The engine, the calorifier & the gps

Another 250 hours on the clock so it was time for an engine service.  We ran the engine to warm up the oil and Jan seized the opportunity to also do a load of washing.  Doing an oil change on a cold day can have advantages.  The additional clothing under the overalls means you can drape yourself over the hot engine for longer periods.  Despite this I was starting to break into a sweat by the time I’d finished pumping all the oil out of the sump.  The absorbent baby paper nappy makes a reasonable job of catching most of the oil when removing the oil filter. 

When I drained off the bottom of the first diesel pre-filter there were a few black specks in the diesel.  I guess they are pieces of splatter from the construction.  The second pre-filter was clean.  The alternator belts looked OK and appeared to have sufficient tension.  Battery water levels were good.  Everything looks good to go for another 250 hours.   

I used that ugly mirror from the 99P shop to see the element and thermostat on the back of the calorifier.  Access to this area proved to be rather difficult for an old man.  In order to to see the mirror you need to crouch over the engine and then look up.  It’s an awkward position involving some neck strain.  However I was able to view the area and noted there were two thermostats (which surprised me) and the element.  The thermostats are connected in series with different temperature settings.  I’m guessing one is the desired water temperature and the other is the over temperature cut-out.  There was a small black button which I pressed and heard a click.  I;m guessing the upper temperature cut-out had tripped and hopefully I’ve now reset it.  I couldn’t get continuity through the thermostats using the multimeter so I’m hoping this is because the water in the calorifier is already very hot after running the engine to do the oil change.  The plan is to wait until the water is cold tomorrow morning and recheck the continuity. If there is a circuit them my theory was good.  Otherwise I may have to replace the thermostat.

The last task of the day was to replace the battery in the Garmin Nuvi.  The battery came without any instructions so I carefully examined the Nuvi noting the two small torx screws on the reverse of the folding antenna.

The screws are very small and could easily be lost.  I used four of the empty compartment in my weekly pill container to ensure I didn’t misplace any of the tiny components

The screws.

With the screws removed it was possible to pry the back off the antenna.  This exposed (well not very well) the hinge pin and spring.  I released the pin by compressing the spring with a small jewellers screwdriver

The black plastic hinge pin and spring can be seen in the middle of the above photo.  With the antenna now able to be carefully moved to one side I had access to two further screws under the hinge.  These were also torx screws.

The next step was to separate the front off the Nuvi using the green plastic tool.  Using a plastic trim removal tool minimizes the possibility of damaging the case.  By working carefully around the join I was able to eventually separate the back from the front.

Green trim tool placed on the Nuvi for the photo

By sliding the face of the case backwards I exposed a further two torx screws which secure the printed circuit board to the rear of the case.

Once the screws were removed I used the plastic trim tool to pry the circuit board from the base.  By lifting the circuit board up slightly I was able to unplug the two cable connects.  You can see the loose cables and plugs to the left in this next photo.  The battery is the white rectangle in the top left.

It proved quite difficult to remove the battery as it was held in place firmly with double sided tape.  I managed to pry it out with the trip tool.

The new battery was installed and the process reversed to reassemble the gps.  Well it actually wasn’t that easy.  Some very fiddly bits meant it took quite some time to complete the reassembly.

Turned the Nuvi on and it fired into life

BUT THE TOUCH SCREEN NOW DOESN’T WORK!     SO I’LL HAVE TO GO BACK AND DISASSEMBLE IT TO FIX THAT PROBLEM!!!!!!!