Stop! Stop! Stop!

It has been some time since I have posted here. That is because there have been no major running issues, which belies all the things that friends, and neighbours have been telling me is wrong with this Van. That reputation is down to the way the motor trade has dealt and still deals with faults. By using a process of changing parts to eliminate them as faulty instead of following a procedure to determine what the actual fault is. Then charging the customer for the privilege.

 

The van had not been used for some weeks, so it was quite a surprise that when running it up the road to get some supplies that two red lights started to flash on the dash. The STOP and what looks like an outline of an engine. After the initial annoyance I considered whether I should do what it was saying and STOP. However I carried on. With my mechanics head on I started to reason out what could be happening. To a certain extent it looked like the light was flashing every time I hit a bump, but then it looked like it was flashing for the hell of it! I reasoned – could something be loose? or could damp have gotten in causing a short?  I decided as soon as I returned home, I would look in the owner's manual.

 

With the manual in my hands, I look for the icon page. OK the outline is of an engine. Which means: Engine. stop. See page 25. or Engine electronics, exhaust emissions. See page 26. What does it say?

•         Page 25: will light up in conjunction with STOP engine if coolant temperature is too high. The temperature gauge was slightly higher than usual but not off the scale. “It can't be over heating, can it?”

•         Page 26: Control indicator lights up when ignition is switched on. Goes out shortly after engine starts. There are then two headings here, one about flashing when engine is running, which is the one I took note of for obvious reasons because it states: For fault that can lead to destruction of catalytic converter. Look to another Page 94. I did look at the other page for reference. Talk about strike the fear of God into you that you now may have a bill coming the size of the national debt. I have got to say I took this statement with a pinch of salt until I knew for sure that all indications lead down this route. If it does oh man!

 

There was nothing I could do as I had a long trip planned for the next day. Just have to see what happens. I know a break down far from home means an expensive tow. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. The long trip gave me time to think about what could be happening. I've got to say that it was running really well so it cannot be the converter. (As both lights flash for the hundredth time) I looked at the dash from time to time when the lights were flashing but noted nothing else wrong. Then it went out and stayed out for the rest of the trip.

 

The trip home started well no flashing lights at all. Then we hit a major down pour could hardly see out of the windscreen at double wiper speed. Then I noted that the same two lights were flashing again. By the time I arrived home there had been some further developments the head lights were sort of flashing getting brighter and softer I also noticed that the temperature gauge was oscillating in time with the lights. When I turned the engine off, I notice the cooling fan was running.  This is looking like a cooling temperature sensor problem.

 

With the bonnet up it's time to track down this fault. I still have it in the back of my mind that it is a dodgy connection. But until I find this allusive sensor, “where the hell have, they hidden it?!” Sometime later I track it down to the right-hand side of the engine behind a number of pipes with the sensor facing the bulkhead. Now I have to thread my hand through the pipes like a snake (what a joke) to feel if the connector is loose. There is a bit of movement but not enough. After some fiddling, the connection is removed and reconnected. Oh Well here goes. The engine has now been running for a couple of minutes, no flashing lights.  Better take it for a spin to check and make sure. While I'm out I'll get a cooling sensor.  

 

Since doing the connection I have not had the time to replace the sensor due to workload and the fact you have to drain the whole cooling system down. I hope to come up with a solution that negates this, If I do, I will let you know. But I'm happy to say that the red lights have not flashed again. Bad connection!? Time will tell.  

 

When it comes to red lights flashing on the dash, I am not condoning that you should ignore them and carry on regardless. The situation in which it occurs needs to be taken into account and then the appropriate action taken.

Winter checks

This post is a little behind the curve when it comes to those winter checks. Those who were on the ball would have dealt with these important checks part way through the autumn months. Then again with the way the climate is going you could have snow in the middle of summer.  Knowing when to do it has become a bit of a guessing game. Let's just say that historically the autumn is the time to do it.

 Things that should be checked:

•         Anti-freeze,

•         Battery,

•         Wind screen wipers and screen wash.

•         Tyre pressures and tread depth.

Anti-freeze

The most critical thing you should be checking is the strength of the anti-freeze. Nowadays it is more than an additive that stops the engine freezing, popping a core plug and/or stripping a cambelt. It also stops sludge building up causing blockages and retards corrosion in the engine block.

