Stuff you have fixed today

[bricol]

I routinely switch off the ESP on my Alfa for my commute home – it chops in and kills power in a few places where power would stabilise it.

Had a courtesy Merc E-Class AMG (for a 15yr old Caterham after a non-fault accident – work that one out!) – get that sliding, get the corrective/controlling lock on . . . and the computers threw a fit, trying to get it straight, meaning the steering was now pointing the wrong way – never found a way to turn it off – must be programmed for steering wheel holders, not drivers.

 

[JOEPRO]

I routinely switch off the ESP on my Alfa for my commute home – it chops in and kills power in a few places where power would stabilise it.

Had a courtesy Merc E-Class AMG (for a 15yr old Caterham after a non-fault accident – work that one out!) – get that sliding, get the corrective/controlling lock on . . . and the computers threw a fit, trying to get it straight, meaning the steering was now pointing the wrong way – never found a way to turn it off – must be programmed for steering wheel holders, not drivers.

Mercedes ESP systems are best in class. Indeed Mercedes produced the world's first production car with such a system - the w126.

They are fantastic systems but if you choose to fight with it then there you go. Let the car do the work

 

[brewdexta]

Today I decided I cannot live with the ABS issue I have been intermittently experiencing on my Ford Ranger.
Here is the truck (older photo).

View attachment 433967

Problem
The ABS light on my Ford Ranger has been coming on intermittently. I have changed a few sensors before during the life of the truck as the Rangers seem to eat sensors somehow.
It is really annoying when the ABS malfunction light comes on because: not only do you not have ABS, you don't have hill start /hill decent assist, the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) does not work, and finally, the parking sensors don't work either

I don't know what the ABS has to do with the parking sensors, but when the ABS light comes on, it also disables the parking sensors


Symptom
ABS light would come on but then normally it would 'fix itself' in a few minutes while driving. At first, it happened rarely but has been becoming more common over the last two weeks where the ABS light would come on, on every journey.
The main fault code was 'Code: C003A'.

View attachment 433965

There were other codes too, but they all relate to the rear right wheel speed sensor not working correctly.

Normally, when previous sensors have gone bad, I get an error something along the lines of 'invalid data received from X sensor', this time I got 'Circuit Short or Open'.

On Sunday, the ABS light came on once again, but it did not fix itself. After resetting the code with Forscan, it came back on without me driving/moving the vehicle. At last, the problem was present while parked on the drive. It was time to try and figure out what the problem was.

Diagnoses
Because the sensor was fairly new, I did not expect the problem to be the sensor. The sensor checked out when measured with a multimeter. Besides, it 'fixed' itself regularly and my suspicion was a broken wire/continuity problem somewhere.

My plan was to check for continuity from the rear of the vehicle where the sensor plugs into the harness to the front of the vehicle where the connector connects to the ABS module.

I found the pin layout for the front connector and identified pin 17 and pin 29 to be the right rear wheel sensor.
View attachment 433969

I simply bridged the two pins with a piece of fire and then used my multimeter to check for continuity at the rear right speed sensor's connector.

Nothing. Open circuit.

At least I identified the problem I thought.

Just to make sure I was doing everything correctly and had the correct pin layout for my vehicle, I checked continuity from the left rear wheel sensor to the front ABS connector and that all worked.

The ABS wiring diagram is pretty simple on paper.

View attachment 433970

The rear right speed sensor plugs into connector CA426. The cable then goes to connector C3047B and then to C210 and finally, it terminates at C136 (the connector going into the ABS module).

The plan now was to establish where the continuity problem lay in the three pieces of wire/cable/harness.

The first problem was to identify where these connectors were and then to get access to them.
Luckily, I found the wiring diagram for those too.

View attachment 433972

Connector C3047B is on the left-hand side of the vehicle behind the mudguards. While it is probably possible to get access to it with the wheel on, it would be difficult so I took the wheel off.
View attachment 433974

I checked the continuity between connector C426 and C3047B - all good.

I then checked the continuity between connector C3047B to C136. Nothing.

It was time to find connector C210 to check continuity from there to the front and also to the rear.
I came across a diagram that indicated connector C210 is on the left-hand side of the vehicle by the passenger footwell. However, I could not find it.

Later, I found a diagram that indicated it was on the right-hand side of the vehicle by the driver's footwell.
View attachment 433976

I checked the continuity between C210 and C136. All good.

