A Simple job!

[Mutley]

A SIMPLE job it was! a child could do it, a one armed blind man, a retarded chimp with it's hands

stuck up it's back side could do it!.....And then there's ME!!!

The SIMPLE job in question was replacing the indicator stalk on the steering column (as the original one was knackered).

Having obtained a GENUINE replacement from a well known auction site (not prepared to pay LR's stupid price), the

game was a foot (may have worked out better if I had done it with my foot!), off with the old and on with the new!

Easy, a doddle, piece of cake,SIMPLE! even put it all back together, satisfaction or what?

I announced to her ladyship that I was going for a drive just to check my new indicator switch.....Four times

round the estate and Bugger they don't cancel properly, some hours later after a bit of head scratching and fiddling

they work! Yeeehhhaaaaa.......Bugger! The steering wheel isn't centred! Down a nice straight road and 22mm socket in

hand soon solves that little issue! Yeessssss.....Bugger! The interior light doesn't work! Blown fuse? Easy fix! In with a new fuse Bugger! It blows instantly another fuse BANG, BUGGER! That one blew. For the 100th. time take the steering wheel off and steering fascia, nothing out of order, more head scratching and fiddling Bugger.

Carefully I manage to get a fuse to just sit in place after a small display of sparks, the interior light works! GREAT!

The horn works! Great! Full beam works! Great! Flash wor...BANG! BUGGER!....And smoke rises from the steering column!

As I take the new indicator stalk off the column it is clear the reason for all this fuse blowing, some how

when fitting the damn thing i had managed to trap a wire and thus causing it to short out on the steering column! BUGGER!

It is now all sorted some 3 days after starting this simple job! I know some of my fault finding techniques

are not right and propper, but as I am limited in time and knowledge, in this instant I fully accept i got away with it.

So come on then, who has had a simple job turn into a nightmare only to find out some time later that the

solution to solving the issue was even simpler?

[western]

sorry made I chuckle, shouldn't laugh at others misfortune but, it's the way it's told, glad to see you cured all your problems

[Mo Murphy]

Oops!

[jbs]

Mutley, you've brightened my morning up

John

[landmannnn]

I reckon most of us have been there. My usual problem is all the red stuff leaking from my fingera.

[errol209]

So come on then, who has had a simple job turn into a nightmare only to find out some time later that the

solution to solving the issue was even simpler?

Are we sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.

Once upon a time I had a 1967 S2a 109. She was five months older than me, and we had many happy outings together and quality time spent re-building front swivels, swapping springs, adding winches etc.

Then we got involved in hot-air ballooning. Being of the nine-seat persausion, we got roped in as the retrieve vehicle, often being put to the test hauling trailer, avec balloon, balloon crew, pilot and retrieve navigator out of muddy fields, etc.

At this point she developed an appetite for short-side halfshafts. Fair enough, the first one was probably my fault, and I put it down to 30yo metal suddenly being asked to work quite hard. Long side shaft out, diff off (including f***in pinion flange nut), dismember diff to hammer twisted, jagged, lump out, re-assemble diff, replace, re-fit half shafts.

All well, for a week. I was reversing out of a car parking space, not exactly arduous. Bang. So, here we go again, complicated by the effort I'd put into doing the pinion nut up last time. Repeat the exercise.

Well, imanige my horror a few weeks later when I fail a short ballon-trailer laden ascent* due to a lack of rear drive. I have thought ahead this time, and have a pair of halfshafts in the back. Short one gone again. Field strip and replace. In field. A nice field, but a field nonetheless.

Let us skip forward two more halfshafts forward, when my friendly local LR parts counter man says unto me:

"You're going through a lot of halfshafts"

"Yes, and gear oil, skin and patience"

"Make your own gaskets do you?"

"Eh?"

"Well, you never buy any and the one for the diff is quite a big, thick thing"

It turns out that previous owner (caravanner) had replaced a halfshaft but not the big thick card gasket, which meant that the halfshaft ends weren't aligned properly causing them to twist off under big loads. I never noticed ...

