Dyslexic Viking's vehicle fleet.

[Dyslexic Viking]

36 minutes ago, juular said:

It doesn't matter, the only reason to take the cap off is to stop it popping off and brake fluid going all over the engine bay.

I suspect the seals have been on their way out and pushing the caliper back will have finished them off. It's good that you found this out now and not on the motorway!

Fwiw I'd just replace the seals themselves if you are pushed for money. A rebuild kit should be quite cheap and it's not a difficult job. However since these vans are so popular and were on the market for 14 years you might find that a new caliper is quite cheap as well.

That's what I also suspect. But find it a little scary that a fairly new brake caliper can fail but as you say well it happened now and not while driving. And new brake calipers for these do not cost much and the parts supplier had sale on brake parts now so just chose to buy new ones.

[mat_the_cat]

3 hours ago, juular said:

I suspect the seals have been on their way out and pushing the caliper back will have finished them off.

I wonder if it's actually the piston at fault? If the protruding portion has corroded, pushing it back in will have the rubber trying to seal on a rough surface, potentially causing the leak.

[juular]

14 hours ago, mat_the_cat said:

I wonder if it's actually the piston at fault? If the protruding portion has corroded, pushing it back in will have the rubber trying to seal on a rough surface, potentially causing the leak.

Quite likely! Usually it's quite difficult to push a piston back in if it's that bad, but who knows what quality the seals are that were used to refurbish the caliper

[Dyslexic Viking]

Will see if I can disassemble the brake caliper that leaked so we can find out what was the cause.

Today I changed the brakes on the left rear of the Vivaro. And there were some challenges the biggest a new brake caliper that is defective (the piston sticks out too far and is not possible to screw it further in and it does not go clear of the brake pads) but I luckily have extra with parts so had another new caliper that worked. Tomorrow, the plan is to change the brakes on the right rear of the Vivaro.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Then I changed the brakes right rear today. So then the Vivaro has new brake discs with new wheel bearings, new brake pads, new brake calipers and new brake hoses rear. And all should be quality parts.

It became more expensive to fix the Vivaro than I had thought and I'm not done yet. I could have bought a more expensive one but most do not have a high roof and I had risked getting repairs on a more expensive one as well. But since I now have this and it looks solid with little rust and I have plans to have it for a long time, it is worth spending money on it. 

But today I also got a scary surprise and put in some of what I wrote in The new news 24 thread below.

 I changed the brakes on the right side rear on the Vivaro today and when I took off the wheel I was met by this a brake pad lying by the spring.

The brake pad is very rusty so it has been there for a while. And when I took off the brake caliper things got even worse.

So it is very clear that the previous owner has not taken care of this as well as I thought. And it also makes me think has he changed the oil in his 6 years and 40,000km ownership? So I will not drive this more than up to the garage and home again until I take a full servive on it.

 

[Dyslexic Viking]

I also did a small repair today. The clip/mount for the bonnet stick was broken so it was replaced with a new one.

 

I also tried to get the driver side sliding door fixed today but had the wrong parts so have to wait for new ones. Tomorrow I will get new brake calipers to the front so then I can continue with the brake the work there.

[Dyslexic Viking]

The parts that were to arrive on Friday did not arrive. So did not get to do much this weekend with the Vivaro but got to clean it inside something that was very necessary.

The driver's seat is very worn and the passenger's seat is very stained and ugly, something I can not wash off, so seat cover is on the way.

 

Today I got the rest of the brake parts so I changed the left front today. Has not been so much with pictures of the brake work as this is not so interesting but here are some from today.

Had I had the time and it was warmer I would have sandblasted and painted the brake caliper mount. And is only the brakes on the right side front left and I'm done with the brake work.  And I have now got an apoinment at the garage on Monday where they will fix some things and then approval (MOT).

[Dyslexic Viking]

Then I have changed the brakes right front. So then the brake work is finished and Vivaro has got new brake discs. brake pads, brake calipers and brake hoses front and rear.

And today I got the last parts I needed. So I changed the middle roller on the left sliding door today and as is clear in the picture, the old one was worn out.

The new one in the pictures below.

So now the sliding door is much easier to open and close.

