Sorted the car!

[teamster1975]

I took the afternoon off today to fit the new alternator and aux belt; while I was at it I decided to investigate the front offside knocking & check condition of cam belt.
Squeezed the spring up and detatched the strut from the top mount and the top bearing was indeed knackered (Another £24 from Euro's after £148 for alternator )
Re-assembled strut and removed top engine mount to find that the big rubber bush that screws into the wing wasn't screwed all the way in!
Took the cambelt cover off, and it looks as though the previous owner had stuck to the schedule, the belt looked pretty new
Everything re-assembled and took the car for a test drive, no knocks what so ever and a solid 14.4v across the battery with no squealing at idle

Oh another thing I found; there is what appears to be a bleed screw on the rear left of the rocker cover; the bloody thing was half unscrewed! Might explain one of the oil leaks!

By christ is my back aching!

[puggy]

Well done that man !! teamy tell your mrs she has my permission to hump
your brains out tonight as a reward

[teamster1975]

Cor I wish, her period started yesterday
I'm watching the scorpion king and supping on a pint of Abbot Ale (£3.99 for 4 at Morrisons!)

[puggy]

if i may say so a very good way to relax

[teamster1975]

Why thank you old chap!
Hope you're doing the same!

[Doggy]

Well done Teamy. Makes a real difference when you sort out a few probs together, feels like your on a roll

The smart move now is to quit while you're ahead, bask in the glory for a bit and next time you'll be able to solve anything.

[STALLED]

My gearbox blew up *cries*

I need beer...and lots of it!

[steve_earwig]

Squeezed the spring up and detatched the strut from the top mount and the top bearing was indeed knackered

You make it sound like you did it in situ (I guess you didn't)

Oh another thing I found; there is what appears to be a bleed screw on the rear left of the rocker cover; the bloody thing was half unscrewed! Might explain one of the oil leaks!

Do what? Bleed screw on an oil way?

By christ is my back aching!

I know that feeling only too well - Pilates for you young man - I have a ball and a broom handle that I regularly fail to excercise with
Congratulations though, sounds like you had a very busy afternoon of it!

My gearbox blew up *cries*

Oh sh!t I know the 406 is a relatively rare car down there & you can't exactly pop down the breakers for another, what's the plan?

[STALLED]

I have found one for $1150 AUD which is around 400 quid! If not, I'll just get a new crown wheel and cop the labour bill! Did it in traffic - I have no idea as to why it happened! Apparently its not common, but my mechanic does see it with the BE3 gearboxes!

Ah well - such is life!

[steve_earwig]

521.698 GBP (the pound is heading for cowry shell territory ) I'd look up how much a crownwheel is on Service "scare the pants off yourself" Box but it's doing dead dog impressions right now (overdid it at the office party?). Just the crownwheel? I suppose that's possible, I managed to shatter one myself once. If you couldn't drive it anymore I'd guess you didn't circulate too much swarf around the 'box.

[teamster1975]

You make it sound like you did it in situ (I guess you didn't)

Actually I did, there was just enough room to get the top mount out when I detached the drop link. I had another jack under the hub to support the weight while I was working under there to save stress on the driveshaft & tracking rod. Don't worry, the spring looked near enough new after I'd cleaned the mud off I wasn't too worried about it exploding in my face!
It was one hell of a fiddle getting it all back together though, it's a heavy old lump! I had to extend the shock to it's furthest reach and I had just enough thread to get the top nut started. I had to fiddle the top of the spring back into the bush but it worked out pretty well.

Do what? Bleed screw on an oil way?

I know! I'll take a photo of it later and post it. Totally bizarre

I know that feeling only too well - Pilates for you young man - I have a ball and a broom handle that I regularly fail to excercise with
Congratulations though, sounds like you had a very busy afternoon of it!

Thanks Steve

[mjb]

Took the cambelt cover off, and it looks as though the previous owner had stuck to the schedule, the belt looked pretty new

so did my ~120k belt...

[Welly]

Well done Teamy! it's nice to fix it yourself for "free" (not that I'd know )

[teamster1975]

Well done Teamy! it's nice to fix it yourself for "free" (not that I'd know )

Thanks Welly! I certainly learnt a lot! (Like don't fit the alternator belt in the dark by torch light! )