Churchill, still defeating evil

-
For the past couple of days I've been struggling to change the cam belt on the 5. This should be simple because access couldn't be better, but I couldn't get the crank pulley bolt to loosen because the crank kept turning. Even in 5th gear, handbrake on, Mrs B and Russ in the car with the brakes hard on, it would still move. Even the breaker bar on floor/starter motor trick wouldn't shift it. I got bored after a bit and went off and had a barbeque instead. Did the same again the following day, now thinking about putting it back together and taking it to the garage.

That night, Winston Churchill came to me in a dream and reminded me to never give up, and that evil crank bolts would prevail when good men did nothing. He gave me this solution... and it worked immediately!
  • Obtain some rope, washing line or thin electrical flex (about 3 feet)

  • Turn the engine clockwise until No1 piston has gone a little past TDC (he told me to stick the dipstick in the spark plug hole to view the piston position)

  • Ensure the valves on No1 are all closed (you may need to turn the engine again to find the right position), else you're going to bend them. Having the cams visible makes this easy.

  • Feed in as much cable as you can through the spark plug hole.

  • Now, get your big breaker bar and get that bolt off. As you turn it (anti-clockwise) the piston will attempt to compress the cable and lock the crank.

  • Remember to take the flex out before turning the engine again!
Cheers Winnie! The car is all back together now and it even seems to work (well, it starts and idles, too dark to do any testing tonight). All ready for me to wreck it on Friday, when I take it to an airfield day at Abingdon.

Popular posts from this blog

Adding bluetooth to a Mini with Harman Kardon audio

-
Image
My R53 Cooper S has the unexpected bonus of the Harman Kardon premium audio system.  While it has impressive power and sound quality (once you discover the hidden settings ), it's firmly stuck in the past with just CD and analogue radio.  You can't change the head unit as the speakers are all wired to the 10-channel amp that lives in the boot, so new cables would need to be run from the head unit to each speaker, which would be an almighty faff. I wanted to add bluetooth so I could play my cheesy '80s music from Spotify, so bought a Grom BT3  which is a small module that plugs into the CD-changer port on the rear of the standard-fit Boost head unit.  It allows you to stream music from your mobile, and make/receive calls via the supplied microphone.  You can also buy another module that plugs into the Grom to provide DAB radio, USB, or iPod wired connections, I didn't bother with any of those, I just wanted Bananarama, loud. There are 2 versions of the Grom for BMW
Read more

BMW E39 diesel pump replacement

-
Image
I replaced the fuel pump in the tank of the 530D yesterday.  It was quite fiddly and I couldn't find any useful guide on the internet, so I thought I'd create a quick outline of the procedure: Symptoms of failure : poor starting/cutting out when the fuel level falls to around a quarter of a tank. Cost : £42 from GSF , plus 2x 9mm petrol hose clips (the originals are not reusable). Procedure :  remove the rear seat base by pulling up sharply on it's front edge (there are a pair of spring clips holding it in place).  Beneath are 2 access panels to the tank, the pump is under the right-hand side one (behind the driver on a UK right-hand drive car).  Remove the cover and disconnect the 2 hose connections and the electrical plug (removed by pushing the locking clip sideways).  Unscrew the locking ring by gently rotating it with a hammer and chisel. Now slowly remove the fuel sender unit, noting it's orientation and how it slots into the pump assembly below - it'
Read more

MINI tailgate hinge replacement

-
Image
I replaced the snapped tailgate hinge on t'old MINI today, and it wasn't too bad a job.  The design is a bit crap and they tend to seize, and then break and attempt to bonk you on the head with the tailgate.  Didn't like that. The hinge is held on by a single nut but you need to partially drop the headlining to reach it.  To do this you need to: remove the tailgate seal remove the rear seats remove the rear side panel trim on the affected side This is all covered by some helpful folks in this YouTube video.  After this, you need to remove the white C-pillar trim; it's held in by 4 plastic tabs (2 top, 2 bottom), which fit into metal clips in the body.  It needs a sharp tug but there is a fair risk of breaking the tabs, but I got away with it. Now you should be able to gently pull down the headlining, to release the clip in the centre: That should give just enough clearance to get a 13mm socket onto the nut securing the hinge.  There is quite a lot
Read more