Next was the door handle on the left sliding door. And I had bought a used one (top one in picture) but this was the wrong part.

 

So I disassemble both 2 and put the necessary parts from the old one on the new used door handle.

 

But I had to move over a fastener and I do not fully trust glue so had to use a screw to hold it in place. The downside of this is that the screw is visible on the outside so I will probably change the door handle to a new one in the future but it works for now.

 

It was a bit difficult to change this handle in the door but managed it after a bit of swearing.

 

So then everything that must be fixed before Monday is fixed. And it's going to be a test drive tomorrow.

[Asimo]

Lots of grease on the sliding door rails and wheels. Makes a big difference!

[Popsicle]

And clean all the crap out the grooves for the wheels, splintered wood from pallets and other stuff could ruin your new mechanism.

[Dyslexic Viking]

I have now started to think a bit about the camper conversion of the Vivaro. And have made a rough drawing on how I think i will have it.

I want to keep the partition and cut a hole in it so I can go through. And I do not want gas or bathroom.

I'm going to have a diesel heater. And I have a 12 volt compressor cooling box that works as a fridge that I will use and this will be powered by an extra battery that will be charged by a Ctek D250SA that I also have. I have used both the cooling box and Ctek earlier and have been happy with it so it will probably work well here also.

[mat_the_cat]

I'd suggest (if you can) trying to use it as a camper mid-build, before anything is finalised. That was if you want an extra light here or switch there - or hate the layout completely, you can make changes more easily.

[artdjones]

When you have time it would be worth getting at the egr valve and cleaning it out. I remember that these valves had a reputation for sticking open and damaging the turbos. by 

[Dyslexic Viking]

Thank you both for good suggestions and the egr valve I will have to look at. The Vivaro has now been delivered to the local garage that will fix some things and then take a new inspection (MOT).

[Dyslexic Viking]

Have not talked to the garage after I dropped off the Vivaro with them but a quick check online and it is approved!

So then it is road is legal for 2 new years but am curious about how much this will cost as I let them fix some things i will call tomorrow and hopefully get it back then.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Then I got the Vivaro back from the garage today. So now it has passed the inspection (MOT) and I let the garage fix some of the things like shock absorbers on both sides front, this was cheaper than I had thought. So now this is done and the next thing that is urgent for this is a service.

Have also looked a bit at this and thought more about the camper conversion and are a bit overwhelmed by this as there will be a lot of thinking and work but have to get through it. When I can start on it i do not know as I can not afford to start on this now and just have to wait until I can afford it.

And can probably also soon take the Audi out of hibernation but have an suspicion that it will  cause a lot of problems I am a little irritated and tired of this one.

[Dyslexic Viking]

One thing I forgot. On the Vivaro I am missing a clip/thingy? to hold the handbrake cable in place and I can not find it new so has anyone has an idea of something that can work to keep it in place?

 

I have considered zip ties but am not sure if it would have been the best fix.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Today it was time for a major upgrade on the Vivaro, which will make it much more pleasant to be in.

 

The seats in this one are so bad I feel like washing myself after I've been in it. Have tried to clean the seats without any improvement and the driver's seat is worn.

Driver's seat before and after.

And the passenger seat.

 

This changed the interior a lot and I am very happy with the fit of these seat covers. I also cleaned under the seats which was very necessary.

[andy18s]

I fitted Subaru Legacy leather seats to my 1st Vivaro as we used it to move most of our stuff over to Bulgaria,and wanted something nice and comfy for the long trip.

Knocked up a pair of new subframes,with room for a cool box in between the 2 front seats

[loserone]

There's a pair of leather Laguna seats on Trafic frames for £220 near here I'm very tempted by 

[Dyslexic Viking]

It's a little early for me to say much about the seats in mine but I do not think they are that bad. So do not think I want to convert to other seats. Perhaps the only thing could be to change them to seats from a newer one that is less worn.

[loserone]

No, I was thinking the other day it's the most comfortable seats I've had to except for the SAAB and the Legacy

[loserone]

1 hour ago, loserone said:

There's a pair of leather Laguna seats on Trafic frames for £220 near here I'm very tempted by 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/513024466890687/

[andy18s]

The driver seat subframes from the European vans used to be sought after in the uk,as people wanted to swap from the double passenger seat to a single for camper conversions.

