Monday 13 June 2016

30 months after build and some maintenance

So its been 9 months since my last blog post, and 30 months since the Zero has been on the road. My first MOT is due in November and as the British summer has arrived with torrential rain and thunder storms with the forecast to remain the same for the rest of the week, thought it was time to go over a few issues with the Zero in the garage this week.

List as follows...

1. Fit wipers and motor ( been meaning to do this for a long time, but every time I try its been nice weather and my thinking was ...  don't need wipers today, and ending up going for a blat instead. )

2. Fix the ground issue. ( loose rivnut so not making ground all of the time)

3. Handbrake warning light ( take a look at the switch )

4. fit a map selector switch to the ECU, ready for emissions map and MOT

5. Rear fog light not working ( MOT )

6.  Replace reversing lens ( dropped heavy box on it while in the garage, needs a new one for MOT )

7. Oil and filter change

8. Replace a bolt in the steering wheel quick release boss. somehow its missing ?

9. Load emissions map into ECU and test before MOT

10. Nut and Bolt check across whole of the build, including visual inspection around all fluid areas.

11. Possible brake fluid replacement and bleed system, ( see how time goes ? could have to wait till another time ?)

After a slow start to Sunday morning ( seriously heavy rain ! ) Alex and myself made it to the garage. Within no time we had the dash, centre console, transmission tunnel cover, and bonnet off. 1st job, fix the ground point, decided to drill a new hole all the way through the cross member running underneath where the ECU is situated, remove some of the powder coating and drop in a nut, bolt, and washers with some copper grease to hold the earth straps. This way we are not relying on just the friction of the rivnut to make contact with the ground, but a larger surface area of the washers to the chassis with the removal of the powder coating.

Picture shows... New earth/ground point, next too the dodgy rivnut setting. for some reason the bolt was just spinning inside the rivnut and would not come out, so we just left it in. The nut behind the new bolt is a nylock.




Plugged back in the dash loom for a quick check, and this time everything looked good with headlights on and off, which is how we noticed an earth problem in the first place. ( see early blog posts )

Now onto the handbrake warning light, for some reason 2 weeks ago the handbrake light would not go out after disengaging the handbrake ? then a couple of miles down the road it went out ? this was intermittent for the past 20 miles or so.
So with the transmission tunnel cover off we could get to the switch for further investigation. After a few minutes of testing with the multimeter we found the switch was working fine, and there was a signal from the switch to the loom and to the dash, also that the switch was working with the handbrake perfectly, but still the light was on ? .... Time to consult the wiring diagram.

After several minutes found the problem... written on the wiring diagram for the warning light it said "Handbrake warning light/brake fluid warning light" A quick check of the brake fluid reservoir found that it was a little low ? ... hence the intermittent light going on and off as we went round corners. Topped it up with approx 30ml of brake fluid and hay presto the light went out. Problem solved or is it ?  Where was the brake fluid disappearing too ?

After a check of the braking system we found the leak, a small amount of brake fluid was on the rear diff, and a feel around the brake pipe joint  above it showed it was coming from the brake light switch. This was "nipped up" about half a turn, we also cleaned up the leaked brake fluid and shall watch closely for any further leaks from this area.

With the centre console off we found a place for the "ECU map selector" switch, just a 10mm hole was needed, then to trim down the length of the stork so that the knob would fit flush. this job quick and easy.


Picture shows...  "ECU map selector" switch on the side of the centre console.



Fog light not working... removed the lens to check the lamp, all good, then Alex checked the spade connectors... one loose, tightened up, now lamp is working. Another quick fix.

Now for the wiper motor and under dash assembly. Basically a pain to fit ? the motor and assembly where on and off several times for measuring, cutting, fitting, and flaring of the protection tubes of the worm drive. This took a couple of hours in all, and hopefully worth it in the end. However I still need to double check the direction of the motor with another Zero before fitting the arm and blades. I had by accident fitted an arm to the spline top just to see how it assembled... wish I hadn't as it took forever to get apart and it was only a push fit ! If the direction of the worm drive and motor are wrong the whole thing has to come off, and the motor gear box has to be taken apart to turn over one of the cogs, before reassembly. Full instructions are given for this with the wiper motor, however I am hoping not to do this, as with my luck it'll never work again !... my brain is now fried, can't think straight.


Picture shows... Wiper gear heads, and screen wash jets in place...




Picture shows...  Wiper motor location, showing worm drive without protective tubing, 1st dry fitting of several !





That's it for today, time has got the better of us, so back on with the dash, and all the other panels, a tidy up and tools away. The Zero is road ready after these few jobs, but will continue with the list throughout this week.

More pictures to follow on the next update.