In the 4WD gearbox saga we have finally come to the end, at least for now.
Last evening, about 30 minutes before I had to go into town for a church council meeting, I finished the repair job on the Nissan Terrano. No time for a proper test drive, and only barely enough time to change out of my oily clothes, have shower and get changed, I jumped into the car and took it into town.
All is well, no funny noises and it seems that nothing fell off. The meeting went well and after the meeting there weren't any pools of oil to be seen under the car. The drive home was, likewise, uneventful.
I think that we can call the car fixed. Perhaps this would be a good time to sell it, except that then I'll only end up buying somebody else's troubles in whatever replacement car I buy. Better for now to stick to the troubles I know.
19 November 2009
11 November 2009
The two wheel drive four wheel drive
My 1992 Nissan Terrano is finally mobile again. Taking the broken gearbox out was a simple task, accomplished in little over five hours. Five hours that is if you put all of the time I spent on it in one continuous string. In reality it took several days because the rest of the world keeps on marching on and continuing to make demands on my time with other tasks that have to be completed as well.
Putting the replacement gearbox in was an altogether much more complicated matter. First there was the problem of picking the 80 kg gearbox up off the ground and lifting it into exactly the right place underneath the car. Obviously I wasn't going to do that with just brute strength. In the end I used a small one ton chain hoist that I have. I made a frame that fitted over the hole in the car where the gear levers come through the floor to hang the hoist from. Then I hoisted the gearbox up and tried to get everything perfectly lined up so I could slide the gearbox into place. In the end that took me several days, the equivalent of maybe four hours. Amazingly it actually took me less time to put the gearbox in than it took me to get it out. Once I had it in place it took maybe another two hours to get everything connected up and bolted down.
Putting the gearbox back in did make quite a few demands on my back and it has been rather tender these last few days. Still, with an end in sight I simply pressed on and got the job done.
At last the moment of truth had arrived and I started the car. No problems there, everything worked as it should. It was time to go for a test ride but not before I had checked every bolt to make sure I had really tightened them all down properly. Success, I had. First I drove up and down the drive a few times both in two wheel drive and four wheel drive high ratio and low ratio. So far, so good. Time to go out onto the road and try it out for real!
The road test seems to be going well, no funny noises and the gearbox is working fine in two wheel drive. Time to try four wheel drive. Going up a little hill ........ when suddenly with a grinding noise I loose all drive. Turns out that when at speed the car jumps out of four wheel drive as soon as a little load comes on. Problem quickly diagnosed and so it's turn around and head back home.
At the moment the car works perfectly in two wheel drive and low ratio four wheel drive but not in high ratio. Luckily I have another transfer case (this is the bit that makes the car four wheel drive and it is bolted onto the back of the gearbox) which I know to be in perfect condition. It does mean that I'll have to spend another few days on my back under the car swapping over transfer cases. At least that isn't quite as big a job as swapping gearboxes. Given how my back feels at the moment I think I may wait until next week before I start on that though.
Putting the replacement gearbox in was an altogether much more complicated matter. First there was the problem of picking the 80 kg gearbox up off the ground and lifting it into exactly the right place underneath the car. Obviously I wasn't going to do that with just brute strength. In the end I used a small one ton chain hoist that I have. I made a frame that fitted over the hole in the car where the gear levers come through the floor to hang the hoist from. Then I hoisted the gearbox up and tried to get everything perfectly lined up so I could slide the gearbox into place. In the end that took me several days, the equivalent of maybe four hours. Amazingly it actually took me less time to put the gearbox in than it took me to get it out. Once I had it in place it took maybe another two hours to get everything connected up and bolted down.
Putting the gearbox back in did make quite a few demands on my back and it has been rather tender these last few days. Still, with an end in sight I simply pressed on and got the job done.
At last the moment of truth had arrived and I started the car. No problems there, everything worked as it should. It was time to go for a test ride but not before I had checked every bolt to make sure I had really tightened them all down properly. Success, I had. First I drove up and down the drive a few times both in two wheel drive and four wheel drive high ratio and low ratio. So far, so good. Time to go out onto the road and try it out for real!
The road test seems to be going well, no funny noises and the gearbox is working fine in two wheel drive. Time to try four wheel drive. Going up a little hill ........ when suddenly with a grinding noise I loose all drive. Turns out that when at speed the car jumps out of four wheel drive as soon as a little load comes on. Problem quickly diagnosed and so it's turn around and head back home.
