Bargain Basement Electric

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Re: Bargain Basement Electric

Post by Gibbo2286 »

Have a look at this guy making a meal of the job.
Last edited by myglaren on 28 Aug 2021, 22:41, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Bargain Basement Electric

Post by mickthemaverick »

This guide from autodoc says windback and he does it clockwise on offside wheel so possibly anticlockwise on nearside but I don't know I'm afraid!! :-D

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Re: Bargain Basement Electric

Post by mickthemaverick »

Having watched that again I think he is just using the tool. as I do, to compress the push back pistons, but open to correction!! :)
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Re: Bargain Basement Electric

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Thanks Mick and Gibbo, I think Autodoc do a better job than our young youtuber! (even though Autodoc got the torque settings for the Caliper mounting bolts way out!)

I did watch the Autodoc video before I set off on the job, and I think you may be right Mick about using the tool just to push them back.

Front caliper pistons just push in, as another video from Autodoc shows, but why do they need to be wound in on the rears which I presume maybe incorrectly, is something to do with parking brake operation, when the entire parking brake operation is done via the "drum within the disk and its brake shoes", and a cable snaking it's way to a foot operated lever at the drivers left foot!

If it is wind in I am going to have to come up with something creative worthy of a toolbag tales post. The piston has just a plain round end like the open side of a socket. No wind in grooves, holes or anything to mate with the normal wind back tool "ends".

Auto S have gone before us in that regard. Cant find it just yet but quite ingenious.

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Re: Bargain Basement Electric

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

I have come to the conclusion the rear caliper pistons just need pressing in and not rewinding.

To be fair this is all the official Nissan Workshop manual says on a re-read so false alarm with the rewind bit!
"Use a disc brake piston tool to easily press piston."
The design of the drum and shoes within a disc handbrake, is a recipe for handbrake sticking. At least on 100% drums the shoes and the inner surface of the drum are used in normal braking keeping the surfaces free of rust through the friction on a rotating wheel. In the drum within a disk arrangement, the handbrake clamps the shoes to the drum when stationary never when moving so corrosion will not get removed as it does on discs.

If you hear a Nissan leaf squeal and squeak when reversing from a stationary position after standing for a while, its most likely the rust build up on the inner drum.

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Re: Bargain Basement Electric

Post by mickthemaverick »

Yes I agree Neil, the fact that the piston has a smooth face virtually confirms they are push back. All the wind back ones I have done have had a cross or slot in the piston rim or even a raised ridge across the face that actually engaged with the brake pad as well!! Good luck with it! :-D
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Re: Bargain Basement Electric

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

mickthemaverick wrote: 29 Aug 2021, 12:54 Good luck with it! :-D
Thanks Mick , got the parts today with a trip to ECP in Sunderland :)

The drum bit had me resorting to the , hammer rotate hammer repeat technique for eventual success getting the old disc/drum off.

Whether faffing about clicking the adjuster would have made things easier, releasing the drum from the shoes I will find out from the other side. You poke a screwdriver through an additional hole in the drum and click down or up which I only found out after the event.

Regards Neil
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Re: Bargain Basement Electric

Post by mickthemaverick »

Whoops sorry!1 I could have told you about that but didn't think!! When clicking the adjuster with the flat blade screwdriver you will find the one on the nearside goes the opposite way to the offside to release the shoes. If you go the wrong way you will just lock the wheel and then have to go back the other way until its fully free. Once refitted click the adjuster until the wheel is locked then back it off one click and you should feel only a slight drag on the wheel. That will be fine after a few operations! :)
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Re: Bargain Basement Electric

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Drizzle stopped play today, I try to be a fair weather car repairer these days.

On opening my new brake parts, I find no little helpful sachet of red brake grease for the slider pins. I did anticipate this but at ECP the other day all they had was an overpriced 500g tin at £13.49 with no discount. Far too skinflinty to say yes I'll just take one!

Seeing as the weather has put paid to my outdoor mechanicing today, I'll leave the red brake grease sourcing till places are open again.

