Club126UK

Fiat 126 Chat => Fiat 126 Mechanical Problem Solving => Topic started by: Rusty's Uncle on October 01, 2011, 09:11:04 PM

Title: 'ere we go again !
Post by: Rusty's Uncle on October 01, 2011, 09:11:04 PM

Not a scene I was looking forward to but after my engine & gearbox disasters on the Retro Rides weekend it was engine then gearbox out this morning. Got a good gearbox preped and ready to go & hope I have sorted the original 126 engine as I described elsewhere. The engine looks as rough as old boots but I want the car running and hope it will get me through the winter so I can pop something sweet back in next year  :D
Two MOTs due and a dying gearbox on the 500 so plenty to do  ::)

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: Rusty's Uncle on October 02, 2011, 09:04:47 PM

After taking less than 3 hours to remove the engine then the gearbox which included breaks to watch a bit of live rugby and have a coffee or two. I thought that I would move the job on a bit today. The offside drive coupling was well past it's best so got a socket on it with my big torque wrench. Even with the handbrake hard on the wheel turned and pushed the ramp back. So blocked it with a lump of wood then the wheel just spun on the ramp rather than the nut loosen. Tried leaning on the back of the car to add  weight and had a 1 metre tube on a 1/2" tee bar . The tee bar is now bent like a banana. I found that removing the torque adjustor from the wrench allowed me to get the tube over it as an extension. Then put a strong strap through the wheel and around the ramp. It worked but this has got to be one of the hardest jobs to do on a 126 or 500  :o
Dug a very good coupling out of my my shed , just about to fit it then found one of the bolts had been sheared in it  >:(
So much drilling and cursing and finaly sorted with a "simple" job that took about another 3 hours.

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: Rusty's Uncle on October 05, 2011, 04:54:37 PM

Started to refill that big gapeing hole in the back of the old motor today  :D
All went well then then I got things cleared up then realised that I had not staked the nut on the drive shaft after fitting the flex coupling ! Oh well 2 steps forward half a step back  :$

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: GTMaster on October 05, 2011, 09:28:44 PM

Nice and clean  :) What's that shiny cylinder on the left (fuel line runs into it as i see it) in the engine bay?
Also thought i'd ask, as you changed the half axle rubber boots/bells, is whether or not there is  a seperate half axle seal or as i know it, it's inside the rubber boot...

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: nrg19uk on October 05, 2011, 10:45:59 PM

Goto subscribers section click the air-cooled
Then click the fiat 126 air-cooled workshop manual at the bottom(put in password and username)
Then click transmission differential

Diagram 274.01 is what your looking for ;-)

Someone may post up the image

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: GTMaster on October 06, 2011, 08:02:02 PM

Hi,
I can't access the subscribers section but thanks for the tip. I have a service manual which shows something of a half shaft seal but when i first pulled the gearbox apart it didn't have them fitted. As i saw it it's in the rubber but i could be wrong....

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: Rusty's Uncle on October 11, 2011, 03:32:59 PM

The shiney cylinder is an oil catch tank with all the bits & bobs. I fitted it because the engine I just had to take out after only a couple of hundred miles had the air filter section removed. There were a couple of unused studs on the left side of the engine bay and along with the studs on the air ducting I could fit the whole lot using those mounts.
I did not change the inner boots as they were in good condition but I know what you mean about those hard inner seals as I have removed some in the past.
So inspired by the morning sunshine and after getting the starter motor & gearbox mounts in place yesterday I rolled out the scruffy original engine and gave it a bit of a clean.

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: Rusty's Uncle on October 12, 2011, 08:42:55 AM

I find lifting a complete engine a bit beyond me these days so I had to get my little helper out. It is a folding tripod that I made way back in my Austin Healey Sprite days fitted with a little Haltrack Hoist (do they still make these?). It is about 10 feet long but folds right down and would fit inside a 5" tube.
So wheel barrow to car, hoist onto engine, lift and "hey presto" engine popped onto gearbox nicely.

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: stuey on October 12, 2011, 09:45:57 AM

nice work- looks like you parked your car in a teepee.  :D

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: KAL SPL on October 12, 2011, 10:22:59 AM

That looks very awkward , Im glad I have a 2 post hoist in my shed :)

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: Rusty's Uncle on October 13, 2011, 08:36:55 AM

Got everything connected but have left all of the engine and gearbox mounts loose at the moment. The last couple of times I fitted engines and gearboxes I could never seem to get the gearbox mounts sitting square and they always looked under stress. So I thought I would let the engine run like this to see if the engine & box would settle into a comfortable position then tighten it all up.
Got the engine fired up and let it just tick over, had what I thought was the usual oil ,etc burning off the exhaust then I realised that the smoke was getting worse then noticed that oil was getting sprayed all around the rear of the engine bay, in my face and even up onto the rear window.  :o
I had fitted a new o-ring from a new gasket set in the centrifugal oil filter and it seemed a bit small to me but it went in OK and I added some sealant for good measure just in case. Well that obviously had not worked. Fortunately working from underneath I managed to remove the 6 bolts , bust open another gasket set and fit what is now the proper seal. All seems well now even if a little messy. So got some tightening to do then a road test later on I hope. One thing I discovered also is that there are 2 different engine mounts for the A/C 126s. I think that it is the earlier engines that have a fixed threaded hole in the plate that bolts onto the engine so no adjustment but the later ones have ahave a sliding nut arrangement to give a bit of forward/  backward movement.

