PhilMeUp

Ask around and find a taxi workshop. They deal with this all the time. That's for rebuilding the power steering pump. The leak will be from were the hose bolts onto the back of the pump. There's an o-ring in the end of the hose that fails. But to get to the o-ring you have to chop up the metal part on the end of the hose and wreck it.

That's the problem - the o-ring isn't replaceable because you have to chop up the end of the hose to get to it. Ford updated the hose, but it's still expensive - around $200. There are aftermarket ones. If you're in Perth then stop by at Bianca Automotive in Angove St, North Perth and see what Steve's using these days. When power steering hoses are left to leak, the fluid drops on to the alternator and eventually wrecks that as well.

It's usually the o-ring in the end of the hose where it connects to the power steering pump. Check to make sure that there's nothing leaking onto the alternator - then it gets rather expensive.

Yep.

I've got the one Silver Argent for sale: http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/como/wheels-tyres-rims/fpv-19-silver-argent-wheel/1073259447 Also got a set of three wheels that were on the car when I bought. Only the three, though. Two have got good tyres, one is bald. They clear Brembos. I'm thinking $250 for the three.

Does the FG use the same front bearing hub as the BA & BF (ie AU22B663A)? If so, I've got a spare one at home you can borrow for a few days. Put it on and see if the noise goes away.

The diff takes 1.7L. Even buying it retail in 1L bottles is $30/litre. http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Castrol-SAF-XA-Limited-Slip-Rear-Axle-Oil-80W-140-1-Litre.aspx?pid=66663#Recommendations I'm curious... how did they manage to use up $81 of diff oil?

Yup, I'll grab 'em. Send me your number and I'll call on Sunday afternoon. What was the cost for all of that? Gotta be at least a few hundred there. Of course the mechanic is gonna be polite. It’s a BF Falcon - they are piss easy to work on. Take a European car and watch them fight out the back to see who loses and has to work on the car. I don’t get the bit about oversized ball joints. They’re all one size. The control arms don’t wear out. With 260,000km on the car, if it hasn’t had the front control arm bushes replaced then that will need doing very soon (ie now). Roadsafe bushes are cheap but Ford ones last longer. I get around 200,000km out of Ford ones and 100,000km out of Roadsafe ones. Roadsafe ball joints have lasted around 80,000km, but girlfriend’s taxi went through a set of lower ones in 38,000km last year. “Noise from front RH of vehicle.” Could be a front bearing hub. Find a quiet road, sit on 50-60 and swerve side to side to see if the noise alters. If it alters then it’s a front bearing hub. Do a search on eBay for part number AU22B663A. Borrow a 36mm socket from me if you haven’t got one. Do the job in my driveway and you can borrow my flashy torque wrench as well. “Suspect intermittent noise from belt or front pulley.” That will be the idle pulley or tension pulley (either a rattling or whining sound). Buy this, it will replace both pulleys and the drive belt: www.ebay.com.au/itm/121460979556 Very easy to fit at home. The cooling fan comes out after removing two bolts (10mm head). Just don’t forget to plug in the power cable when re-assembling (common). A 3/8 ratchet plugs into the tension arm to rotate it to allow removal of the belt. Wheel alignment: I take my taxis to Wilkinson Suspension in Bayswater. Adjusting the camber involves putting spacers between the ball joint bracket and car body. A camber kit won’t be required unless enough spacers are required to use up the available thread on the bracket bolts. Suspension places will have plenty of experience with this. Also to do: check the engine mounts and transmission mount. Engine mounts are around $100 each for normal 6s (BA6B032A) and around $150 each for Turbo engines (BA6B032C).

I've got this 19" FPV Silver Argent wheel for sale. Someone contacted me, claiming that it's a fake imitation. My understanding was that the genuine FPV rims have got the FPV logo on one of the spokes, whereas the aftermarket copies don't have the FPV logo anywhere. Thus, I figured that this wheel is genuine. Yes? No? Is there a definite rule for identifying the genuine rims?

Yeah, I'll happily grab 'em. With the Brembo setup on my taxi, I like to keep spare stuff lined up, for "just in case". ie spare set of matching wheels (on the Tornado). Spare front and rear discs. Spare brake pads. Call or SMS me on 0418 922 500 and I'll come pick 'em up. They'll go in the shed and possibly never get used, but I need to make sure that the taxi can stay on the road every day.