I then checked the continuity between C3047B and C210 but could not get it.
It was late and dark and I had to use the vehicle the next day so I got everything back together.

Today I had some time to continue to try and find the problem. However, now I had continuity from the rear of the vehicle all the way to the front

I hooked up Forscan to monitor the wheel speed sensor outputs.

This is what I found.
View attachment 433980

The pink line is the rear right and as you can see the line is not smooth like the others. It has got some weird drops.
Maybe the sensor was bad after all (pretty bad going for less than a year old).

I had a spare left rear wheel sensor but the cable on the left rear sensor is a little too short to fit on the right-hand side.
A quick extension of the cable and I fitted it to the rear right.

This is what I got.
View attachment 433981

Much better and no more ABS light!!!!!

It is working!

For now.......

I have done about 30 miles since I changed the sensor and all is good for now. I still don't know what was up with the continuity problem, maybe there is a damaged wire somewhere and it is back to its working position now or there was a poor connection at connector C210. I just don't know

I hope I don't have to post in the 'Today I broke' thread soon

Wish me luck!!

I had the same issue on my ranger, 2 years old. Under warranty, took the dealers ages to get the sensors, but I suspect that was just an excuse as they were busy.

 

[Smouser]

I had the same issue on my ranger, 2 years old. Under warranty, took the dealers ages to get the sensors, but I suspect that was just an excuse as they were busy.

The Rangers 'eat' sensors.

My truck is a 2016 model and it has 45k miles on it.
Left front sensor replaced x 2 - 1 x Ford Orginal (£80+) and 1 aftermarket (£30).
Rear right sensor replaced x 2 - 1 x Ford Original and 1 aftermarket (installed yesterday).

Because the original parts from Ford failed in a short time and were expensive, I decided to just go with aftermarket sensors and accept the fact that I would need to replace them now and again.
If you start googling about Ford Ranger ABS issues you will get hundreds and hundreds of posts of people complaining about the poor quality sensors.

The rear wiring harness also suffers with failure (I hoped that would be my issue but I could not confirm it yet).
Here is a video explaining the wiring issue at the rear.

The original Left rear and right front are still going strong!

 

[bricol]

Mercedes ESP systems are best in class. Indeed Mercedes produced the world's first production car with such a system - the w126.

They are fantastic systems but if you choose to fight with it then there you go. Let the car do the work

If you enjoy driving a car, actually being the one to tell it what to do, then the one in that car was a bag of crap.

If however, a car is the same sort of thing to you as a washing machine, just a device to get from A-B, then I guess they are wonderful - you can slump down, switch off and point it . . .

It may well have have had other settings, even an off button, but I never found it.

 

[JOEPRO]

If you enjoy driving a car, actually being the one to tell it what to do, then the one in that car was a bag of crap.

If however, a car is the same sort of thing to you as a washing machine, just a device to get from A-B, then I guess they are wonderful - you can slump down, switch off and point it . . .

It may well have have had other settings, even an off button, but I never found it.

Anyone who truly knows about cars will be aware that a good ESP system can result in faster lap times on a track for example. This stands to sense if it monitors and controls wheel spin in fractions of a second.

Any Mercedes I have driven have truly excellent ESP systems especially in winter conditions.

Sorry to hear you are not happy with the system but sometimes it's user error / misunderstanding that comes into play. If you think you're smarter than systems that took £billions to develop than go you. Turn them off and let her eat bud

 

[RobCox]

I got the 18" machinist's level completed and calibrated today. These are the bits to put back together:

The end caps press in. A (big, in this case) milling vice makes this easy and fairly precise as the two end caps need to line up and present the vial window on the top:

But don't forget the little friction thingys when fitting the rotating cover:

I'm not sure if there was only one when I dismantled it or whether, , I lost it, but the one at the front is a replacement I made from a sliver of shim. Works ok though.
After reassembly, calibration, for which I use my surface plate. Any flat surface will have one axis with is exactly flat to the world, so I located this axis with my shorter Starrett level (another refurb) and tweaked the setting on the Rabone level with two adjusting tools (in reality a couple of Obo nails ground to fit):

The calibration on both might be out by a line but my setup, an 18 x 18" granite plate on an SGS tool chest, isn't as rigid as you'd ideally want to do ultra fine adjustments. The level is rotated 180 deg to check it's reading true and as a check on it's sensitivity I put a 1 thou shim under one end. The bubble moved about 3 graduations:

Finally, here it is in its box with some of the foam that came with the vials to anchor it in place with the lid closed:

 

[bricol]

Anyone who truly knows about cars will be aware that a good ESP system can result in faster lap times on a track for example. This stands to sense if it monitors and controls wheel spin in fractions of a second.