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: Rusty's Uncle on October 14, 2011, 02:06:31 PM

 :D Now you have got to sing along with me on this one, a well known movie classic  :D

"Iv'e got gears , they're syncronising and the lever's in control but the power the engine's supplying , it's electrifying"

 ;D Well we can dream can't we ! But it is great to have the car back on the road albeit with a bog standard engine  ;D

"You better tune up cos I need a cam and my cylinders are two. You better tune up , you gotta understand that my MOT is Due"

All together now "You're the one that I love , OO , OO , OO"

Title: Seen the Light & singing the Blues !
Post by: Rusty's Uncle on October 17, 2011, 05:41:16 PM

OK so you did not want to sing along and the party is now over  :(
As mentioned on the "Gearbox Oil" thread my lovely gearbox has a whine on 4th gear which seems to be a 126 gearbox problem in some cases. The MOT expired on Saturday so went out for my last legal run & unknown to me got followed home by a strange bloke. As I parked up I heard a voice behind me "Hello I am not stalking you, I am Polish and have been in England for 9 years and not seen a 126 here"
So he wants to come back and take pictures to send to his folks. Seemed a decent guy but wow it was 10-30 am and I think that you could have used his vodka breath as a flame thrower if you had a match ;D
So I have seen the light, in fact too many lights. MOT now run out on my fairly recently aquired '81 De Ville so I have a single position light switch on the dash and a two position switch on the column so when you switch the lights on it goes straight to side with dip or main beam. No way of getting just side lights which is an MOT fail . HELP  :o
 

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: GTMaster on October 17, 2011, 06:39:04 PM

If the whining noise isn't too loud (i.e. unbearable) then it's fine as i have experienced. My earlier gearbox that got knackered was so loud that the whining noise only started to fade away above 90km/h and you could barely hear anything the other person said. Later 3rd gear went away then 4th and 2nd....
Have you tried to switch on the park lights without turning the ignition on to see if they work that way?

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: Pete126 on October 17, 2011, 06:47:23 PM

As Gt said without the ignition on you should have sidelights, with the ignition on (Engine running) the headlights come on at half power until you switch the lights to dip beam (This is Normal) :D

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: Rusty's Uncle on October 18, 2011, 07:12:16 AM

Ignition off , light switch on it goes staight to dip & side or main & side. Plugged in another column unit with a 3 position light switch , got side lights alone but it would not power dip & main so it could be knackered . Wasn't there a model with a 2 position switch on the dash ?  :)

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: GTMaster on October 18, 2011, 07:17:58 AM

There is a two position switch on my dashboard. Upwards for side lights, downwards for dip lights, however my column switch can only be pushed downwards and that is for the main lights/flash....

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: Rusty's Uncle on October 20, 2011, 05:08:43 PM

 ;D My "good luck" fairy came to my aid, well more of a Slovakian nancy boy really (lucky he has a sense of humour!) . He sent me a good two position switch with matching three position column switch from an '81 car. Too long a story but using those parts and rejigging the 3 wires in the harness terminal block I could only get side lights. So I have the wiring harness on the car, two dash switches and a choice of four column swithes. None of them are totaly compatible  :o
So after much testing with a meter on the 2 way switch and my wiring to see what does what and again moving the connectors in the harness block I have got to a position where dash switch up I have side lights, switch down I have dip & main (no side). Ignition on or off makes no difference.
But hoping that thanks to "Tinkerbell" I hope I have got a system that will pass the MOT, just the rest of the car to worry about  ::)
Posting picture of switches from back , a harness end connector & a small screwdriver. On the block you can push the end of the screwdriver into the front to remove & relocate the connector to one of the other 8 positions to match different switches. One way switch on left wth 5 terminals , on right two way with only 4 .

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: Rusty's Uncle on November 08, 2011, 12:04:17 PM

Thought that sorting out the lights would be easy but with the two position switch I found that it was not just the front side lights that went out on dip/main but all the rear lights as well. Got a matched dash and column switch from another generous forum member , ach eye the noo !, so set about it this morning. Testing & comparing dash switches I got a very high resistance reading from the "new" dash switch  :$
So got my brain into gear and checked what each wire did at the dash and what each contact did on the back of the two position switch. Rejigged some of the wires going into the connector block again plus added in a link to a previously unused contact and whoopee I have got lights. Nothing goes through the ignition so its up on the dash switch for side ,down for side & main with dip & main on the column . Not the way it should be but good enough for the MOT  :D

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: Rusty's Uncle on November 11, 2011, 01:22:13 PM

 ;D:D  ;D:D  ;D:D  ;D:D  ;D:D  ;D:D  ;D:D  ;D:D  ;D:D  ;D:D  ;D:D  ;D:D  ;D:D :o

PASSED THE MOT & NO ADVISORIES

So no need to  :cry: or change pants  ;D

Title: Re: 'ere we go again !
Post by: Emin on November 11, 2011, 09:41:54 PM

Congratulations Uncle! Well done!..