The chap in this video "Andrewfixes:Rear brake/Parking brake service Video Nissan Leaf 2015" uses this stuff not red at all :-D

Image

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Re: Bargain Basement Electric

Post by mickthemaverick »

That was a fairly painful to watch video Neil!! While he got the job done I would say he actually made it harder for himself by lubricating the edges of the shoes and the back plate before refitting to the car. I think that is a recipe for getting lube in many places you don't want it so I would always advocate remove the shoes, clean the edges and backplate and then refit the shoes minus the pin clips. I then apply the lubricant behind the shoe while in situ so it cannot rub off anywhere while you are aligning the shoes over the hub etc. Finally fit the pins and job jobbed. Also backing off seven clicks seems excessive, I would advise a click at a time and check free running, when it is free back off no further!! Also beware of getting the lube on the sliding pins as it will degrade the boots. :)
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Re: Bargain Basement Electric

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

mickthemaverick wrote: 30 Aug 2021, 16:35 That was a fairly painful to watch video Neil!!
You did well Mick, didn't expect anyone to see that through that's why I didn't just embed it :-D It was linked more so that I could find it rather than anything else :-D

As well as the drizzle pretty cold up here too, so just ploughing through the classic "To Catch a Thief" old film on BBC2 rather than getting my hands dirty! Didn't realise it was one of Hitchcock's :-D

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Re: Bargain Basement Electric

Post by myglaren »

May be of interest to Neil and Simon.

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Re: Bargain Basement Electric

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Thanks Steve, its about 10 years since the Nissan Leaf kicked off the "new generation" of Electric Cars with Lithium Ion Batteries. With plenty of 2011 cars still around, and still being used, and with many hitting over 100,000 miles, and very few spontaneously combusting, I think they churned out a pretty reliable and well engineered product. Advances have obviously taken place over that time in battery chemistry making newer offerings with greater energy density, larger capacity packs, and in battery management systems.

After watching a similar video I was surprised at what was inside the "sardine tins" as posted in my first post on the battteries thread. The cylindrical "normal-looking" familiar battery was plumped for by Tesla, and they have persisted with that approach although use of BYD "Blade" batteries has been speculated on for some versions of TESLA cars and possibly the much trailed "Model 2" $25,000 TESLA.
NewcastleFalcon wrote: 29 Dec 2019, 12:54 Watched a video about the nissan leaf battery pack being disassembled, and was surprised to see what was actually inside of the 48 "sardine can" modules, when the youtuber sliced one open with a can opener...literally :-D

I half expected to see a collection of "little" conventional looking batteries inside the tin but no.....this

Image

Looks like a bunch of envelopes inside plastic pockets. There are 4 separate "cells" in the bundle.

Now inside the steel tube of a Panasonic 18650 Cell widely used in TESLA battery packs there is a curled up matrix of layers bundled up inside a small tube, rather than being laid out in a large sheet within a sardine tin.

Image

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Re: Bargain Basement Electric

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Today I have taken the first steps to being a Red Rubber Grease tycoon.

With a quick cost benefit analysis, a big tin in the hand for just over £10 from the Agricultural engineers was a better deal than spending at least £6 in petrol consumed, and probably 1.5 hours, going to the nearest factor who would have something in stock and paying another £5 for a little tube, or a few sachets.

When I said thats a big tin, the guy at the agricultural engineers said..."What you really want is a bit from our tin".
Couldn't do it, far too cheeky :!: Always good to cultivate a decent relationship, and over the years their Aladdin's cave of stock has saved me a fortune.
DSC00486.JPG
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Re: Bargain Basement Electric

Post by Gibbo2286 »

A long video but really very interesting and a presenter who was watchable instead of the usual Yank shouters.

One think I meant to ask about was the paint on the Leafs, the ones I see advertised and the one I saw in Monmouth all seem to have the front and rear aprons a slightly different colour to the main body, is that just a common problem caused by different body materials or have they all been resprayed to remove paint chips?
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