Tyres: I've been using Neuton NT5000 tyres for the last few years, but the importer stopping bringing them in a while ago. So, I tried a set of Achilles 2233s. They were ok, but fairly slippery in the wet. Wet weather traction is what I'm after. I was going to try another Neuton tyre but my tyre guy was strongly recommending a new tyre that's recently come out - Federal AZ01. I paid $560 for a set of four 235/40R18s. It pissed down rain on both weekend nights last weekend. Damn, they are good in the wet. Excellent traction - as good as, or better than, the Neuton NT5000. There was some intense... testing... It took a good belting of the Brembos to get the ABS to kick in and the wagon cornered well (ie no sliding out sideways around corners). Very relieved. I've just set up a second taxi and the Federal AZ01 will be going on both of them from now on. I'll have to put the taxi up on bricks on a wet weeknight, put the Federals on the FPV Tornado and see how they handle the higher output on wet roads.

Well sh*t, look at that... I got it wrong. Had to happen some day. I thought that the first photo was of the pipe that goes into the back of the water pump. It's an almost identical setup there. The second photo shows the area better. Dunno if the pipe on that side moves - it doesn't move on the water pump side, hence the water pump has to come out just to replace that ^%$# o-ring in the back of the water pump. Pretty sure that the BA setup will be the same as the BF.

That's the pipe that goes into the back of the water pump. I've replaced water pumps twice on BF Falcons. Absolutely hate it, and it's taken me hours each time. However, I've done it the hard way... ie without removing the power steering pump. There are holes in the power steering pump pulley - you poke a socket through those holes to undo the bolts holding the power steering pump in place. Remove the power steering pump and the job becomes a whole lot easier. There is an o-ring that goes on the end of that pipe, where it goes into the water pump. Because the pipe is metal and won't move, you have to remove the water pump just to get to that &^%$# o-ring. I bought a pulley-puller gadget to use the next time I try that job, but haven't used it yet (ie to remove the pulley on the front of the water pump). Don't forget to get a new gasket for the water pump. You'll have a ton of fun peeling off the old gasket. Next time I do it I'll probably get carried away and remove the radiator and front bumper just so that I can get better access. Evil, nasty job. Might help: http://pdftown.com/ford-ba-falcon-2002-2005-service-manual/

What happened to the old discs? Keeping or selling them?

I found a cheap Dremel secondhand so bought it to see if it would be any better for cutting off the collars. I used a Dremel 1-1/4" Fiberglass Reinforced Cut-off Wheel that came with the Dremel. Although the Dremel was working fairly hard, the thin cutting disc cut through the collar quite easily. I was barely half way through when the collar cracked. This was fairly easy - the collar slid away. I then tried cutting through the bearing cage. The Dremel got through this easily enough. Once I cut through the outer rings, I was able to lever them off with a screwdriver. This left the inner ring to remove. I tried cutting through and removing the axle seal. Before doing this, I cleaned away the metal filings. The last remaining part of the old bearing was the inner bearing ring. I tried cutting through this with the Dremel, but also nicked the end of the axle. However, the Dremel cut through the ring quite easily. Once I cut through the inner ring and removed it, I could see the mark where I had cut through too far. However, the axe is still useable. You can also see the markings where previous mechanics have used a hammer and chisel to smash off previous old bearings. The ring slid off before I had cut entirely through it. This would have been because of the heat generated by the cutting disc. However, the Dremel cutting disc did wear down quite rapidly. These discs are cheap enough - less than $10 for a pack of 5. As mentioned earlier, the collar cracked shortly after I started cutting through it. Conclusions so far: - Using a press to remove the collar is difficult because of the amount of force required. Pushing the axle downward that hard makes it very hard to balance with a bearing separator and metal plates. - Cutting the collar off with an angle grinder and cutting disc is suitable, although that requires a lot of concentration and balance to ensure that the ABS rotor doesn’t get touched. I found that putting the axle in the press (I don’t have a bench and vice) and holding the angle grinder against my chest helped me to be precise with the grinder. - The Dremel was working hard to cut through the collar, but it did get it done quickly and easily. I would probably do it this way in future, even if it was just to ensure that I didn’t damage an ABS rotor with an angle grinder (I’m clumsy). - Removing the inner bearing shell is best done with the press, although it could be done with a Dremel and some precise co-ordination. - I used a Dremel 3000 this time, but bought a secondhand Dremel 4000 since doing this. The 4000 is more powerful, and should be able to cut through the collars easily.

