On a Mission - Hilux Surf

[PhilA]

Always wonder if the alternator finished the battery off, or the other way around...

[TataBobu]

The other way around. If it's not 'piloted alternator' by the ECU, it's piloted by state of (dis)charge of batteries, thus requiring too much from the poor thing with shot cells from the batteries, which will make the internal relay with brushes to get shot, and maybe also the diode bridge. Still repairable, if spares available and handy with soldering.

[808 Estate]

This should supply some volts.

[808 Estate]

14 hours ago, TataBobu said:

it's piloted by state of (dis)charge of batteries, thus requiring too much from the poor thing with shot cells from the batteries, which will make the internal relay with brushes to get shot, and maybe also the diode bridge.

Its lasted 27 years and 180K miles so cant complain too much.

[808 Estate]

Oh no!!

A second FTP.

Another distinct lack of electricity. This time outside Tesco. A quick investigation showed the main 100A fuse has decided it didnt want to play anymore. Fuck it, phone the RAC again. RAC woman said 3-4 hour wait, so I walked home and had dinner while waiting. Went back a while ago and RAC dude promptly appeared. Took him over an hour to swap fuses. He did a quick electrical check and couldnt find any leakage so put it down to "old age". Happily paid the £5.99 for the new fuse.

[808 Estate]

Managed to get hit by some random rock on the M3 on Monday. Properly scared the crap out of me and took a nice chunk out of the windscreen.

Much kudos to the chap from National Windscreens who repaired it. Covered by insurance with no excess to pay either.

[808 Estate]

Oh dear! MOT iz failed. 🙁

The list looks as long and pleasant as a night in the cells with bubba. 😬

Repair immediately (major defects):

• Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage pin or bush excessively worn broken off (5.3.4 (a) (i))
• Offside Front Lower Suspension component ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (5.3.4 (b) (ii))

Repair as soon as possible (minor defects):

• Nearside Front Lower Suspension component ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (5.3.4 (b) (i))
• Nearside Front Inner Drive shaft joint constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (6.1.7 (g) (i))
• Offside Front Inner Drive shaft joint constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (6.1.7 (g) (i))

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):

• Coil spring corroded All four (5.3.1 (b) (i))
• Nearside Front Lower Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement (5.3.4 (a) (i))
• Offside Front Lower Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement (5.3.4 (a) (i))
• Oil leak, but not excessive engine (8.4.1 (a) (i))
• Oil leak, but not excessive gearbox (8.4.1 (a) (i))
• Both rear suspension bump stops missing
• Power steering component has slight seepage from a component (2.1.5 (a))
• Fuel pipes corroded
• Timing belt light on

Luckily the garage attacked the 2 failure items and the wagon is back on the road for a not excessive cost. I need to plan what to do about the remaining items as there is plenty to do. It seems the credit card will be in for a battering.

 

[808 Estate]

Would you believe it. 6 hours after passing its MOT,  it blows an indicator bulb. 😲

[TrabbieRonnie]

None of that's too bad... 

I replaced the the bulk of the hard fuel lines with rubber, easy and cheap. 

Ball joints are cheap enough for a MK2 (we've just done the whole front end, bit of a sod to get out after 30-odd years though!), presume similar for your MK3?

Springs are just 'replace when they break' as far as I'm concerned (there's only two on the MK2 mind, we've torsion bars up the front).

And the timing belt light can be turned off by prising out a wee rubber grommet on the binnacle and pressing the revealed button (yours might be a different set-up I guess?).  If the belts ok, obviously!  Not hard to replace either on these old trucks.

At least your on the road whilst tackling it, well done on the pass👍

[EyesWeldedShut]

15 hours ago, 808 Estate said:

Would you believe it. 6 hours after passing its MOT,  it blows an indicator bulb. 😲

[808 Estate]

3 hours ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

None of that's too bad...

And the timing belt light can be turned off by prising out a wee rubber grommet on the binnacle and pressing the revealed button (yours might be a different set-up I guess?).  If the belts ok, obviously!  Not hard to replace either on these old trucks.

At least your on the road whilst tackling it, well done on the pass👍

Cheers, yes the belt is good. The light came on automatically at 180K. I may just leave it until the next belt change.

[808 Estate]

Well its time to attack the front suspension & steering issues. I was planning on waiting until later in the year (basically putting off the inevitable for longer) but things "progressed" in December when I had a visit from the Grim Reaper who decided to piss on my wheel bearings. The resulting rumble means some disassembly is required so seems sensible to "hit the lot" in one fell swoop.

The nice people at Rough Trax have sent me a very heavy box containing lower wishbones, ball joints, inner & outer CV joint boots and a pair of wheel bearings. Dropping it off at the garage this afternoon and hopefully back by the weekend. I have added a box of motivational cakes.

The wheel bearings are particularly impressive and very chunky items.

 

[808 Estate]

Well that didnt happen. Garage phoned and said their press in knackered. Postponed for a few weeks.

[808 Estate]

Dropped the Surf off on Wednesday and got a phone call today to pop over. Unfortunately, it wasnt the "its all done" type of phone call, but the "we have a problem" type of call. 😬

Anyway, I duly arrived there and found the truck on the lift with a huge array of parts on the floor and several of them in small bits. Apparently the old camber adjusters were so seized into the old wishbones that even dissection with an angle grinder failed to liberate them. I need to add these to the list of replacements. Luckily, they are about £40 a side, so not too bad, but unfortunately another couple of days before its finished.

I will drag the Enfield out the garage tomorrow and get it ready for the Monday morning commute. Hopefully its not expected to be raining.

[808 Estate]

Yay its back.

Much quieter than before and hopefully the front end will be good for another heap load of years. May need to get tracking looked at as there is a very slight pull to the left, although to be fair, that was there before.

[High Jetter]

Deffo worth getting tracking checked, tyres aren't cheep

[808 Estate]

Well that's the tracking done. Also a slow puncture fixed, although not quite as anticipated.

I have had the slow puncture for a few months. Goes flat after about 10 days or so, but holds air in the mean time reasonably well. Went to Micheldever Tyres who are one of the few places I  trust with tyres (they actually use torque wrenches). Matey looks at the rear and says that tyre is almost 12 years old and has loads of cracks in it. I said yeah, but its still got tread but realise it will need replacing sooner or later. Matey smiles and said well later has just fucking arrived and you need 2 new tyres.

Seems the price has gone up too. £490 for a pair of BFG ATs. 😬

[warninglight]

They're not cheap but as you've found, you'll struggle to wear them down to the ply!