MOT passed

   The exhaust on Degsy has always needed attention. The mechanic chap decided enough was enough and suggested I get a new exhaust manifold since the studs could no longer be expected to keep the exhaust pipe from parting and blowing. Since a blowing exhaust affects the performance and efficiency of the engine and Degsy and my pocket needs all the help they can get in those areas I let the mechanic fit a new exhaust manifold.

   Degsy sounds quite different now, quite mainly. The nearside front wheel had a bit too much play in it. The mechanic shimmed it as a matter of course and sent Degsy off for the MOT. It passed first time with the usual notes on the side walls of the tyres. I shall have to have a hunt of ebay for a new set. Brand new ones are £100+ per corner.

   That makes me all legal for another year. So on the way home from picking Degsy up it starts to rain, I put on the wipers and within a few minutes the passenger side wiper stops working. Another job to do!

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.    

Fun for the Neighbours

   I made a light time last weekend to do a little job that has been bothering my on the Sankey trailer. In the middle of the opening where the tailgate drops is a tie down loop. It gets in the way everytime I am shovelling stuff in or out of the trailer. I borrowed a friend's angle grinder and set about cutting off the tie down point. I had the trailer parked up outside the house to access power for the grinder. It made a right din. The sound of the grinder increased by the body of the trailer that acted like a drum and the noise echoing off the houses which must have been fun for the neighbours. It only took a few minutes to do so now I have a nice clean line at the tailgate.

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.         

Inner tube

I have had a slow puncture in the off side rear of my chunky tyres. This last week it has been going down within day or two when before it took ten days or more. I had an inner tube in my stores. Jacked Degsy up and put an axles stand under the rear off side axle. I took the wheel off and it together with the inner tube and took them up to the Landy garage. I left it with them and said I would back in a few days. I went back on the Thursday and the tyre was ready however the inner tube was on the top of the tyre. The chap said it was the wrong sort. He still only charged me a tenner and I got an inner tube as well.

Logs

On Saturday I had to fell some trees at my allotment. Degsy was invaluable. One end of the rope tied high up inthe tree and the other end tied to Degsy's front bumper. This meant we could fell the tree inthe direction we wanted an in controlled way. The trees were growing in a six foot wide fenced hedge line.

The Sankey trailer was just the job too. I could get it near the job site and load up the sawn logs at the end of the day. The whole day was just a treat.

NATO hitch

The latch that locks the top of the hook is very stiff. So stiff in fact it needs a mallet to move the lever. I dribbled some 3 in 1 oil down the joints that lead to the pin. I started working the lever back and forth. It was really stiff. I just kept dribbling oil and working the pin. Little by little the pin eased up. Twenty minutes later the lever could be moved with some resistance but fairly easily.

Then done I fitted the safety pin. The pin has a chain to stop it getting lost. On the centre of the hitch pin pivot is a nut that traps a tag onto which the chains attach. There is a chain attached to the "R" clip swivel locking lever pin. I managed to get both the "R" clip and the hitch pin chain to fit onto the same tag. A waft of black paint over the chain to keep the rust at bay and the job was complete.