It is quick and easy to check with an anti-freeze tester.  Which is basically an overgrown eye dropper with discs in it. With the cap off the expansion tank, you place the tube of the tester into the fluid and draw it up into the clear tube once the flow has stopped and the discs have stabilized into two groups some floating and others sinking you can work out how strong the mix of anti-freeze is. It is far better to have more dices floating, giving you the protection needed nowadays for double minus figures. Over recent years this has become more important with temperatures dropping to an unprecedented minus twenty-five degrees centigrade.

 Battery.

Most modern-day batteries are sealed and filled with a gel, so the main check here is to see if the terminals are clean, tight and not corroded. If they are, you can use boiling hot water to remove it. Be careful using this method and only do one terminal at a time so you do not short the battery out. Once done smear a small amount of petroleum jelly on each terminal to stop the corrosion coming back. If you have the older lead acid batteries that need to be topped up with de-ionized water, you are more likely to find the terminals corroded. The same clearing method applies. You will also need to check that the level of the water in the cells is covering the plates, if not they will need topping up with deionized water.

Windscreen Wipers and screen wash.

Windscreen wipers are one of the most neglected items on a vehicle along with tyres. Some people will not replace their wiper blades until they are hanging off and even then, wait till the next service. It beats me how they see out the window to drive in the pouring rain and not hit what is in front of them. The freezing weather destroys the efficiency of your wipers faster than at any other time of the year. When they slide across that ice cover screen it makes minute nicks in the wiping edge. That is if they have remembered to un-stick them from the screen not burning out the wiper motor, it still surprises me how often this happens. You have been warned. When the temperature drops so the strength of the screen wash should go up. This prevents it freezing so you can use it.

Tyre's. 

What can I say, Tyres are the most neglected safety item on the vehicle! You should check the pressures regularly as the right pressures will save you money on fuel. If the tread depth is down to the wear bars (one point six millimetres you should replace them as this increases the chances of aqua planning and increases fuel consumption among other things.

If you look after your vehicle, it will look after you.

The smell of burning!

Overheated rear brake disc.

I was in a hurry the other day to get the dog to the vet. It was not until I was part way up the bypass that I realised that the handbrake had stuck on. Even though the hand brake leaver in the cab was completely off, the smell of brake linings was overpowering. It's just as well the vets was not too far, even so the back wheels were so hot you could not touch them. Just before we made the return journey I slipped under the van and pulled back the little arms that operate the handbrake on the back of the callipers. Man, they we tight! This does not bode well for those new wheel bearings that were fitted earlier in the year. A sticking hand brake is one of the reasons why the bearing failed in the first place!

 

Showing handbrake arm on Calliper

With the back of the van up in the air and both the wheels off, it is time to get to grips with sorting this problem out. On further investigation it turns out that the shaft that sticks out of the back of the calliper with the handbrake actuation arm on, has rusted tight. Even though there is a little rubber cup that sits between the calliper and the arm to protect the shaft from the weather. I believe this is its downfall because once the water gets behind the seal it remains there helping the rust to build up causing it to seize. 

 

Once the handbrake cable has been loosened you can remove the end of the cable from the arm more easily, with a bit of fiddling. To free the arm off you will need to tap it backwards and forwards with a medium weight hammer. Do not over do the amount of force you use when hitting the arm with the hammer. The idea is not to do it in one hit but to keep moving it up and down until the sprung loaded arm moves back to the off position on its own. When it feels like it has freed off enough to move it easily by hand, you need to check it's at the off position. If not, it is time to take a closer look at the spring. If the metal of the spring is pitted and heavily rusted it is possible that it has lost some of its tension. For the three or so pounds each it costs to replace these springs it is not worth messing about. Removing the spring from the arm is a bit annoying but straight forward with a pair of pliers.

Handbrake arm spring old and new

 

There is one last thing to do as a suggestion before you box it up and that is to get some white grease and push it in behind the little rubber seal that protects the handbrake arm shaft this will help to keep things moving and the weather out.

 

I have used this method on my van and so far, the hand brake has not stuck on again.

 

Related post   rear wheel bearing replacement.