What did you do to your Non-Kombi VW or other car today?

[Oldman]

Not my vehicle but my Brother's.....
He and his partner visited over Christmas for a few days and picked up a Tek screw in one of his rear tyres.....result, flat tyre on Boxing Day .
Nothing open around here until the 9th of Jan. and he had to be up at Ballina on the 27th.
I went to Auto Barn and purchased a Tubeless tyre repair kit for $20.00 and thought it was pretty much the last chance of him getting back on the road.

   

Man, have these things changed since I worked at Golden Fleece in the '70s !!   
Back then we used a pneumatic tool and solid rubber plug to repair the tyre and steel belted radials were often a problem 'cause the wires would not permit a good seal around the plug.

Now the process and kit is completely different....you get a Reamer to clear and broaden the hole to suit the "plug", an application tool, some rubber adhesive,five soft rubber compound rubber cords and a small trimming knife.
Process is really simple....remove the offending Tek screw, ream the hole a few times, place the cord in the applicator and apply the rubber adhesive all over the cord .. ( this acts as a lubricant to aid the insertion into the hole...) The adhesive appears to cause the cord to expand little, (could be wrong on this) and you then firmly push the cord into the hole until there's about a quarter of the cord sticking above the tread.....then, very quickly remove the applicator upwards which disengages the plug and it's all done !!

I must admit I was a little skeptical about how successful this would be but the fella that sold it to me swears by them when he's off roading so I thought I'd give it a shot.
Tyre then re-inflated to normal pressure, excess cord trimmed off and checked for leaks with soapy water spray ....all good ! 
Wheel back on car and my Brother drove 11 hours North without any issue or pressure loss....very happy. 
His spare was a Space Saver and limited to 80kph max. so was never going to be good enough for the trip.

I now have the kit in the kombi in my "bits n pieces" for breakdowns box.

(He has since had a permanent patch placed on the inside of the tyre.....tyre shop said it will last the life of the tyre and no need for a new one.)

[syncro]

Changed the oil on the Beetle. Found out that my engine doesn't use drain plug washers.
   

[Oldman]

‘cause it’s blueprinted ?

[T1 Terry]

Travelling up and down the bush track from the rear of our block to get to a dirt road (main bitumen road is under water few houses in each direction from our house) has been a bit hard on the under side of the Prius. The end result was the exhaust pipe being pressed up against the plastic fuel tank till if rubbed through the heat shield and melted a hole in the fuel tank ...... time to get the Kombi back on the road ....... another thread for that story

Today I'm attempting to plug the holes. Bought some Dynasteel brand Plastic fuel tank repair stuff, that consists of a log of two types of putty. Cut a bit off and mix it together and ...... yeah, petrol leaking too fast to get the stuff to stick, so a pea size bit jammed into the biggest hole and that slowed the leaking considerably .... but not completely and the putty stuff wouldn't stick. Out with the "Stag" if it seals porous aluminium cases in British motorcycles, it should do the trick. Pasted a nice thick layer over the whole melted bit and bingo, stropped the petrol seeping through ...... now I find out Stag needs 24 hrs min to dry .....   To be continued tomorrow it seems ...... I also bought a roll of exhaust wrap to put on the exhaust pipe in the hope that will stop a repeat performance .....

T1 Terry

[T1 Terry]

Travelling up and down the bush track from the rear of our block to get to a dirt road (main bitumen road is under water few houses in each direction from our house) has been a bit hard on the under side of the Prius. The end result was the exhaust pipe being pressed up against the plastic fuel tank till if rubbed through the heat shield and melted a hole in the fuel tank ...... time to get the Kombi back on the road ....... another thread for that story

Today I'm attempting to plug the holes. Bought some Dynasteel brand Plastic fuel tank repair stuff, that consists of a log of two types of putty. Cut a bit off and mix it together and ...... yeah, petrol leaking too fast to get the stuff to stick, so a pea size bit jammed into the biggest hole and that slowed the leaking considerably .... but not completely and the putty stuff wouldn't stick. Out with the "Stag" if it seals porous aluminium cases in British motorcycles, it should do the trick. Pasted a nice thick layer over the whole melted bit and bingo, stropped the petrol seeping through ...... now I find out Stag needs 24 hrs min to dry .....   To be continued tomorrow it seems ...... I also bought a roll of exhaust wrap to put on the exhaust pipe in the hope that will stop a repeat performance .....

T1 Terry

Seems to have worked. No sign of any leaks through the Stag compound or around the pea size bit I plugged the main hole with, so I mixed up enough putty to make piece to fill over the hollowed out section created by the exhaust pipe.
It seemed to stick to the Stag ok, so wrapped the exhaust in that heat proofing exhaust tape, cable tie each end because I didn't have any of the metal straps on hand, and Margaret and Brian have headed off on the 200km round trip to Adelaide to pick up Victron gear for a job in the workshop and basically shop till they close the last shop before heading home :lol:
I guess I'll get a phone call if the leak starts again, the petrol smell was pretty intense with the fuel dripping onto the exhaust and boiling off .....

