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Reginald Nutsack's K-series Kapers - ROVER 623 MOT GUFF


Mr_Bo11ox

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Some dude has been out a couple of hours ago and established that I need a flatbed lorry as the lard arse 75 is too heavy to be dollied behind his VW transporter van.

 

The RAC dollied my old Granada Scorpio 2.9 last year using one of those VW vans, can't be too much difference in size and weight, Bol?

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The big difference is it is not actually a recovery service but an insurance policy. So you call out any recovery service you like (as long as the costs are reasonable) and send in your receipts later.  Or you can call their call centre and ask them to send out the nearest independent. That way they are there pronto.

Been with them about 7 years. Have claimed, I think, three times. Cheque arrives in the post no questions asked.  

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Well just shy of 5 hours after calling the RAC I got moving on the back of a lorry. I was allowed 50 miles of recovery, but I wanted to go to my workshop which typically was 55 miles away. I attempted to bribe the recovery driver but he said there was no need tobribe him, he'd happily hake me a few more miles if I paid the mileage, to which i agreed.

 

Got up to the unit about 2.45:

 

WP_20150223_011.jpg

 

 

The extra mileage cost £7.80!!!! cheaper than a taxi!

 

The day was a flippin write-off by now so I rang work and they agreed to give up on it and I would put it down as a days holiday. So I decided to investigate the problem.

 

I pulled it into the garage and took the RH driveshaft out:

 

WP_20150223_012.jpg

 

The problem is that the driveshaft had simply come out of the gearbox. Its supposed to be held in place by the bearing on the left of this pic (its on the left cos I have drifted it down the driveshaft away from its proper location which is the shiny bit of the shaft).

 

The bearing is circlipped into the housing so that can't move and is a fairly tight interference fit on the shaft. Obv theres not much axial load on the shaft so it doesnt have to be held mega firm like a wheel bearing or whatever.

 

I inspected everything but I couldnt find a good reason why the driveshaft would move outwards and disengage itself from the gearbox. I did find the bearing was quite 'gritty' which is not good, it didn't turn super smoothly admittedly although it wasnt locked up or full of slop. I worked a load of spray grease into it which seemed to help a little. The inner race of the bearing was still a good tight fit on the shaft so that didnt seem like a problem.

 

I like Tims idea of a dab of weld to hold the bearing onto the shaft, but annoyingly the housing for the bearing has a hole in it only about 2-3mm bigger than the shaft diameter so theres no access to get in with the welder so that was out. Looking at the Rimmer catalogue you can't buy the bearing alone. there isnt an easy way to get it out of its housing and the shaft itself has a collar on at the diff end which prevents you from getting the bearing or the housing off. So if you ever need to replace the bearing you have to buy a whole middle drive shaft!!! brilliant design that you Brummie bastards. NB the whole middle driveshaft is of course NLA.

 

I couldnt see a lot wrong with it all so i put it back together with some loctite retaining gloop to hopefully help hold the bearing onto the shaft. The bearing was a bit smoother so I thought it would be OK and I would just keep an eye on it. I drove it up the road a mile or two and came back and had a look and it had already worked itself 5 or 6mm out from where it was when i set off. What an absolute SHITE.

 

I really can't see a good reason why the shaft would come out so the only conclusion i can make is that the gritty bearing is making it happen. Presumably wheh it gets a bit of speed up, the vibration profile resulting from the gritty feel encourages the shaft to shoggle itself axially in the 'out of the gearbox' direction. So I need to sort a new bearing or middle driveshaft somehow and see if that solves the issue. It might, but then again the reason why its doing it isnt mega obvious so maybe I have misunderstood something and it wont.

 

Unfortunatley I can't accept problems like this on a daily driver so at this point I gave up and swapped the insurance back onto the Primera. The 75 is now off the road again and is unlikely to go back on again in my stewardship!!! I am going to fix the problem and move it on.

 

While i had it to bits I managed to get a number off the bearing so I am going to go to the bearing shop in Derby and see if they can sell me a replacement. I think with some assistance from blowtorches, ovens etc I could probably get it all to bits without wrecking the shaft or the housing and fit a new bearing in the housing. If they can't i'll get a SH driveshaft and fit that complete. It might take a little while but thats OK now i am not relying on the car.

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Every time I advertise a car for sale, something immediately drops off or out of something else.

 

They don't like it.

 

RAC wait will be down to you being a childless male. Which equates to maximum payments and lowest priority of service.

 

Glad it's not something more serious, like an imploded box.

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I dunno, we had to wait 5 hours for the AA with Eva sat in the pram the other side of the armco... We have up in the end and I sent her and Amy off to the services for their tea.

 

Shitter about the 75 though, props (!) to you for having a look at it pronto! If car bearings are anything like hoover bearings there will be some out there, either NOS or pattern replacement.

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Brilliant, beige interior too, top bombing once again.  Those 3drs seem to be quite rare now, shame really as they're smart little things.  What's closed deck mean?  Honda 1.6 lump?  Presumably the only alternative if it's not a 1.4 or 1.6 kettle at that age.

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Nah I'm waiting for a new driveshaft bearing for the 75 to arrive from ESTONIA, same part as a Nissan Murano would you believe. Hopefully that will arrive before the weekend.

 

This R8 was for sale on Facebook, i'm picking it up tomorrow now due to getting home late after cycling to work again today. I'm still a bit wary of buying stuff off Facebook so i'll believe it when I have it home. Looks and sounds pretty decent for £130 though

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I spent quite a long time fathoming out how to get it home for a reasonable cost and eventually gave up as there was no way to get it that wouldnt have cost as much as the car itself. I wrote to the seller and welched out while eating a slice of humble pie, to my surprise they said 'no problem, I'll just cancel the sale' and were very chipper about it. Shame as it looked pretty class, but I just can't spend £100 on a fuppin train ticket and i didnt fancy A-framing it all that way up the M5 and M6

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I recon those tourers are the best looking shape they came in. 

100 quid for a one way ticket to Devon is steep. I got a one way tick to Carlisle a couple of months ago and it was 60 quid. 60 quid to go about 130 miles!

I did it last minute so made the mistake of not booking it 9 months in advance to qualify for my 8% discount. No wonder no one wants to give up their cars.

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