Any Mercedes I have driven have truly excellent ESP systems especially in winter conditions.

Sorry to hear you are not happy with the system but sometimes it's user error / misunderstanding that comes into play. If you think you're smarter than systems that took £billions to develop than go you. Turn them off and let her eat bud

You missed my entire point.
I never once mentioned "faster".
But never mind.
My two favourite cars, of which I own an example of each, one has no electronic nannies at all, the other only an extremely good ABS system.

 

[magnet]

I replaced the semi fossilised serpentine belt on the old toyota corolla im fixing up for my youngest daughters birthday. It was no fun at -4 degrees wrestling that on with numb fingers.
Only a couple more bits to do, handbrake and a new drivers wing mirror glass and its ready to go.

 

[northwest]

This has been a real pain in the buttock for a while now, I called Cutwell where I bought it from and their solution was "buy another one" not really wanting to do that, I took it apart:


The "easy change" was anything but. Oooh look, lots of springs n things:





Turns out one of the fingers on the ratchet arrangement had snapped and it was fouling so it wouldn't rotate to release the tool:



I modified it using the Dremel and it seems to work so I put it all back together, amazingly I only had one part left over.

 

[Sergei Slovenija]

This has been a real pain in the buttock for a while now, I called Cutwell where I bought it from and their solution was "buy another one" not really wanting to do that, I took it apart:
View attachment 434121

The "easy change" was anything but. Oooh look, lots of springs n things:

View attachment 434122
View attachment 434119
View attachment 434123

Turns out one of the fingers on the ratchet arrangement had snapped and it was fouling so it wouldn't rotate to release the tool:

View attachment 434120

I modified it using the Dremel and it seems to work so I put it all back together, amazingly I only had one part left over.

When assembling a Mauser C96 pistol without a manual, excess parts may remain. Inspiration for designing a new flat shaped Rubik's cube. Shadow geniuses... (c)

 

[Smouser]

Today I decided I cannot live with the ABS issue I have been intermittently experiencing on my Ford Ranger.
Here is the truck (older photo).

View attachment 433967

Problem
The ABS light on my Ford Ranger has been coming on intermittently. I have changed a few sensors before during the life of the truck as the Rangers seem to eat sensors somehow.
It is really annoying when the ABS malfunction light comes on because: not only do you not have ABS, you don't have hill start /hill decent assist, the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) does not work, and finally, the parking sensors don't work either

I don't know what the ABS has to do with the parking sensors, but when the ABS light comes on, it also disables the parking sensors


Symptom
ABS light would come on but then normally it would 'fix itself' in a few minutes while driving. At first, it happened rarely but has been becoming more common over the last two weeks where the ABS light would come on, on every journey.
The main fault code was 'Code: C003A'.

View attachment 433965

There were other codes too, but they all relate to the rear right wheel speed sensor not working correctly.

Normally, when previous sensors have gone bad, I get an error something along the lines of 'invalid data received from X sensor', this time I got 'Circuit Short or Open'.

On Sunday, the ABS light came on once again, but it did not fix itself. After resetting the code with Forscan, it came back on without me driving/moving the vehicle. At last, the problem was present while parked on the drive. It was time to try and figure out what the problem was.

Diagnoses
Because the sensor was fairly new, I did not expect the problem to be the sensor. The sensor checked out when measured with a multimeter. Besides, it 'fixed' itself regularly and my suspicion was a broken wire/continuity problem somewhere.

My plan was to check for continuity from the rear of the vehicle where the sensor plugs into the harness to the front of the vehicle where the connector connects to the ABS module.

I found the pin layout for the front connector and identified pin 17 and pin 29 to be the right rear wheel sensor.
View attachment 433969

I simply bridged the two pins with a piece of fire and then used my multimeter to check for continuity at the rear right speed sensor's connector.

Nothing. Open circuit.

At least I identified the problem I thought.

Just to make sure I was doing everything correctly and had the correct pin layout for my vehicle, I checked continuity from the left rear wheel sensor to the front ABS connector and that all worked.

The ABS wiring diagram is pretty simple on paper.

View attachment 433970

The rear right speed sensor plugs into connector CA426. The cable then goes to connector C3047B and then to C210 and finally, it terminates at C136 (the connector going into the ABS module).