My attempts at using the press to remove the bearing collar had been clumsy. It requires a huge amount of force to remove the collar, and I don’t have the right metal offcuts to hold the axle up with the bearing separator whilst pushing the axle downward with the press. Why not just cut the collar off, like everyone else does? Because I had been trying to do the entire job in such a way that I could do it late at night (ie no noise, meaning no power tools). I’ve got several spare sets of axles these days, which means that I can prepare them for future use in the daytime and then press new bearings on at night. Time to have a go at cutting the collars off. I bought two cutting discs - a 100mm one and a 115mm one. It turned out that the 115mm disc was too big to cut the collar without also cutting into the ABS rotor, so I ended up using the 100mm disc instead. The cutting disc cut through the collar easily enough. I cut through as far as I could but the collar wouldn’t break loose, so I made a second cut. This photo shows just how close the 100mm disc gets to the ABS rotor, and why the 115mm disc is too big. All it takes is one brief contact between the cutting disc and the ABS rotor, and the ABS rotor becomes useless. The cutting disc also doesn’t quite cut through the entire bearing cage. I bought a pair of Trojan 200mm bolt cutters from Bunnings sometime ago. At $9.98 they were cheap enough to put aside for possible future use. It turned out that they are very good for cutting off the outer bearing cage. I was able to dismantle the bearing cage, piece by piece. That left the bearing inner ring and the collar. As I had been unable to remove the collar so far, it was time to try a hammer and chisel. This broke the collar open and I was able to slide it away. There was a mark left on the axle where I had cut through too far. Then I used the press to remove the inner bearing ring. This is still very frustrating to get set up - it’s difficult to get everything to stay balanced before getting the press pushing down on top of the axle. I’ll need to get some metal blocks made up that are at least twice as thick (ie less inclined to fall over). My previous attempts to press the collar off had broken the bolts in the bearing separator. I bought some threaded rod to replace them, but that bent easily as well. The inner ring doesn’t require much pressure to remove. The problem is getting everything lined up and balanced first. I eventually ended up with two axles ready for new bearings to be pressed on. Before pressing the new bearings on I cleaned up the end plate and wheel studs with a drill and wire brush. I use a Josco 100mm Wheel Wire Brush. Once I had removed any rust the the axles were ready for new bearings to be pressed on. The two axles, ready to go into the car.

Last night it was time to replace the rear axle bearings on my taxi. They started making noise on the weekend, so I wanted to get that fixed promptly. I removed the collar from the first axle and then tried attacking the bearing cage with some pliers. It took some frustration and cursing, but I finally managed to remove the bearing cage and roller bearings. This was time consuming and cumbersome, but now that I could see the axle shaft I could make sure that I didn’t over-tighten the bearing separator and scratch the axle when I removed the inner ring. I wore disposable rubber gloves when removing each axle from the car, and then wiped up and down the axle shaft with a rag to get the diff oil off it. This minimised putting oil on everything else that I handled. I made sure that I had plenty of spacers in place so that I didn’t repeat my previous stuff-up of pushing the axle through and bending the cross beam on the press. I also put a rag under the axle to minimise the noise - when the collar slides loose the axle drops down suddenly and makes a bunch of noise on the cross beam - it was after midnight, so I was trying to do this quietly. Pressing the collar off is a bit intense. Pressure builds up as the press is pumped and then the collar just snaps loose. It makes a loud popping noise when this happens, followed by a bunch more noise when the axle drops down, falls over and sends itself and spacers flying everywhere. I’m going to stick with removing bearings during the daytime - it’s too frustrating trying to do this quietly late at night. One of my failed attempts at removing the bearing cage without making noise. By now I was starting to understand why mechanics put the axle in a vice and then just destroy the bearing with a hammer and chisel. Removing the bearing cage quietly really isn’t the way to do this... Stuff it - just put the axle back in the press and use that to push the bearing off. The trick is to get the separator in the right place, and tight enough to get behind the bearing inner ring but not so tight that it’s scraping against the axle. You can see in this photo the marks left on the axle when someone else has previously used a hammer and chisel to smash the bearing off. My techniques have been much slower than using a hammer and chisel, but they also mean not damaging the axle any further.

