MOT time again

   MOT time is coming round again so time to do those little jobs. The first and most obvious is the passenger side window wiper. The wiper arm is not holding onto the wiper spindle so it does not wipe. After a good deal of WD40 and pulling and shoving in managed to get the wiper arm off the spindle. Once I got the wiper arm in my hands I found out how it worked. There is a ferrule that slips over the wiper spindle. It has a belt that is supposed to secure the ferrule to the spindle. That was not happen in my case hence the lack of wiping action. I also find that the wiper arm just slipped onto the outside facets of the ferrule and had a spring clip to keep it in place. The job was simple enough to put the ferrule back on the spindle however this time taking care to put the securing bolt in a place it can be got at. Whomever had changed the wiper blades in the past put the bolt in a daft place so it could not be tightened up properly. After that the wiper arm was just slipped on the ferrule in the right position. A quick test to make sure the wiper swept the windscreen properly and it was done.

   The next job was very minor. When Degsy is ticking over very slowly the fan belt slips a little and make a low level screech. I figured the belt needs a extra bit of tension. That is not too surprising as I never adjusted it since the chassis was replaced and that was two or more years ago. I gave the three nut and bolts, that secure the alternator, a squirt of WF40. Whilst the WD was doing its job I found the correct size spanner, 1/2" and had a slurp of my brew. It was a bit of a job to loosen each of the bolts. They gave in after a short while. With the bolts loosened I use my long crow bar to create tension in the fan belt. With the tension on I pinched up the bolt holding the slide adjuster then pinched up the other two bolts. I started Degsy.....not a squeak from the pulleys.

   Last job was to check the oil. No surprise that the oil was short of the "high" mark. I measure out a pint from the gallon oil can and poured it into the oil top up pipe. Whilst the oil was draining from the oil jug I topped up the washer bottle. Another drop of tea for me, a tidy up of the tools and oil top up was complete. I put the cap back on the oil tube and all the jobs were down.

  Since it was the first dry day we had for ages I emptied out the back and gave it a sweep. It is all tidy again. Time to book in for the dreaded MOT. It should pass but you can never be complacent.