Mot Fail

[viperclive]

Another way is to put nut back on but not all the way, use a block or something solid and sturdy under the nut and ground lower the car a little to some weight on it, then with a large lump hammer and blunt chisel/bar, clout the end of wishbone down until she pops. Please ensure you have axle stands etc underneath just incase lol hate to give advise and someone gets hurt.

[xavier]

clive, I'll try your suggestion tomorrow am. Failing that, I found a sealey ball joint kit on amazon for £56 that looks like it might cope but at that price I figure I might be better just doing the front wishbone. Anyone done one, am I just setting myself up for an even greater fall?! Thanks!

[bigdave982]

Trying to get balljoint out of steering hub? Youre gonna have to do that if you go down the whole wishbonw route as well idve thought

[viperclive]

If you order a wishbone and have a ball joint the job is a walk in the park to do, BUT, before that have you considered taking the wishbone off with ballpoint connected, you can then beat ten bells of s..t out of ball joint to get it out of wishbone end, they are not difficult to get out and then you can inspect rear bush as they are a crap design and the rubber splits, changed mine to solid rubber construction. Good luck.

[sparky Paul]

Corrosion of brake pipes? Try cleaning them with an oily rag, I believe they are alloy pipes and should not corrode, they are probably just covered in salt and dirt.

 

Mine certainly did, they were the usual painted steel pipes. The front and rear extremities rusted badly and I ended up replacing them a few years ago.

 

I don't mind doing brake pipes, brake pipe's cheap!

[xavier]

You got a good flairing tool Paul?

 

> t have you considered taking the wishbone off with ballpoint connected

 

Clive, I had considered it late on Saturday, and think that's the route I'll take. I can wait for parts if it turns out I can't get it out. Tried wedging the bottom of the balljoint on a brick and battering it. Applied copious amounts of heat then battered it again. It's not for moving. And it seems all the additonal movement of the hub and driveshaft to get some clearance to whack the thing has split the inner cv boot. So looks like I'll be taking the driveshaft off anyway.

 

BigDave, Don't think I need to touch the steering balljoint, unless I need to remove it for clearance. Not according to mr haynes

[sparky Paul]

You got a good flairing tool Paul?

 

I use a old and very well used Mota Easyflare. Brilliant little tool if you can find one, does accurate single & double flares and is small enough to use on car if needed. Must have saved me £££s over the years.

[xavier]

Hi, anyone able to confirm the torque for the wishbone bolts? mr haynes isn't very clear on the torque of the rear-most bolt (not the pivot or ball joint one!). Thanks!

 

p.s. new driveshaft arrived today, am against the clock and couldn't face doing both inner and outer boots.

[viperclive]

Never used one to do mine, just wellied em up tight with big ring spanner, after coppercote on the thread of course.

[xavier]

Well, took me 10 mins to remove the the wishbone (future note to anyone else trying to repace said ball joint!) However ball joint's still not for moving!

[viperclive]

Do you have a vice on a bench, or very sturdy object, lay wishbone across jaws of vice or sturdy object, take nut off, and with a big lump hammer strike down hard on top of threaded part of ball joint thus whacking it out of wishbone.

[xavier]

clive I've had a sledgehammer to this thing, even tried same hammer after heating the end of the wishbone up . Going to take it to a garage tomorrow and see if they have any luck, failing that I'll invest in a new wishbone, means it's not done again this weekend, though having said that, me doing my car probably explains the nice weekends we've been having!

[viperclive]

Shame your not closer to me, I'm a bit of a Fred dibner, help to maintain a super sentinel steam waggon and we have a cracking workshop where I do my car maint, we have a massive bearing press that would get the bugger out, anyway good luck.

[xavier]

clive, I might post it down to you! Hopefully I'll find a garage who will press it out for me, in the mean time I've ordered a new wishbone of the bay, £31, seems a good price, just hope it's ok.

 

Went to do the springs on Sunday, jack not high enough! To be fair my wee 2 ton 10 year old jack's fine for the focus and MG but is a bit on the small side for the galaxy, so ordered a 3ton high lifter from sgs engineering today. Also got some bigger 3 ton axle stands at the weekend as my existing ones are holding up the front! Also realised the battery's dead (left the keys in the boot and then couldnt get in!) so going to get a charger from halfords. Might not save much over putting it in the garage but I'll hopefully get some better tools out of it.

 

Not attempted to replace driveshaft yet, might give that a go next as it may be easier without the wishbone in the way.

[viperclive]

That's one of the jobs I want to do in the near future, I want to replace both drive shafts, got some play and usual clicking from CV joints when turning hard, got both earmarked on Ebay approx 37 n 47 each, also both rear shocks, then got the clock spring to do, sounds a lot of work but I intend to keep her for many years to come, had Lpg conversion done about 5 yrs ago so very cheap to run, equates to 60 mpg, anyway good luck with shafts.

