Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

The car's windscreen wiper linkage.

In classic fashion, as I drove home on a wet new year's day evening, the wipers on my car (MK1 Focus) stopped working. I could hear the motor operate and the linkage moving, but the wipers themselves didn't seem to be connected to anything.

I limped home, and started on the work of stripping the plastic cowlings off to get at the wipers. Unfortunately Ford decided to use aluminium wiper arms and steel wiper spindles, so despite a lot of swearing, a hammer and every other tool I could think of, the wipers were stuck fast to the spindles.

The next day, I gave my dad a call and he lent me this:
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2016/01/21.jpg

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2016/01/22.jpg

When even that failed to move them at all (indeed, it chipped one of the hardened machine taps trying!) I went out and bought this...

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2016/01/1.jpeg


As I'd been advised that heat should help, as the aluminium would expand more than the steel, and help break the corrosion bond.

Within a few minutes I finally had the arms off, and could see the problem. The balljoint between the rod from the motor and the wiper linkage itself had worn so much that it had simply fallen apart. Apparently you can buy repair clips or plates that stop this happening, but unfortunately neither was available at short notice on a saturday morning.

Luckily, when buying my blowtorch I'd picked up a box of assorted nuts, bolts and washers. I then got the power drill and drilled through the balljoint from the "stem" of the ball, down through the ball and then through the cup, and fixed it all together with a 5mm bolt. What this did was let the balljoint take the main forwards/backwards loading, while the bolt stopped it from jumping apart.

Once that was done it was a case of sticking all the plastics back and taking the old girl for her MOT on the tuesday, which she passed with minimal work!

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Nice fix. I have a very similar tool for compressing the valve springs on the K-series engine but can be used for many things that need pressing apart.

I fixed the handle on the glass lid of my mothers aluminium steamer. The plastic where the screw goes into had fractured and even araldite wouldn't hold it together. I popped out the trim in the centre of the knob, drilled the hole right through and then counter bored it to take a screw and nut. Araldited the nut in position and then popped the trim back in. Invisibly fixed.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Yep, very satisfying job! :tu:

I like to watch Wheeler Dealers and Ed China often uses a blow torch to free up stubborn and corroded nuts.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

This is in fact a valve spring compressor my dad used to use when he messed about with mini engines 40+ years ago. I did have to saw a small section of the jaw off to make it fit around the spindle but that didn't take long

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

A neighbour's 3 phone DECT system, which she bought in a car boot sale, now works after I threw out the Zinc Carbon batteries that had been fitted into them, and replaced them with the proper NiCD rechargeable batteries.

:dunce:

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

My 21 year old diesel Mitsubishi Delica was having a bout of poor starting. Checked the glow plugs, glow plug relay all good....

Found it was a stupid bodged crimp connector that a previous owner had fitted.

It was hiding under a mass of black tape all corroded dry and crumbly. Stripped it off wire brushed the copper back to life and re crimped it. She starts like a charm now :D

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Ah yes, the lovely spectre of POB (previous owner bodging). When I work on a car, I always assume I'll be the poor sod to work on it next!

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Utility room sink was blocked. Had to take off the U bend and various pipes back to a T joint as there were several blockages of festering black greasy gunge that stank. All fixed now though.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

The silicone strap of the wife's new watch. It's a very curious and damned fiddly design which required very carefully cutting down to size and then securing the newly cut ends of the strap into metal fixings using 4 of the tiniest screws I've ever seen. Job done but my eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be... :erm:

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

I fixed the rate of my ISA for 2 years.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

I bet the % rate you got was a 'fix' too. ;)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

2.50% on a cash isa which i cant touch for 5 years but thats fine, its an investment instead of wasting the cash.

This is with the Principality...
http://www.principality.co.uk/en/sav...-cash-isa.aspx

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Open a second current account with for example TSB or Nationwide, then a regular saver account paying 5% for 12 months. Keep the rest of your capital in an RCI savings account paying 1.65% and move your capital at £500 per month.

Everyone gets £1000 tax free savings now so ISAs are a waste of time.

You just need the patience to move your money around every 12 months

---------- Post added at 08:56 ---------- Previous post was at 08:54 ----------

Boxes of "Loft legs" and sheets of chipboard and now my daughter's loft is floored and my hips, knees and legs are knackered!

Loft legs are a brilliant idea, why didn't anyone think of them before?

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Light in the front door bell push. Bulb had gone. Got some 5mm white LEDs so I drilled out the hole where the bulb went to 5mm and fixed the LED in there. Added a suitable series resistor (1K2), checked the polarty of the supply from the bell unit (LEDs are polarity conscious) and re-fitted it. Job done.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Headlamp bulb on a lad in work's MK2 Focus. I'd asked him which bulb had failed and he says "main beam". I ask him if he has a spare and he says "Yes, xyz in the office has given me this one".

Unfortunately his spare bulb turned out to be an H4, which hasn't really been used in most cars for about 15 years (some vans I think still use them) and it was a blown dip beam, not main.

Luckily for him the big tub o'bulbs in my shed had a few spare H7s for his dip beam, and a quick check of google had me taking the lamp off in minutes to swap it.