T1 Terry

[Wombatventures]

Have been having issues with my BA Falcon One Tonner auto trans. Over the last couple of months the transmission heat light has come on when I've been on the way home from a longer run with a load on. It started getting worse while we were away for Xmas. 
Ford in their wisdom don't fit a dipstick for the trans anymore. Not since the AU. The owners manual states the trans doesn't need servicing or minimal attention. Fluid may need to be changed anywhere from 45000km to the life of the car. Vehicles used for regular towing may require a more frequent fluid replacement. 
I last had the fluid changed about 30000 ago. So drop pan off last weekend. Fluid brown not red....
Got a service kit (filter and 12 litres of fluid) this week.
So today....
Dropped pan off, thank you Ford  for no drain plug!
Replaced filter and pan gasket. Refilled trans. 
Pulled grill off and hose from trans cooler. Hose into bottle, run car... 2 litres very dark fluid... Refill trans...repeat....repeat...repeat...repeat. eventually 12 litres of new fluid, a fair bit redder.
Absolute bloody mess and sick of having to slide in and out under the bloody car 30 or more times.
Oh for a hoist... And a decent designed car!

[KIWI]

Have been having issues with my BA Falcon One Tonner auto trans. Over the last couple of months the transmission heat light has come on when I've been on the way home from a longer run with a load on. It started getting worse while we were away for Xmas. 
Ford in their wisdom don't fit a dipstick for the trans anymore. Not since the AU. The owners manual states the trans doesn't need servicing or minimal attention. Fluid may need to be changed anywhere from 45000km to the life of the car. Vehicles used for regular towing may require a more frequent fluid replacement. 
I last had the fluid changed about 30000 ago. So drop pan off last weekend. Fluid brown not red....
Got a service kit (filter and 12 litres of fluid) this week.
So today....
Dropped pan off, thank you Ford  for no drain plug!
Replaced filter and pan gasket. Refilled trans. 
Pulled grill off and hose from trans cooler. Hose into bottle, run car... 2 litres very dark fluid... Refill trans...repeat....repeat...repeat...repeat. eventually 12 litres of new fluid, a fair bit redder.
Absolute bloody mess and sick of having to slide in and out under the bloody car 30 or more times.
Oh for a hoist... And a decent designed car!

I had to do the same with the Outback a while ago. Two unrelated warning lights on the dash, no OBD codes; Dr Google suggested dirty ATF and was correct.
Luckily Outbacks have a Z709 oil filter for the ATF tucked in behind the battery so it now gets changed when the engine oil filter is changed saving me repeating the drain/flush/refill process you just went through.
Luckily I did have access to a hoist but still a pita.
PR

[T1 Terry]

Seems to have worked. No sign of any leaks through the Stag compound or around the pea size bit I plugged the main hole with, so I mixed up enough putty to make piece to fill over the hollowed out section created by the exhaust pipe.
It seemed to stick to the Stag ok, so wrapped the exhaust in that heat proofing exhaust tape, cable tie each end because I didn't have any of the metal straps on hand, and Margaret and Brian have headed off on the 200km round trip to Adelaide to pick up Victron gear for a job in the workshop and basically shop till they close the last shop before heading home :lol:
I guess I'll get a phone call if the leak starts again, the petrol smell was pretty intense with the fuel dripping onto the exhaust and boiling off .....

T1 Terry

It must have done the job. Margaret has clocked up quite a few kms since the repair and it has had quite a few trips up and down the bush track and no leaks ....... 

T1 Terry

[Oldman]

Replaced the fuel pump in the Forester.
Probably one of the easiest jobs ever and thankfully, Subaru actually thought about access from inside the vehicle, so no need for tank out.
Back seat lower out, access panel removed and voila !!....there is the top of the fuel pump, sitting easily accessible. 
It's an in-tank module that incorporates the filters, so pretty much the same process as replacing a fuel sender unit in a kombi.
Undo push-lock fuel lines x 2, remove 6 pin plug, remove 8mm nuts securing the unit and lift it out.....
P. O. P !!
Very happy that everything went back together as it should..... and without a hiccup.
New fuel pump, filters and 30 minutes of time and it's running beautifully again......
( and a HELL of a lot cheaper than that quoted by Subaru......)

[T1 Terry]

For a reason only Margaret understands, the carpet, lino (that had been there since it was built) all had to be torn up removing the top lay, and often another few layers down, of the ply flooring. Naturally, being an ex Japanese small bus converted to a motorhome, the cupboards, shower and ever thing else was put on top on the existing flooring.
So, many hrs work using a very large tin of "Builders Bog" has been used to make the floor flat again as well as filling in the holes in the corners where water had sat when it was mopped out in it's early days as a bus. As anyone who has used bog, if you are not working with it on a regular basis, the levelling process requires quick work and knowing when to stop fiddling with it because it just makes a mess ....... that is the point the project manager determined it it must be my job now .......   So, a week and three days to get it, the Kombi and all the work still in the shop left to complete so we can get to the '23 Bus Stop .... thankfully it's only an hr or so down the road from here 

T1 Terry