Well, having successfully (though eventfully) changed the oil & filter
two nights ago, last night I felt sufficiently inspired to tackle some
other task. I hurried through the lawn mowing, so as to be able to
get the reversing lights working and try to bleed off the clutch
hydraulics. If successful, this would get me past one more hurdle
standing between my TR6 and a New Hampshire Inspection sticker...
In the process of working on the clutch and reversing harness, I also
managed to fix the temperature gauge, and find four minor mechanical
items that all work, but should really have attention (play in right
outer tire rod end, bent bracket connecting sway bar to right lower
wishbone, torn outer casing for a front brake line, and a torn outer
casing for the speedo cable...) Will I ever be able to fix something
on this car without noticing two additional things that need
attention!?!
Story follows for those that really want to know the details:
I bled my clutch hydraulics for the first time last night. Goodness,
is there ever an awful lot of sediment in the master cylinder. After
running almost a quart of new brake fluid through the system, the
fluid still comes out grey. Despite my best efforts, (and my wife,
who pushed that pedal more times than either of us can remember), the
slave cylinder pushrod travel has increased from barely less than 1/2"
to barely more than 1/2". This has helped a little, but I really
still need that extra 1/8" to get the travel up to the 5/8" TRF says
is necessary. After seeing all the gunk in the master cylinder, I'm
definitely going to clean it out. Since I'll need to take it off the
car to do that, I've decided to take the plunge and order the $8.95
rebuild kit to replace all the seals while I'm at it. (I think some
of that crud may be pieces of the seals...)
Temporarily stymied by the need for the clutch rebuild kit, I decided
to move on to the reversing lights. Before starting, all I really
knew was that the reversing lights did not work. The previous owner
found the gearbox harness in awful tatty shape when replacing the
clutch two months ago, so he had ordered a replacement harness from
Moss. I had this harness, along with about two other boxes of parts
left over from the PO. When I took a look at the parts last week, the
harness turned out to be an overdrive harness, not a reversing
harness, so I ordered the correct harness from TRF. The PO had also
replaced the reversing switch on the gearbox, so at least I didn't
have that to contend with.
The manuals I have all suggest removing the gearbox cover in order to
install the reversing harness, but I dreaded the thought of taking out
the seats, carpets, lower dash, and a dozen screws, and having to put
it all back together again, so I figured I'd try to do this leaving
the gearbox cover in place. First, I drilled the needed 1" hole in
the tranny cover (a fiberglass one from Moss bought by PO, with the
spot for the hole marked, but not drilled).
Put the car up on jackstands, found the reversing switch on the side
of the gearbox, and verified its operation with the multimeter.
Decided I could probably route the harness up over the transmission
without removing the cover, and managed to do so. (I guess the
gearbox cover removal is only really necessary for gearboxes with the
switch on the top, rather than on the side.) Put in the new grommet,
hook up the harness, and try it out. Nothing. Gearbox goes into
reverse, but no reversing lights.
Well, maybe the bulbs are just burnt out? Used the multimeter to
verify that the harness works, but still no lights. Time to go to the
back of the car and check the bulbs. One of the bulbs was
disonnected; reconnected it, and it worked fine! On to the other one.
Badly discolored, but looks ok. Test bulb & socket with the battery.
No good. Try discolored bulb in other socket: A-OK. Hmm, bad socket?
Check socket with multimeter, and find that the copper prong on the
socket to ground the bulb doesn't make good contact with the socket
frame. Grab parts catalog, and find out that a new socket costs
$13.95 from TRF! OK, where is that soldering iron? Manage to solder
the socket together well enough to work -- it probably will break
again when I hit a good bump. Maybe it will hold me over until TRF
runs a special on bulb holders, or at least through the NH state
inspection...
So, one more electrical problem fixed, the mechanical problems still
accumulating...
--ken
PS: I told you I'd generate more traffic as a TR owner, then as a
prospective buyer...
Kenneth B. Streeter | ARPA: streeter@sanders.com
Lockheed Sanders | UUCP: ...!uunet!sanders.com!streeter
PTP2-A001 |
65 River Road | Voice: (603) 885-9604
Hudson, NH 03051 | Fax: (603) 885-0631
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