Thread: Frozen relay

Originally Posted by S3ute

Hello again from Sherwood.

Been travelling for a few weeks and not given much attention to the task at hand - until now.

I cleaned up the outside of the relay with a wire wheel and opened up the “drains” and stood it vertically to see what comes out. If nothing else, presumably some of the litre or so of the atf-distillate mix that I poured in from the top with an aim of freeing the innards.

Well, the quotation marks are appropriate in this instance because, after 72 hours, not a skerrick of any liquid substance has emerged. So, I’m puzzled as to what I’ll find when I gut it.

Now, that’s the next issue. Anecdote has it that I’ll be handling something akin to either a Mills bomb or Titan missile once the end caps are removed.

So my question of those with actual defusing experience is “how extreme a reaction will the spring give when the guts are pressed downwards below the point at which the lower tufnols are just holding it compressed”?

I’m aware that best practice (for survivors) is to wrap the butt end in a heavy bag or some such which I don’t happen to have. I’m thinking of a doubled over Army blanket and a garbage can to smother the reaction and collect the spring, washers, bushes etc.

Is that precaution enough?

If you’ve done it and lived - call me:

0419715234

Cheers,

Neil

Well Neil, one thing is for sure. If the world suddenly jumps to 15* off it's axis we will know it's out.

Sorry can't help with it's Explosive capabilities, when I "wanted" to change mine I was offered a 109 scrapper with a good one so I was able to swap it over with no dramas or hysterics. Still good today.


Bon Chance

Hello again from Sherwood.

No doubt the kinetic potential of these things might be a bit overstated. However, recalling those black and white range safety films from the 50’s that were a prelude to any live firing day at Singleton, I’m disinclined to not at least try to understand what I’m playing with.

Hopefully, more of a double happy than a tuppenny bunger. Or worse....

Cheers,

Neil

Originally Posted by S3ute

Hello again from Sherwood.

No doubt the kinetic potential of these things might be a bit overstated. However, recalling those black and white range safety films from the 50’s that were a prelude to any live firing day at Singleton, I’m disinclined to not at least try to understand what I’m playing with.

Hopefully, more of a double happy than a tuppenny bunger. Or worse....

Cheers,

Neil

Neil mate, it is only a compressed spring. What could possibly go wrong?

Originally Posted by 4bee

Neil mate, it is only a compressed spring. What could possibly go wrong?

See the earlier reference to Mills bomb.....

Cheers,

Neil

Originally Posted by S3ute

See the earlier reference to Mills bomb.....

Cheers,

Neil

If you are **** scared why not ask your neighbour to do it? Or better yet, so that you are not liable if the brown stuff hits the whirly thing try & get him to volunteer in a sneaky way. You know, get him to take pity on you for being a wuss.

Then shirley he'd be responsible for blasting his own chimney pot to pieces.

Hello again from Sherwood.

Happy to report that claims of my demise have been seriously exaggerated.

Not even a pop....

I removed the lower end cap as per the recommended procedure and then cloaked the end in a doubled over Army blanket held in place with a large hose clamp. Tap, tap, tapped the shaft with a heavy hammer and it released without much ceremony.

The splined shaft, tufnols, thrust and spacer washers don’t look too bad - nor the spring itself, although it is a bit shorter than the replacement. I’ll measure it later to see if it is still within the limits suggested by the workshop manual.

On observation, the end seals aren’t too flash but that’s not to say they wouldn’t still hold back lubricant. That’s untested as the relay didn’t seem to have a great deal of oil in it. There was some small amount of grease on the washers - possibly copper grease from an installation at some time. The PO might have done that at some time, but I had the impression that it hadn’t had much attention from the time the truck was built.

Re the lubricant - there was a small amount in the casing. Whether it had been dry prior to trying to free it with the atf/distillate mix or had some oil left is unclear. The shaft had jammed tight before I started messing around with it and it was still fairly tight after I ‘freed’ it up. Neither the conical surfaces of the shaft or the tufnols appear to be worn much and there is no obvious pitting on the surfaces. So, it obviously doesn’t take much to seize them.

Anyway, I’ll take a better look in due course before proceeding to reassemble the relay.

Friday - sundowners later. Yippee.

Another rite of passage down - albeit a quiet one.

Cheers,

Neil

Originally Posted by S3ute

Hello again from Sherwood.

Happy to report that claims of my demise have been seriously exaggerated.

Not even a pop....

I removed the lower end cap as per the recommended procedure and then cloaked the end in a doubled over Army blanket held in place with a large hose clamp. Tap, tap, tapped the shaft with a heavy hammer and it released without much ceremony.

The splined shaft, tufnols, thrust and spacer washers don’t look too bad - nor the spring itself, although it is a bit shorter than the replacement. I’ll measure it later to see if it is still within the limits suggested by the workshop manual.

On observation, the end seals aren’t too flash but that’s not to say they wouldn’t still hold back lubricant. That’s untested as the relay didn’t seem to have a great deal of oil in it. There was some small amount of grease on the washers - possibly copper grease from an installation at some time. The PO might have done that at some time, but I had the impression that it hadn’t had much attention from the time the truck was built.

Re the lubricant - there was a small amount in the casing. Whether it had been dry prior to trying to free it with the atf/distillate mix or had some oil left is unclear. The shaft had jammed tight before I started messing around with it and it was still fairly tight after I ‘freed’ it up. Neither the conical surfaces of the shaft or the tufnols appear to be worn much and there is no obvious pitting on the surfaces. So, it obviously doesn’t take much to seize them.

Anyway, I’ll take a better look in due course before proceeding to reassemble the relay.

Friday - sundowners later. Yippee.

Another rite of passage down - albeit a quiet one.

Cheers,

Neil

You sound quite disappointed now the excitement is over. Never mind Neil, summat else will bob up sometime to test you once again.

It was recommended by someone years ago that you could screw a grease nipple in it & keep it pumped with grease of some sort. Possibly Semi Fluid 00

Originally Posted by 4bee

You sound quite disappointed now the excitement is over. Never mind Neil, summat else will bob up sometime to test you once again. 00

Hello again from Sherwood.

Not sure if there is a black Dan rating for Land Rover restoration but having successfully achieved three of the famed “dirty five” tasks* without much damage to personal appendages - chassis bushes, relay from chassis and relay innards - you’d hope that there might be some sort of noble recognition or sense of personal elation to be had.

In the first two cases it required considerable patience and perseverance but nothing approaching grit or valour. In the last it just happened without so much as an alarum.

Anyway, happy to be moving ahead.

Cheers,

Neil

* the third and fourth are reputedly replacing the rear bearing seal and synchro springs in situ. Not to say that neither won’t emerge in due course.