Idiot!
Put the new Optima battery in this evening, didn't pay attention to the fact that the terminals on this battery are the opposite way around i.e. with battery markings to front, +vs is D/S :-(
It was a few seconds before I realised that the sizzling noise was related to this in all likelihood.
Igtnition wasn't energised at the time and the vehicle starts, but I expect I have written off the alternator..though I can't think of anything else that would have been online. anyone had a similar experience? I can't believe I have made such a stupid error... very cross with myself :(
UPDATE: parking lights no longer work, no fuses blown anywhere which is not a good sign either; can't test alternator until tomorrow now.
What a stupid thing to have done.. my mind was on other things :(
Hi Ben
Might be an idea to change all the fuses, sometimes you can't see they have blown.
We all do stupid things from time to time....it's all part of the fun!!!
A short story to cheer you up..........
I was once restoring an old MGB Roadster for my brother, i was doing lots of welding underneath the car for weeks and we needed to move the front wheels around to get access into the inner wing to finish the sill repairs. They would not move for love nor money by pushing with my hands (vehicle was 6ft in the air) so took the wheels off and tried again, nothing, pry bar and everything were employed to try to turn the damn things. It suddenly came to me that the first week or two of welding we had forgotten to take the battery off the car, after a week or so more of head scratching we had convinced ourselves that due to the MIG welder being earthed through the body shell and the battery being on we had somehow fused / welded both the king pins together, we had even dropped the track rods off by this point to see if it was just one side we had welded together. We resigned ourselves to the expensive mistake and went about preparing to strip the stub axles off the car and deciding which parts we might need to order to rebuild it. About 11pm one Friday evening we decided to walk away in disgust at our stupidity and reconvein that Sunday morning, fresh and revived ready to strip the front suspension. The car was in my brothers garage at the time and when i arrived on the said Sunday morning he was looking rather smug, not the expression on his face i had expected after having to potentially fork out £200+ for new parts for my cock up. When i walked in the garage the wheels were back on the car and were at the required angle for me to continue welding? My thoughts immediatly fell to my poor brother, that must have felt so guilty about all the dozens of hours i had spent welding this mint!?! car up and setting fire to my self numerous times, that he had been on the Saturday to the MG specialist and bought all the parts and spent the rest of the day stripping and rebuilding the front suspension so that we could carry on welding on the Sunday morning. No wonder he looked smug. When i asked how long it had taken him to rebuild it and what parts he had needed, he just laughed at me and grinned a nervous grin!!! By this time i was most confused.............
His next action confused me some more, as he threw me the ignition keys.........yes you guessed.......
THE F****** STEERING LOCK WAS ON, as he had removed the keys when he had put it 6ft in the air on the ramp
"JUST INCASE ANYBODY DECIDE TO NICK IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
This highly desireable, rotten car, 6ft in the air, with no sills, no floor, no wings, no interior,no bonnet,no boot lid or much else.....
So Ben...........you live and learn, just don't make the same mistake twice!!!!!!!!!
Gav
Love the "JUST INCASE ANYBODY DECIDE TO NICK IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Part! LOL
Love it Gav...dont have time to list all my stupid acts with motors but was reminded of a couple....
....welding a cill on a car years ago ,left the workshop for a piss ,came back and she were burning well...ALSO you [ I ] never learn...welding my project G and went outside to use phone....on my return we had a fair little blaze going ,thankfully localised project saved for yet another day ...
Aye we all make mistakes.. but given the simple nature of your beast it may have done nothing; time and testing can only tell.
Worst one I had .. was gas welding up a petrol Marina Van for a shepherd after my step brother rolled it on a forestry road (so secondhand roof .. and weld up the rest of van as it was missing due to rust). Floor pan needed a few patches so looked underneath for the petrol/brake lines.. see a line and think ..ah they are over there (i.e. far away from my welding). Well welding away and suddenly a wee fire ball in the footwell I am welding in .. staggered out blinded after putting out wee fire. A nice trim to hair on arm, head, jumper etc (eye brows saved by gas googles). Learn that day.. one line is not enough lines; the petrol line was a plastic one that ran inside the floor pan top hat/chassis that I was welding over.
Coincidentally, she was booked for a pre MOT MOT (go through the motions withouth actually 'doing' the test) anyway today and I had booked a couple of hour in with the workshop (a friend of mine owns the place so rates a good!) just to have them give it all a once over (given the extensive nature of the work I figured that was sensible).
