued together (four stacked in total, each plank being shorter than the other) - the handy thing is you can feel the 'steps' as you go up the ramp, so after the fourth 'step' you stop ! They do work really well.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

How did he made the ramps?
I'm thinking of sleepers cut at a slope.

View: https://youtu.be/H-8Sygs7fRE

 

[fossyant]

View: https://youtu.be/H-8Sygs7fRE

Very much like that

 

[Tom B]

I do like it when a plan comes together, took a flyer & ordered a non DPF set, they arrived today, all 4 out & all 4 new ones in, all within an hour, very happy after the horror stories you hear about removing glowplugs, but not bad I suppose 150K & 14 years of use.

View attachment 702196

I have expirence of a few of the horror stories. including one that was so well stick in that is snapped off below the thread. I expected the compression would blow it out, it did not and 50k later it was resolutely stuck in.

Very much like that

so easy to over think stuff like that.

 

[CXRAndy]

Did some repairs service to my pickup. New high pressure power steering hose, and fluid change. Engine oil and filter. Coolant change. New serpentine belt. I have the tensioner and pulleys, but they were nice a smooth when checked.

I've got front and rear differentials to do , also transmission oil/filter swap with some new hard coolant lines to the transmission radiator.

MOT next week

 

[rockyroller]

I may attempt replacing or at least topping off - some gear oil. anyone have any favorite, small, inexpensive pumps or tips about doing it? it will be in a bottle like this

 

[faster]

I'm not sure if this would help, but I recently refilled the gearbox on my car using the set up below, as in their wisdom, Mercedes no longer fit dip stick tubes to their automatic gearboxes, so they have to be filled through the sump plug.

It's just the bottle the ATF comes in with two holes drilled in the lid - a tube pushed through one (a tight fit so it doesn't leak too much!) and a presta valve stem from a bike inner tube in the other, secured by the retaining ring thingies that people usually throw away with o rings either side.

By pumping away gently on the track pump, I soon had 6 litres of fluid in the gearbox.

 

[rockyroller]

I'm not sure if this would help, but I recently refilled the gearbox on my car using the set up below, as in their wisdom, Mercedes no longer fit dip stick tubes to their automatic gearboxes, so they have to be filled through the sump plug.

It's just the bottle the ATF comes in with two holes drilled in the lid - a tube pushed through one (a tight fit so it doesn't leak too much!) and a presta valve stem from a bike inner tube in the other, secured by the retaining ring thingies that people usually throw away with o rings either side.

By pumping away gently on the track pump, I soon had 6 litres of fluid in the gearbox.

clever! but not for me. I'm thinking more like a little thing you screw on to the top of the bottle

 

[CXRAndy]

I've got front, rear differentials and transmission oil changes. Front and transmission don't have drain plugs so I will using vacuum to extract the most fluid and using long hose with funnel to gravity feed the new fluids into the full holes

 

[tyred]

I may attempt replacing or at least topping off - some gear oil. anyone have any favorite, small, inexpensive pumps or tips about doing it? it will be in a bottle like this
View attachment 705394

You could get a piece of rubber hose of the right internal diameter to push over the end of that cap let gravity do the rest.

Gear oil used to always come in bottles with extending pull-out tops but it's much rarer nowadays.

 

[Adam4868]

I may attempt replacing or at least topping off - some gear oil. anyone have any favorite, small, inexpensive pumps or tips about doing it? it will be in a bottle like this
View attachment 705394

Some 3/8 rubber pipe....and your best tea towel to mop up the spillage 😁