That was 6 years ago mind so the demand may have dropped

[Dyslexic Viking]

I can think that. And have thought about whether I should convert mine to 2 seats but is complicated to do it here and is difficult to find a single passenger seat so will not do it. And I'm not fat so I will manage to squeeze myself between the seats.

[Dave_Q]

On the camper conversion, the best thing you can do really is to get some real basic camping gear, mattress sleeping bag and stove, and just go out in it.

You don't really need much to sleep in a van but after a few trips you will start to understand what you need. Where do you like the bed. Is a basic 1 burner stove OK or do you need something bigger?  Do you need a sink? A shower? A toilet? Do you need a heater (I expect probably yes!)

By noticing the things you need/miss the most you can figure out what order to do things in. It really doesn't have to be done in one go like a YouTube timelapse, start with a van with a camp bed in the back and add things a bit at a time, you'll get there eventually and probably end up with something different to the layout you draw today as you don't know what you need till you need it.

[juular]

On 3/18/2022 at 9:14 PM, Asimo said:

Lots of grease on the sliding door rails and wheels. Makes a big difference!

On this van I recommend trying to keep the rails and wheels oil free, or this has a tendency to happen:

What happens is the wheel slides rather than rolls, and the plastic tyre doesn't last long after that.

[Dyslexic Viking]

44 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

On the camper conversion, the best thing you can do really is to get some real basic camping gear, mattress sleeping bag and stove, and just go out in it.

You don't really need much to sleep in a van but after a few trips you will start to understand what you need. Where do you like the bed. Is a basic 1 burner stove OK or do you need something bigger?  Do you need a sink? A shower? A toilet? Do you need a heater (I expect probably yes!)

By noticing the things you need/miss the most you can figure out what order to do things in. It really doesn't have to be done in one go like a YouTube timelapse, start with a van with a camp bed in the back and add things a bit at a time, you'll get there eventually and probably end up with something different to the layout you draw today as you don't know what you need till you need it.

Good advice. I owned a Hiace van for a while and it was a simple built camper with a removable interior, I traveled a bit with this and have a lot of experience from this. I have also traveled a lot with rooftents and sleeping in cars so am feeling pretty sure of what I want.

And it is a camper that is not too big with standing height inside and with a simple interior with heat. And I have no problem with not having a toilet in it I can if I have to pee in a jug and poop in the woods if necessary.

Foresty Forest is a youtuber I have been following for a long time and his van is similar to the way I want to have mine.

 

[Dyslexic Viking]

Was the first proper spring day today so perfect to work a little more on the Vivaro. Today I took out the floorboards and steps and cleaned the floor.

Was much junk below the steps

Under the floorboards on the floor there was also a lot.

 

So after a lot of sweeping and vacuuming, I got rid of everything. Then the next thing was to sand down all the rust, apply rust converter and then paint.

So a productive day and another thing that had to be done is done.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Then I got the service parts for the Vivaro yesterday and started with this today. However, quickly encountered a problem the engine drain plug needs a special tool I do not have.

Do not know what this is called but is an 8mm square. So after thinking a bit I came up with a solution an adapter from an old socket set. But it is about 1.5 mm too big so after a bit of grinding I got it down to 8mm.

And it fit!

So then I changed the engine oil and oil filter. Next was the air filter.

Which needed to be replaced. I have also changed the cabin air filter earlier and it was really bad. Wanted to change the diesel filter but am not so confident about this so let it be and possible let the garage change this. The previous owner said that he had changed the oil every year but this is not true as the oil filter had enough rust that it had been there for a while. The oil filter and air filter were of the same brand and the air filter was marked with the production date which was in 2019. So it makes me believe that the last oil change was in 2019 or 2020. But luckily services have been followed until 2016 so only the last few years it has been neglected.

 

So then this has received a service which was the last thing that was urgent to do with this. But one thing I noticed is that the air filter box is bad so have to see if I can get this replaced. I am also considering taking an oil analysis on this as it does not cost much so took an oil sample and will have it sent to Blackstone for analysis.