hydraulic regulator whoopsy

[peter306]

Hello all,
getting the old girl ready for her MOT.
Does anyone have a spring for the regulator
2000, 1.8 16valve.
And yes I saw the warnings

Peter

[aerodynamica]

Hello Peter, are you talking about the hydraulic pressure regulator? I might have a spring for one. What has happened to yours?

[peter306]

Hello,
Yes the Pressure regulator, specifically the pressure release valve.
Having done a lot of reading today I'm not sure if there is one.
In my head it's 2 but all the comments just mention catch the ball bearing.
1.Release bolt and ball bearing
2.Release bolt, spring and ball bearing

Peter

[aerodynamica]

Ah right I see, it's the 12mm bolt to release the accumulator pressure. Yes if you fully remove it there is a risk the ball bearing falls out. You're only meant to unscrew it by 1 turn. And not unwind it fully out.

[aerodynamica]

I'm certain there was never a spring on any pressure regulator release bolt.

[peter306]

Thanks for that, the bolt was very manky so I took it out to clean it, I had a little cup to catch the bearing and check that for flats or dirt, it is 25 years old,
As I said for some reason I was expecting a spring, read through a lot of the regulator posts and no mention of a spring.
I assume it is fluid pressure that moves the bearing then.

Peter

[aerodynamica]

Hi Peter, that's right and I used to strike the ball in its seat with a brass punch to attempt to reseat it. Not sure it actually worked though.

The only moving ball bearing I can think of is the check valve. This can be removed too. You need to take off the accumulator sphere and clear residual LHM out. Then you'll see a circle in the centre, a couple of drilling and finally a small bolt with a little plate that half covers another hole. If you remove the nut and plate you will find a small ball bearing in that hole. This also has a seat and if you had a small enough punch I suppose you could try to reseat this too.

It's not likely to leak though but if it did it's a source of pressure drain from the accumulator.

Other pressure regulator issues are that the cut in and cut out springs get tired and a fix for that is to add shims. Plieades might also stock new springs

[peter306]

Hello again, did read about that valve, have to wait till summer to check that. MOT is due in a couple of weeks so that is first.
See how it goes from there.
Peter.