Slow progress

We were hoping the last of the spring rain had passed but we’ve had the wettest 31st October since records were kept.  There have been showers every day since which has played havoc with the plans for the patio.  The boxing has been installed and you can see I’ve been removing more turf one row at a time.  Well actually one row each day. <because I’m old>

No, I’m not going to hand mix it or even hire a mixer.  I last mixed large quantities of concrete 30 years ago and my old body wouldn’t cope with the task these days.

Whilst we wait for the rain to pass I decided to make some progress with the 4WD breather kit.  The first task was to run the vehicle up onto the steel ramps and then jack up the rear in order to get the rear axle on stands.

I’m quite safety conscious (mindful of my own mortality and you can see I’ve place a piece of hardwood timber behind each wheel to ensure the vehicle can’t roll back off the ramps.

The 3mm black tubing has been coiled for so long it was like a spring full of loops.  My plan was to soften the tubing in the warm sunlight and strung it between the trailer and frame of the swing.

Nice idea…. but it didn’t work!  Trying to feed the coiled tubing through the chassis was like wrestling with an octopus

It was going to be almost impossible to feed the tubing so I attached a length of blue ethernet cable to the end of the tube.  It was stiffer and easier to feed.

Red arrows for Pip on Oleanna!

The next step was to wriggle under the vehicle and start feeding the tubing through the chassis.  I don’t like being under the vehicle.  My close-up eyesight isn’t good and my podgy (stout) frame struggles in the confined space.   I need a more appropriately sized assistant.  Where are you Paul Balmer?

Eventually the tube was at the rear axle and I could see the original diff breather.  But only after I’d removed the spare wheel.  The original hose fitting into the diff came out rather easily and I was also able to remove the short breather hose without difficulty.

Old fitting with new fitting from the kit with the blue securing ring.

 

The original breather hose wasn’t very long.

Connecting and securing the new breather tube too some time.  It’s important to leave some slack in the tube as the axle will move up and down when the vehicle is travelling.

Axle connection (bottom arrow) and the tube was also connected to the original mounting bracket at the top.  I then had to remove all the slack in the tubing back to the engine bay.

This completed the rear axle breather.

Next step was to extend the gearbox breather.  Back under the vehicle <squeeze> and the first step was to remove the bash plate that protects the gearbox.  It is made from a type of plastic/fibre material rather than steel or aluminium.

Held in place by six bolts.  Some outback dust there!

Well I couldn’t find the gearbox breather <grrrr>.  i’m going to need to do more research.  The bash plate went back on and I made a start on the front diff and actuator box breathers,

I found them in the engine bay in front of the air filter box.

They are two breather hoses twisted double and secured with a cable tie.  The end is then wrapped in foam and plastic.  It seemed rather basic!  What I did was remove the plastic and foam before cutting the cable tie.  Next I spread some silicon glue on the end of the 3mm tubing and forced it inside the original breather tube before securing it with a plastic cable tie.

The tubing was then routed to the firewall and across the engine bay to my new breather mounting block.

I now need to find out about the location of the gearbox breather to complete the task.