[xavier]

Got the springs in. Not too bad, with the right tools (i.e. big jack!). Though not sure it should have failed, both springs look ok to me. Also got the driveshaft changed, what a doddle that was! Wee concern that the crimped area of the metal band of the inner joint is rubbing against the inner boot - think that might cause a problem after some use. And got the new wishbone in, not torqued up the ball-joint yet as I can't get the torque wrench in with the wheels on the ground, think I'll need to torque it up with the wheel off then do the extra 90 degree with a ring spanner.

 

Few tips for anyone replacing the driveshaft, turn the shaft to get to the bolts, don't do as I did and figure out ingenious ways to get to the rear bolts. If you forget, don't worry, you'll remember when you reinstall the shaft as it'll turn on the 1st one! Second tip, to install ball-joint, jack up the wishbone otherwise you won't have enough thread to get the bolt on.

 

Just a couple of things to tidy up tomorrow, torquing a few bolts and changing over the hub bolt(used the old one to pull the cv joint in). Also need to get the under tray back on, then a tidy up. Then MOT no 2 next week, with hopefully no other issues!

[seatkid]

C. Coil Springs

 

Information

 

Where a coil spring is incomplete, cracked or fractured at an extreme end where the spring locates on the spring mount, it should only be rejected if:

 

. the function of the spring is impaired

 

. following jacking, the spring ends do not locate correctly when the vehicle is lowered into the normal running position without assistance

 

These criteria should also be applied to springs that have been deliberately shortened or modified in order to lower the suspension.

 

Method of Inspection

 

 

1. Visually examine each coil spring for general condition. In particular, look for cracks or fractures.

 

2.  Check that both ends of each spring are correctly located

 

3. check that the spring mountings are

 

a.  secure

b. free from cracks and fractures

c.  free from excessive damage or corrosion

 

Reason for rejection

 

1. A coil spring

 

a. incomplete, cracked or fractured

b. worn or corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced such that it is seriously weakened

c. repaired by welding or damaged by excessive heat.

 

2. A coil spring not correctly located.

 

3. A coil spring mounting

 

a. loose

b.cracked or fractured

c. seriously weakened by damage or corrosion

Edited October 6, 2013 by seatkid

[xavier]

Not sure then, maybe it's fractured. Might take it in and get them to show me. It looks like the offside spring was changed at some point in the past as it didn't have the blob of blue paint that the nearside one did.

[sparky Paul]

Common issue with the rear springs is to loose a tiny bit off the bottom coil, both of my rear springs went this way.

 

Often hard to spot, as the missing little bit of spring is long gone. Shows up as an angled break on the end of the spring, rather than being cut square, and also the spring doesn't quite reach the stop in the seat at one end or the other.

 

Can't see what detriment it would be in this case, but some testers are picky about bits of spring missing if it allows the spring to rotate.

[xavier]

Should they definately be flat? I do have an angled end on the spring called as failed, I compared the os and ns springs and the angled end one was longer so assumed it was meant to be like that! Sounds like they called it right then, though I needed to raise the back a foot to get the spring to rotate!

 

Put a new hub bolt on today and torqued / angle tightened up. Same with the ball joint. Tip no 3, ball joint is likely to have a plastic cover on it, remove it before installing ball joint into wishbone, it's not meant to be there honest.

 

Just the under tray to put on, then back in for another MOT later this week. I assume tracking should be re-done?

[viperclive]

I would get the tracking done, be on the safe side tyres are expensive, it doesn't take long to rip a Tyre to shreds, or two!!

[sparky Paul]

Should they definately be flat? I do have an angled end on the spring called as failed, I compared the os and ns springs and the angled end one was longer so assumed it was meant to be like that! Sounds like they called it right then, though I needed to raise the back a foot to get the spring to rotate!

 

Should be cut roughly square, with no discernable point. When the end breaks off it usually leaves a pointed end.

 

As I say, can't see what detriment it is to the suspension on the Galaxy, but some testers don't like ends missing.

[xavier]

Well the old gal passed the MOT today, so hopefully another year's motoring ahead!

 

Got new tyres and had the tracking done, though rather annoyingly noticed the wheel's not straight when driving home. Seems a bit tardy to me.

 

Anyway, thanks for all the help guys, I took some pics when doing the caliper replacement, hopefully get a how-to on here at some point if I can get them uploaded and remember the seemingly random spanner sizes that were required!

[xavier]

Well, this year's failure list reads :

 

Ball joint (other side)

Brake pipes (front to rear and fronts)

 

I've got a wishbone already after last year's debacle with the ball joint so should be straightforward, but how tricky are the brake pipes?

[viperclive]

You need a flairing brake pipe kit, copper brake pipe n practice how to put ends on, oh n connectors not forgetting the gear to bleed, it can be done and once all done in copper no further Rot!!