Back again!

   I have not posted for an age partly because Degsy has not needed anything but oil and water top ups but mainly because life has taken a dramatic change of direction and I lost the log in credentials for the blog....again. As you can see I have recovered that situation. I how earn my living keeping honeybees. You can find out about that by following the link to my website HERE. Never mind me...what of Degsy?

   Degsy has been reassigned duties. He is now my promotional vehicle. He makes guest appearances at the shows we attend throughout the year. I swear he gets more attention than my honey does. As for his health; well the last MOT was no trouble just a flaky earth to the rear nearside indicator. An easy fix. I replaced the rear leaf spring as the near side one was wearing out and causing Degsy to sag to one side in a most undignified way. Degsy got a wash too!

 Now I have got into my stride with the bee farming I hope to blog on a more regular basis.

Ready for MOT?

   The last little jobs has been completed. It only took two minute to replace the broken windscreen washer pump with a new one. Predictably I put the wires on back to front so it sucked air and not pumped water. I simple swap of the wires on the terminals fixed the issue. There was lots of smeg pumped onto the windscreen as I ran the pump for the first time in an age. I don't usually have any outside jobs to do when it is raining so Degsy does not go anywhere that needs wipers.

   In had to take the dashboard off again to fit the indicator signal light back into its holders. The light flashed when the indicators flash but one could not see it.

  Now it just remains to book the MOT....gulp. It is always a worry as to whether it will pass. But now the oil leak has been fixed from the last MOT there should be fewer things to go wrong. I will have my fairly tame Land Rover mechanic give it a service before it goes in so it will in tip top condition for the emissions test.    

Little jobs

   Degsy has been as good as gold all the long wet summer of 2012. The annual MOT is coming round so time to check those little jobs. No fog light, window washer and a dodgy front off-side indicator. I check all the fuses first. They were fine, so that is not the issue. The fog light is wired to only come on when the headlights are on. That means I have to keep Degsy running to prevent the battery running down whilst I fiddle with the electrics. I could be here some time and I don't fancy hand cranking Degsy because the battery is too flat to engage the starter motor. The fog light switch on the dash of Degsy glows red when the headlights are on. That suggest some up with the fog light itself. I got the lens off and found the bulb was in perfect condition as were the electrical connections. Not that then. The put the multimeter across the terminal which conformed the lack of current. I got the panel off the inside face the bodywork. The panel covers up the bird's nest of wiring. I tracked the wires concerned and found the positive feed wire was loose in the connector and earth was not earthing. I renewed the feed connector then found a good solid earth and connected the fog light earth wire to it. The connections passed the wiggle test so I replaced the panel and refitted the fog light. then to the indicator.

   I know where the problems was on the indicator. One of the earth connections is dodgy. I found the connector concerned and replace the weak connector with a new one. I took off the indicator lens and checked the bulb and connections. I found they were sound. The whole job only took a few minutes.

  Next the washer. First I checked there was water in the bottle. I knew there was water but just to pedantic I checked. Then a checked connections on the washer motor. They were clean and sound. I took the dashboard off to check the connections on the back of the washer switch. They too were fine. I put the multimeter across the pump wires and found I got a reading when a pressed the switch. That means one thing....the washer motor is knackered. I just have to order one and hopefully it will be a easy fit. When that is sorted I shall put Degsy in the for the MOT. I might take it for a mega jet wash first.         

Wheels, Paint & Lamp

I have had a problem with tyres for ages. Not so much tyres as wheels. Degsy came with set of "extra grip" tyres but they were very noisy. I managed to purchase a set of four road bias tyres but only on two of them came on wheels. I had two of the wheels of the extra grip tyres swapped onto the road tyres. The trouble is I have eight tyres, four extra grip and four road tyres, but only six wheels. I had a hunt round Ebay and the Internet but not come up with two steel Land Rover wheels. I had given up on finding the wheels. I was going past the garage that did the work on Degsy so I dropped in. I had the two wheel-less extra grip tyres in the back of Degsy. The garage man said a couple of steel wheels somewhere. I agreed to pick them up the following week i.e. today. I said the fit the tyres to the rims. The tyres need tubes too. I turned up at the appointed time and was parted from £20. A tenner each for a wheel and a tube and fitted too, brilliant.

When I got the wheels home I got the other wheels out of garage. I took the wire brush and sand paper to them and have them a scrub. Once scrubbed and brushed down I had a rummage in the garage for the tin of paint. The paint is named "Limestone". It is nice and thick. I painted each wheel in turn, inside and outside and set them aside to dry.

Whilst waiting for the paint to dry I got the high-lift jack out of Degsy. I got the socket and the long lever and went round each wheels and loosened each wheel nut. Some where really tight. I got the wheel chocks out of the garage and put them under the rear wheels. I went for lunch. The paint dried quickly. Once I figured how to use the jack I jacked the front of Degsy up. I took off one wheel at a time. Whilst the wheel off I scrubbed and brushed up the hub then painted it. The wheel was then put back on. I went round each wheel at a turn. When the wheel went back on I touched up the hubs. Degsy looks great. I just need to slacken and re-tightened up the wheel nuts and make sure the paint has not stuck the wheels nuts to the wheel.

Whilst I was at the Landy garage I was told the reversing light had to be working for the MOT. My reversing light was not working. When I took the lens off I found the internals were rusted solid. I checked the wiring and found that there was current once the headlights were on and the fog lamp switch is flipped. I happened to have a reversing light in my store cupboard. I had to use the angle grinder to get the bolts of the old reversing light off. I also had to remove the panel inside the tub that covers the wiring. There was a right jumble of wiring under the cover but there was plenty of wire for the live feed and negative return. The new lamp had a good length of bonded wires that made the unit waterproof. I taped the new unit wires to the existing wires and used the old wires to pull the new wires into the tub. It took a little bit of jiggling but it was easy. Once the wires were routed it was just a short job to bolt the fog light unit to the body. It took just a few minutes to trim the wires and fix female bullet connectors and join up the wires. Then the cover was replaced. Job done. One less thing to be concerned about.

Switches

I decide it was high time to sort out the switches on the dash board. The lights that illuminate the clocks have never worked and since I got Degsy back from the mechanics the headlights and side lights have been working in the wrong order.

I took the dash board off and tackled the switches in turn. First was the headlight. I started by disconnected the head light switch leads the reconnecting the power leads in reverse and that was enough the sort the issue. On the first position the side and tail lights come on. The second position the headlight come on. Next was the instrument or panel lights.

This was more difficult. I made sure the bulbs were not blown. I had replaced the bulbs some times ago. I made sure the light holders were secured properly which meant the earth was good. Then I tackled the switch. I found the switch was not working. I did not have a switch available. Subsequently I bought a switch and on receipt of it I fitted it. The panel light now work and only when the side, tail and /or headlights switch is on.

The switch for the heater/demister fan is a two step switch but the fan is not. I fitted a new on/off Lucas switch. I lined up the switches so they where parallel. I put the dash back together, tucking the wire is neatly, then securing the dash with screws.

Whilst fettling the switches I came to a decision onthe switches for the fog and reversing lights and the new interior and working lights that I am to fit ove rhte back door. The nights are drawing so lights will be useful.