The plan now was to establish where the continuity problem lay in the three pieces of wire/cable/harness.

The first problem was to identify where these connectors were and then to get access to them.
Luckily, I found the wiring diagram for those too.

View attachment 433972

Connector C3047B is on the left-hand side of the vehicle behind the mudguards. While it is probably possible to get access to it with the wheel on, it would be difficult so I took the wheel off.
View attachment 433974

I checked the continuity between connector C426 and C3047B - all good.

I then checked the continuity between connector C3047B to C136. Nothing.

It was time to find connector C210 to check continuity from there to the front and also to the rear.
I came across a diagram that indicated connector C210 is on the left-hand side of the vehicle by the passenger footwell. However, I could not find it.

Later, I found a diagram that indicated it was on the right-hand side of the vehicle by the driver's footwell.
View attachment 433976

I checked the continuity between C210 and C136. All good.

I then checked the continuity between C3047B and C210 but could not get it.
It was late and dark and I had to use the vehicle the next day so I got everything back together.

Today I had some time to continue to try and find the problem. However, now I had continuity from the rear of the vehicle all the way to the front

I hooked up Forscan to monitor the wheel speed sensor outputs.

This is what I found.
View attachment 433980

The pink line is the rear right and as you can see the line is not smooth like the others. It has got some weird drops.
Maybe the sensor was bad after all (pretty bad going for less than a year old).

I had a spare left rear wheel sensor but the cable on the left rear sensor is a little too short to fit on the right-hand side.
A quick extension of the cable and I fitted it to the rear right.

This is what I got.
View attachment 433981

Much better and no more ABS light!!!!!

It is working!

For now.......

I have done about 30 miles since I changed the sensor and all is good for now. I still don't know what was up with the continuity problem, maybe there is a damaged wire somewhere and it is back to its working position now or there was a poor connection at connector C210. I just don't know

I hope I don't have to post in the 'Today I broke' thread soon

Wish me luck!!

It was a failed fix


I decided to post a thread on it while I diagnose/try to fix the fault.

 

[500e]

Re seal and gas

 

[Memmeddu]

My day started repairing a Migatronic transformer based 300A Mig at work.
Nothing serious, just few melted wires a power cord,a dinse connector on the panel ...
But I've took the opportunity to take few pictures of the rectifier bridge protection set up which I was having trouble to understand few months ago , don't know if someone remember about the CEA Avia stick welder I'm intended to modify.
Those pictures might be helpful for someone else so we'll worth sharing I believe.

 

[500e]

Made some tools for the job

 

[mrsbruce]

Forgot to take pictures, but decoked my chinese diesel air heater yesterday. Lordy, it needed it, and my neighbours will appreciate the not having to look at the fog my heater was producing of a morning.

 

[JOEPRO]

Forgot to take pictures, but decoked my chinese diesel air heater yesterday. Lordy, it needed it, and my neighbours will appreciate the not having to look at the fog my heater was producing of a morning.

What fuel do you use? Kerosene or Diesel?

Did you have to buy a seal kit or any parts when doing that?

Mine has been running Kerosene and probably still only has 200 hours or so on it.

 

[mrsbruce]

What fuel do you use? Kerosene or Diesel?

Did you have to buy a seal kit or any parts when doing that?

Mine has been running Kerosene and probably still only has 200 hours or so on it.

I just use diesel, I’ve considered kerosene, but most places around here only sell it in silly little plastic containers. The heater is quite economical on diesel, and depending on how harsh the winter is, I use between 1 to 2 gallon of diesel a year.

As to the seals, when I opened the chamber, the gasket fell off in a dozen pieces. Once I cleaned out the soot, I reattached all the broken gasket bits like a jigsaw, using some instant gasket gloop to keep everything in place. It‘s only temporary until I can get hold of a new gasket, honest. I was sure I had some suitable gasket material in the hut, but couldn’t find it.

Everything seems ok, though, although I have placed a carbon monoxide monitor right next to it just in case. At this time of year, it’s more to take the chill off the conservatory than having it running while I’m in there.

No other parts were needed, fortunately. The glow plug looked a bit white, but everything fired up well, with no smoke. I had been using the ‘trick’ of running the heater on full blast every so often, to burn off the carbon, but I don’t think that actually worked too well.

 

[500e]

@fizruns his flat out all the time, would think he has the highest hour one on here

 

[500e]

Was a bit rusty Just the doors to do now