At the moment the car works perfectly in two wheel drive and low ratio four wheel drive but not in high ratio. Luckily I have another transfer case (this is the bit that makes the car four wheel drive and it is bolted onto the back of the gearbox) which I know to be in perfect condition. It does mean that I'll have to spend another few days on my back under the car swapping over transfer cases. At least that isn't quite as big a job as swapping gearboxes. Given how my back feels at the moment I think I may wait until next week before I start on that though.
07 November 2009
Weekend rest
The gearbox is having a weekend rest because on Saturday and Sunday Jenny and I are busy with the various markets we go to.
This morning we got up at 5 am to go to the Featherston market. It yielded a fair to middling result. It looks like there is quite some promise in Featherston and we'll continue going there for the foreseeable future.
Tomorrow we get up a bit earlier to get ready for the market in Masterton. Once we're set up there I head off to church at around 9.45 am, leaving Jenny to run things until I get back at about 12. We have built up quite a good client base at Masterton and are slowly become one of a few "destination" stalls that people come to specially every week.
In the meantime the gearbox is gently swinging underneath the 4WD hanging from a chain I used to hoist it into position. And there it will wait until Monday when I'll have time to get into the repair job again. If all goes well I should be finished by the end on Monday and have the 4WD four wheel driving again.
This morning we got up at 5 am to go to the Featherston market. It yielded a fair to middling result. It looks like there is quite some promise in Featherston and we'll continue going there for the foreseeable future.
Tomorrow we get up a bit earlier to get ready for the market in Masterton. Once we're set up there I head off to church at around 9.45 am, leaving Jenny to run things until I get back at about 12. We have built up quite a good client base at Masterton and are slowly become one of a few "destination" stalls that people come to specially every week.
In the meantime the gearbox is gently swinging underneath the 4WD hanging from a chain I used to hoist it into position. And there it will wait until Monday when I'll have time to get into the repair job again. If all goes well I should be finished by the end on Monday and have the 4WD four wheel driving again.
05 November 2009
Gearbox progress
Another day and another step forward. Got the broken gearbox out of the car today. Referred to the workshop manual frequently and working carefully and methodically I quickly got to a point where the manual was of no use whatsoever.
Eventually with the judicious application of a few expletives and a little bit of brute force I managed to free the gearbox from its entanglement. In the end I used a block and tackle tied to the towbar and to the back of the gearbox to winch the gearbox backwards far enough so it was free from the engine, at which point I knocked the jack out from under it and let the whole lot crash down onto the wooden planks I had put there for that purpose.
Job done without damage to self or car. Satisfied and feeling I earned my peanuts this evening. Tomorrow comes the altogether much more difficult task of putting the reconditioned gearbox in. Alignment is somewhat more critical and a softer more deliberate approach is called for. Not sure yet how I'm going to lift 80 kg of gearbox into exactly the right place and then slide the whole lot forward into the engine but somehow I will do it.
While I was under the car and had access to the clutch I checked that and, thankfully, that looks to be in excellent condition.
At least that year studying automotive engineering at the ATS in Apeldoorn wasn't entirely wasted (grateful thanks to parents).
Eventually with the judicious application of a few expletives and a little bit of brute force I managed to free the gearbox from its entanglement. In the end I used a block and tackle tied to the towbar and to the back of the gearbox to winch the gearbox backwards far enough so it was free from the engine, at which point I knocked the jack out from under it and let the whole lot crash down onto the wooden planks I had put there for that purpose.
Job done without damage to self or car. Satisfied and feeling I earned my peanuts this evening. Tomorrow comes the altogether much more difficult task of putting the reconditioned gearbox in. Alignment is somewhat more critical and a softer more deliberate approach is called for. Not sure yet how I'm going to lift 80 kg of gearbox into exactly the right place and then slide the whole lot forward into the engine but somehow I will do it.
While I was under the car and had access to the clutch I checked that and, thankfully, that looks to be in excellent condition.
At least that year studying automotive engineering at the ATS in Apeldoorn wasn't entirely wasted (grateful thanks to parents).
01 November 2009
The easy bit is done
In the ongoing gearbox saga I've made some good progress with the easy bits so far. I found a recently reconditioned gearbox to swap into the 4WD and have just picked it up.It does, of course, weigh much more than I can safely lift on my own so I used the small crane I have for my tractor to get it out of the car.
If nothing more urgent comes up I'll start taking the broken gearbox out on Tuesday and, all going well, I'll have swapped the other one in by Friday.The forecast for the rest of this week is permanently black oily hands, possibly clearing on Friday.
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