Originally Posted by
S3ute
Hello again.
I’m still persevering with trying to extract the whole unit from the chassis without destroying the crossmember. As part of this I had another look from beneath the unit and managed to get a keyhole blade between it and the chassis tube to begin the laborious task of trying to clean the crud out from the sides. So far after two days I’m about 180 degrees around although the fit seems to be getting tighter from now and the diff partly interferes with the handle.
The alternative option remains of attempting to rebuild it in situ, as discussed before. So, I have a query for anyone who has done it.
The workshop manual has the rebuild starting from the bottom of the housing - hence an earlier question about the inner profile and whether the internal sides are parallel and without interference from top to bottom. Why I mention that is because there appears to be two common approaches to compressing the spring for insertion. One is the factory tool or a makeup copy, and the other is a couple of fabricated C clamps held in place by hose clips.
The first looks easier and safer, but I can’t see how it can be pressed into place from underneath without the handles fouling the crossmember, whereas it would be OK from the top.
The question - can you insert the spline, bushes, washers and spring from the top of the relay housing? Or must it be done from the bottom?
I haven’t pulled my relay apart yet, so don’t know what the inner profile looks like - the cut out diagram in the manual appears to show it as uniformly parallel sided.
Cheers,
Neil