After spending a bunch of time messing around with learning all this stuff it was time to put it to actual use. I was trying to remove one of the back wheels on my girlfriend’s taxi last week and one of the rear wheel studs snapped off. I knew that it was going to be relatively time consuming to fix, but this was what I had been learning about recently. I used the press to remove the collar and bearing, and then levered the ABS rotor off with a crowbar. I also used the press to make sure that the new wheel stud was pushed in properly. I would normally use a hammer initially, and then tighten the wheel nut extra tight later on to pull the wheel stud through, but this way I knew it was done early on and pressed in as far as it could go. This is what comes in the Timkin 2985 bearing kit that I used. There’s the seal, the bearing and the collar. I previously mentioned a Timkin 4827 kit - I don’t yet know what the difference is (if any). I had trouble getting the ABS rotor to slide back into place on the axle, so I heated up the inner ring with a propane torch. It still wouldn’t go on, so I ended up pressing it on with the press. Finally, it was time to do an actual job with the press and push the bearing and collar into place. I put a metal spacer on top to ensure that force was spread evenly on the hub, and that nothing would get dented or damaged. A couple of months ago I removed some axles from a wagon and took them to the workshop so that I could see how they do it. They were using a 50 ton press with a pressure gauge, and I asked the mechanic how much pressure to use. He said to go to 10 to 15 ton, so I figured I’d go roughly half way with 12 ton. The gauge on the new press was extremely useful, and meant that a novice like me could do this without applying too little or too much pressure. This side-on photo shows why I had to go through all this just to replace one broken wheel stud. To remove the broken stud the ABS rotor must come off. To remove the ABS rotor the seal, bearing and collar must come off. I had tried to press the bearing off so that I could use it again, but the bearing cage bent out of shape as soon as I applied force with the press. Here you can see where the ABS sensor is, and how it is positioned over where the ABS rotor will go. There is the clip that holds the handbrake shoes against the backing plate - when that clip is bent outward the handbrake shoes can move around and make some odd noises. I’ve also made sure that I’ve cleaned the ridge inside the axle tube before I put the axle back in. There was also a bunch of grime around the axle tube area from a previous axle seal leak, so I put some kerosene on a rag and wiped that around to get the grime off. I then took the car for a test drive and was pleased to find no strange or alarming noises. I got it right. This test drive was also to warm up the diff oil, which I changed when I got back. Success!

I knew there's a reason why I've got utes and wagons... leaf spring back ends = easy to maintain. Taxis - cheap and easy to maintain takes priority over comfort around corners.

It'll be a 15mm head. Could be a stuffed washer. Good excuse to do a diff oil change. Make sure that you can remove the fill bolt before you drain it - pretty sure it's a 10mm allen key. Bondhaus make a nice long one that gives good leverage. If you really had to, you could remove the drain bolt, bold a thumb over the hole and fit a new washer to the bolt with your free hand. Diff oil: I use Penrite Pro Gear 80-140. It's expensive and heavy duty, but does the job well and doesn't require any additives.

Check/tighten the drain bolt?

I was looking at renting a particular house many years ago. It was owned by a police couple. I spoke with the wife. She said that she'd had problems getting rid of the previous tenant, so she had a chat with the plain clothes guys and they did an early morning raid & search. I didn't end up renting that house.

I'm not a golf person either, but at last it involves sinking something in a hole, which is surrounded by the lawn that has been mowed.

Or a nice bit of trolling. Having compared AFL to a mardi-gras, the next time the passenger is watching an AFL game he/she will think, "dammit, that arsehole taxi driver was right, this does look a bit like a mardi-gras." AFL doesn't even have female cheerleaders. AMA Supercross. They get to hang out with some cheerleaders before going home with their hot wives and girlfriends. Hell, yeah.

People get into my taxi, see a big white guy driving and assume that I'm into AFL. Them: "What's your favourite AFL team?" Me: "Nah, not my thing. I'm hetro." Them: "What?" Me: "I'm hetro, so I'm not into AFL." Them: *Confusion.* Me: "AFL football - you've got 36 adult grown men, running around in this wide open space, in boots, hairy legs, skimpy shorts and multi-coloured tops. That's not a game, it's a f*cking mardi-gras. Bunch of faggots hugging and kissing each other. I'm hetro, so I'm not into that queer sh*t." Them: Speechless. Can't argue with logic. I've just turned their favourite thing into a mass act of homosexuality with logic that you can't argue against. Great fun. Them: "So, you're a rugby person, then?" Me: "Nah, that's even more gay. 8 guys... helping 4 guys... push 2 guys' heads... up one guy's arsehose."