Rover 25 - Inlet Manifold Gasket Failure: Part Two - replacement gasket fitted

Even less to say here. And due to the inclement weather, no pictures. This afternoon I fitted a new gasket (from Rimmer Bros). Before fitting, I cleaned up the manifold and the head round the ports. I think the engine has had some K-Seal or something in it because the tiny wobble valve on the manifold was choked up with a copper-coloured slime. Anyway, I cleaned it all up and got the car started. No leaks and the car seems to be running a lot better. Presumably this is because there's no water penetrating into cylinders 1 and 4 during the combustion cycle. Time will tell whether this gasket was the problem, or one of several problems...

More soon, no doubt...


D

Technika LCD32-270 - flickering screen (Part Two) Fixed

I fixed this TV that had the flickering screen. The five capacitors which feed the 24v back-light were failing with the result that the screen was rapidly flickering. The new capacitors came from CPC and removing the old ones and fitting the new ones was very straightforward. I'm not doing a blow by blow account but there are some photos below showing the new caps in situ and the TV now working (its the one on the floor with the blue screen :))

More soon, no doubt...

D.

Technika LCD32-270 - flickering screen (Part One)

Got a new project from my friend with the Rover; a Tesco "Technika" TV suffering from a flickering screen. I said I'd take a look. On opening it up, I can see three of the five capacitors on the 24v channel are all bulging. The three that have failed are 35v 470uf. The other two are 35v 220uf. All five are "F-Con" brand. I'm not sure how old the TV is but I don't think its an ancient one. Anyway, I'll swap all five for something decent from CPC and hopefully that will resolve it.

The tear-down (once I'd taken the stand off so I could lie the TV flat on the floor) was straightforward - just 17 phillips head screws. Note the five screws near the middle/bottom are machine screws whereas the rest are self-tappers. Then just remove the heatsink cover from the right bank on the PSU and hey presto - blown capacitors in all their glory.

I'll order the bits from CPC and do a fresh post for the repair.

More soon, no doubt...

D

Rover 25 - Inlet Manifold Gasket Failure: Part One

A friend's Rover 25 had developed a coolant leak. There was nothing visibly leaking but the level in the expansion tank would drop from time to time and the car would cut-out if running, or would be difficult or impossible to start. The temptation with these cars is to assume head gasket failure (HGF). However, aside from the coolant loss, there were none of the other symptoms usually associated with HGF. A quick browse of the internet got me to this site here.

So, today I removed the inlet manifold. This wasn't particularly difficult. The main problem was getting access to the four lower 13mm nuts. Even so, my small 1/4 inch ratchet set with a couple of short extension bars managed the job nicely. The photos below show, I believe, clear signs of water ingress into the ports for cylinders 1 and 4. The gasket itself was squashed and perished. We've ordered a new one and weather permitting, I'll be fitting it next weekend.

More soon, no doubt...

D

Hairbows....

This is just a quick advert for my partner's site. She makes the most delightful hairbows. Her online shop is full of them:

She's also got a "market night" coming up on Facebook. Click here to get the details and join in! 



More soon, no doubt... D.

Kenwood dishwasher fun (KDW12ST3A): Part Six (IT'S FIXED!!!)

Yes indeed :)

Today I took delivery of my new-old-stock pump - £30 delivered from ebay. I'm not actually sure its precisely the right pump because it is visibly different to the pump on the machine. Plus there's no space on the impeller housing for the half load solenoid. Nevertheless, the piping all fits, as does the wiring, so I lashed it in tonight, after my tea.  I've opened up the dishwasher so frequently that the whole job of swapping the pumps over (from disconnection to re-connection of the water main), took little more than 10 minutes. The dishwasher is now on its longest (and hottest) cycle and I've chucked in a bottle of cleaner, just to get rid of the soily smell that had developed over the past few months.

I'm very pleased to have my dishwasher back. Total cost:

New controller - £80
New heater element - £18
New pump - £30
Switches and other bits - about £10

Total: £138

I'm going to put the old controller on ebay - they seem to be going for about £30 so I might be able to recoup some of my costs.

Either way, my outlay is far cheaper than buying a new dishwasher. And since I've replaced all the important bits, I've basically got a new dishwasher. I've also learned plenty about dishwashers. This additional "string to my bow" is priceless.

The photos below are the new pump. It's definitely a Welling YXW50. I'm thinking that the correct pump is actually the YXW65 but, really, I don't actually care :)

More soon (but hopefully not about this dishwasher...)

D.

EDIT (20 August 2020) - well, we're almost five years on from this repair and I'm pleased to say that the dishwasher is still working fine :)

EDIT (15 March 2024) - Almost nine years now and still fine (apart from the door latch and spray arm which needed replacing per my more recent posts) :)