* Note to self - DO NOT JUST ENGAGE REVERSE AND BACK DOWN: YOU HAVE £5000 WORTH OF TRAILER ON THE BACK

[western]

oh dear, what a way to find that out.

[Mutley]

errol209 I can sympathies and I too feel your pain!

What I would like to know is "When the penny drops" as the saying goes,

how come it seems to hit like a "CANNON BALL!"?

[jbs]

errol209 I can sympathies and I too feel your pain! What I would like to know is "When the penny drops" as the saying goes, how come it seems to hit like a "CANNON BALL!"?

I think that's down to all the stress and frustration leaving the mind

[Francois]

mmmhh, i need to change my indicator switch unit but cant get the steering off..... wd40 aint helping. any advice?

[Mutley]

mmmhh, i need to change my indicator switch unit but cant get the steering off..... wd40 aint helping. any advice?

Me, Remember ME this is. I gave the steering column a sharp tap with the hammer, then with both hands

banged on the back of the steering wheel, came off easy enough then

[jbs]

Either hit the rear-underneath of the steering wheel with one hand whilst holding the wheel with the other hand so that it does'nt smack you in the face when it becomes loose or hit it with LR tool Number1 from underneath and that will definitely loosen it then again you could always use a puller on the steering wheel and remove it that way, which is obviously a little bit gentler way of removing it

HTH

John

[Mo Murphy]

Never remove a half shaft on a sloping driveway without putting it in diff lock and chocking the wheels first as you'll find yourself trying to stop 2 tons of Land Rover rolling down the drive with a half removed half shaft

Mo

[western]

I've done that & had to pay for a new fence for my nieghbour, OOPS.

[rickdulas]

Me too. Just managed to throw a handy block of wood under it!!!

[Mo Murphy]

I'm not alone then Ralph

I recall Stu jacking up his Disco with a hi lift jack and my adapter without putting it in diff lock and the Disco rolling away as he jacked it up The adapter was bent like a banana and he nearly had to buy a new tailgate glass

Mo

[smokinv8]

Well I had an issue once, where I had jacked up the rear of my 90 to remove the longer rear halfshaft only to find that as I withdrew it it hit the horizontal spar on the post and rail fence that runs along side my drive. So Im sat there scratching my head thinking "oh bugger I cant move it over now so what to do?". The only solution I could think of was to cut down the offending fence rail.

So I finished the job and a friend popped over and said "Why didnt you just jack up the axle higher or lower to miss the rail?"

[Cranberry]

How I Learned To Love Wheel Chocks

By Cranberry, aged 38 1/2

Many moons ago I had a SIIa as my first car, and I loved it.

We went greenlaning one day, and on the way there got separated from the other vehicle. I stopped on a steep bit of country road and waited for the others to catch up with us.

Eventually got fed up, and went to set off. *STALL*. Tried again. *STALL* - Herman did _NOT_ want to move.

I'd been working on the handbrake recently, trying to get it to be a bit more effective. I put Herman in gear ( No, really I *did* ). Took out the panel between the front seats, and could see that the handbrake linkage was stuck. So leaning in from the passenger side, I applied Land Rover Special Tool #1 to the problem.

Ping went the linkage, releasing the handbrake

Hmmm went Cranberry, thankful at solving the problem

Pop went the gearstick, jumping into neutral

Weeeeeee* went Cranberry freewheeling down a steep hill half in and half out of the passenger side of a Landy.

I learned two things that day:

1 No matter how hard you try, you can't stop a Land Rover rolling down a 1 in 4 hill by holding onto the back door.

2 Wheel chocks can be a very good idea.

Herman hit a tree and stoved in his front wing, mashed a spring and bent the chassis. I used some very intemperate language when describing the tree's parentage. Then I saw what was on the other side of it - a 30 foot drop down to a stream, and quietly thanked the tree for putting itself in the way.

* Actually it could have been "Arrgggggggggggg"

[Mutley]

I am now beginning to see that I am only a Student among so many Masters!

And I bow in acknowledgement of your superior Fumblings

Mutley

[JeffR]

Do you want to know the correct spelling for Landrover Owner -MASOCHIST