Who is doing what maintenance today?

[chapel gate]

Took the gearbox out of my Japanese 4x4. Which had been fitted in the factory by muscular midgets with 12" long fingers.View attachment 110738

Did that blue pig manage to escape in the end rob?..

 

[Rob Cowell]

Did that blue pig manage to escape in the end rob?..

I really do need to tidy up my little scrap yard out there. That's an old expansion tank for my water supply that I kept to make a fire contaner for a smoker (of food). Only I now have two old expansion tanks out there waiting for suitable projects.

 

[fbnss]

So i've been having a little play with mr ctek this morning. Firstly i mounted it this way.

question fot those in the know (Chris) will it be ok to attach the short negetive cable from the top right of the smartpass to the negetive on the top right of the dual like so

and then just have one earth wire going off to a suitable bolt in the floor or to the battery (when it arrives)
I then decided i didnt like the way all the cables would be poking out to the right so i rotated it 90 degrees and ended up with this.

This way most of the cables are out the way down the bottom. I can have the positive coming in from the front across the top. A short run from the non critical consumables to the fuse box ( That may not be its final resting place). Earth to the tie down bottom left of picture (or to the battery through the gap to the left).
And the battery temp cables, positive cable can run through the gap to the left too.
Hopefully the battery will fit in the far corner, nearest the tailgate and i'll secure it somehow.

with the seat back up.

 

[fbnss]

Well i have got this far

I think all i need to do is earth the fusebox, chuck a battery in, double check, triple check and then wack a fuse in so its live!

 

[Chris]

Nice work Nick. Saw that Santa had been kind to you. I didn't mount mine as per the instructions because my drawers were too long to allow me to use the bus bars. I did use them in the trailer set up though. For all their detail, the instruction manual is rather vague in places isn't it. I think I connected the flying earth to the other unit, yes. You can't do any harm that way, but if it doesn't work right, bear in mind that it might need moving directly to a chassis earth. I have had a mare with the trailer set up and it's been the earth at the heart of the problems. Now, on the vehicle I can't get the solar to work and I think that this is the earth path too. However on page 7 it does say the flying lead should be connected to either the Smartpass OR a convenient chassis earth. Where mine got tricky was installing the Victron shunt set up on the twin batteries in the trailer. Easy on the single vehicle battery but it caused me a real headache on the other. I think that installation sheet 5 in the manual is possibly the simplest to follow.

 

[fbnss]

Yes it is a bit vague! Guess i'll have to see. It is exactly the right length though... I've run out of my little terminal connector thingys so i'll have to visit midnight motors again tomorrow for some more. I also ran out of red cable so used black for the main earth with a red cable tie on each end so that i don't make a boo boo. Yes, sheet 5 looks like what i've done. Thanks for your help Chris

 

[fbnss]

Well it's all done now. Hopefully the batteries will turn up tomorrow as promised. I'm going to have to find a bus bar ( I think) for the negetive terminal on the ctek as you can't get many cables onto it, I stripped a mm of thread off while tightening it up as it wasn't in very far. I've just left the earth on it to the battery and stuck the tiny earth wire onto the earth from the fuse box to the battery. There's no way another cable ( for the solar panel) would fit on it as well!

 

[Chris]

Nick, I did exactly the same. But I used a standard domed head bolt (Screwfix) to replace the neat little knurled jobbies that came with the CTEK. If you look, the additional ones you get are longer. You might be able to swap them around. But a standard thread bolt works fine.

 

[Marius De Kock]

Nick here are some photos of how I mounted and wired my CTek system. I hope it helps you.

 

[fbnss]

Wo, you win the prize for neatness! Thanks

 

[Marius De Kock]

I just hope it helps you in some way. I love my CTek system. It's been working perfectly for years without any problems.

 

[Chris]

Marius, where the hell have you both been. Post an immediate update thread with all your exploits please; or I shall never speak to you again. I've never even had a post card from you. It's simply not on you know.

 

[fbnss]

Good to know. I can tart mine up as I get to know it. Having only ever been away for the weekend in it I have much to learn!

 

[Marius De Kock]

Marius, where the hell have you both been. Post an immediate update thread with all your exploits please; or I shall never speak to you again. I've never even had a post card from you. It's simply not on you know.

Let's talk offline.

 

[clivehorridge]

Let's talk offline.

You've been missed from the forum anyway Marius.

 

[Chris]

Absolutely and at Lincomb of course. I look forward to catching up with you.

 

[Beau]

Fitted new steering rack guide. Old one had some play in the bearings and made the steering feel a bit sloppy. Steering feels like new again, very tight. Would recommend this job to anyone who's having a sloppy/wandering feeling when driving. Took 15 minutes, and cost about $55. I'll get some pics if anyone is interested.

Also got some new poly front lower wishbone bushes, so will be attacking that soon. Not looking forward to it after all the threads I've read. Started soaking things now...

 

[Shayne]

Post some pics on your cruiser story thread Beau because no doubt in a year or so from now someone will join asking how to do it and pointing them to this thread with its 152 pages is like saying its in the phone book somewhere .

 

[MarkW]

Fitted new steering rack guide. Old one had some play in the bearings and made the steering feel a bit sloppy. Steering feels like new again, very tight. Would recommend this job to anyone who's having a sloppy/wandering feeling when driving. Took 15 minutes, and cost about $55. I'll get some pics if anyone is interested.

Also got some new poly front lower wishbone bushes, so will be attacking that soon. Not looking forward to it after all the threads I've read. Started soaking things now...

+2 on the pics Beau. Had my lower bushes replaced in Morocco this year, its not a job I'd want to do myself.

Reset the timing belt light on mine today, does that count as maintenance?

 

[fbnss]

Unfortunately uk mail only decided to bring me 2 out of 3 batteries today, must have almost been their last delivery too so not tested it yet