I asked their electrical tech guy to go over it as part of this and its all clear (relief!) other than for the unfortunate alternator which had the diodes cooked as expected. Ignition circuit incomplete and simple electrics was the saviour in this instance as it meant that nothing else was able to make a circuit back and so no current flowed!
Much happier this evening that I was last night. And for the most part, got a good report on the work and state of the vehicle.
The downside was a MOT fail on draglink gaiter (expected, a typical item at this age I know) and exhaust downpipe/ rear box which again I knew about and was on my list to re-do as a side exit stainless number.
Thinking that that drag link + arm + tie rod is better to replace as a complete unit because of issues with EPC errors and handed threads I've read about?
There is also a question mark next to fuel pipe (solid) corrosion with leak - need investigating because the 'leak' might just be fuel left over from my extensive testing for fuel lock last weekend (undid the fuel tank send and return to make sure I had the right way around).
Were the worst to be the case and I needed to replace the lines, any idea what they run to? I might just go the Cupro-nickel route suggested by a recent thread if MB are expensive
I paid around £14 for genuine fuel line from MB. About 3 metres.
If there isn't any actual play in the joint I'd just get some new boots off ebay.
Russ
Ah, so the MB fuel lines don't come as complete, ready to install lines i.e. flared ends etc?
I didn't speak to the technican re. Drag link and you might be right re play in which case I'll do exactly that :-)
"Ah, so the MB fuel lines don't come as complete, ready to install lines i.e. flared ends etc?"
No. Bit rubbish really, if you don't have a bending and flairing tool you can only replace the straight length that goes in to the hoses. Guess thats why it appears to be a bargain.
Russ
Play and some corrosion in both tie bar crimped end and drag link the same MB quoting £400 for complete units.
Also learned a good lesson about nickel/copper slip and torque for wheel bolts which on 2 of my rears were suprisingly loose after just 20M today.. A while ago I'd been in a pub discussion with someone about use of it on wheel bolts and just on the spur of the moment used it when I put the bolts back on.. Last time though.. I'll go back to unlubricated wheel bolts base on this experience.
Hi
Steering Drag Link A463 460 01 05 £255.00 + VAT
Tie Rod A460 330 17 03 £156.00 + VAT
If the Tie Rod is the original you will also need a bracket A460 463 11 40 £48.00 + VAT as it is different for this later rod but i would guess that it isn't so you could leave this, but you know what the issue is if it don't fit!
You should be able to get about 15% of these retail prices
Give me a shout if you need help
Gav
I quite like the idea of these because you can change the ends cheaply if it ever goes again without changing the whole tie bar......
http://www.gfg-shop.de/shop/product_info.php?info=p150_-Lenkstange-HD-Me...
http://www.gfg-shop.de/shop/product_info.php?info=p151_-Spurstange-Merce...
If i ever need to do mine i think i may replicate the idea using these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-Tie-Rod-End-Drag-Link-End-G-Class-LEF...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-Tie-Rod-End-Drag-Link-End-G-Class-RIG...
HTH
Steve
Thanks Gav, bracket I have is for newer rod so probably won't need. I'll give you a shout if I get stuck :-) thanks as usual!
Hi Steve, thanks for the heads-up.
I was actually thinking that it might be an idea to have both drag and tie fabricated to allow exactly this. At this price though, maybe I'll go with these.
That said, speaking to a MB tech today, he was going on about some kind of legislation in respect of fitting non OEM in steering parts being a VOSA/ MOT failure? I didn't stop to debate it with him, but TBH, I haven't heard anything that suggests there is any current EU or UK legislation in this regard? Can't see how it would be enforceable anyway.
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Brilliant!
So easy to do these thigs.. It was quite late last night and I was in a rush to join my wife for dinner.. The Optima battery has the poles the oppposite way around (label has to go at back consequently) to the regular battery and I was just not concentrating...
Good news is that this morning a review shows that its just the alternator that is cooked.. parking/ side lights do work and nothing else touched (keys out of ignition helped I think). I still have the original alternator (the cooked one was a specially re-built 90amp unit), so not all is lost and the new one can be rebuilt again anyway.
Lesson learned! Have a good day everyone!