Noisy vcu

Alibro said:

If you only do half as good a job as me you need a severe talking to. I accept I did a good job of cutting the top off and cleaning the disks but any idiot could do that. The welding on the other hand was something else. They all leaked and had to be redone at least once and were probably a little out of balance because of the dodgy welds.
BTW I've a spare prop shaft and VCU coming soon so when I finish working at Bertie I'll refurb it too. I think it is a lot easier and quicker to just cut the end off so I'll do it that way then I'll have a spare for my off roading antics.

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I will definitely NOT be cutting the top off and welding - both these activities equate with doom and failure given my willingness to hack through large amounts of steel and zero welding experience (or tools).

If I have to fix the VCU up to a drill to turn it and with a pumping system to pump through some form of disolving/cleaning agent and leave it running for 2 weeks - then that is the way it will be performed!

If I speak nicely to @Joe_H he may even be able to set me up with some electronic wizardry to alternate the drill rotation and speed to create some form of fancy wash/rinse cycle

It's even easier than that Grumpy, if a little slower and more boring.
1. Drill two holes in the end the appropriate size for the tap and bolts or grease nipples you intend to use.
2. Leave it overnight for some of the gunge to ooze out
3. Tap the holes now so that any swarf will come out with the gunge as you clean it (use a 1/4" extension bar from a socket set to extend the tap).
4. Clamp it in a vice and using a syringe or a small funnel pour in as much white spirit as it will take.
5. Put the rear propshaft onto the splines and stick a long crow bar (or similar) through the UJ and start turning to mix the white spirit with the fluid still in the VCU.
6. Repeat points 2 through 4 many many times over a week or so until there is more white spirit pouring out than gunge and the VCU is quite easy to turn.
7. Once happy it is as clean as your going to get it then leave it to drain for a few days turning repeatedly to try and get rid of as much white spirit as possible.
8. Once drained start injecting new fluid in with a big syringe while turning to get the fluid down the VCU and inbetween the disks. You might find you need to screw in the bolts to stop the fluid coming back out.
9. Repeat until you have approx 150mls of 100,000 cst fluid in the VCU
10. Screw in your bolts, refit to the car and drive for a few miles to really mix everything up.
11. Do the one wheel up test and if too slack squirt in a wee bit more fluid (easier said than done) or if too tight let some out then drive for a bit more and test again.

Tips
If using grease nipples they are very shallow so no problem but if using bolts you'll need to cut them down to approx 9mm. I cut mine to 10mm as I'm using a copper washer which is probably unnecessary but I have them so why not.
Drill the holes as near centre as you can (half way between the shaft and the edge) Too near the edge and you'll hit the side wall and too near the shaft and your bolt will foul the curve at the shaft.
Buy a good quality tap and tap handle. I have a cheap tap which is useless and a reasonably good one which is great. I used metric extra fine M10 but fine or even normal would be OK if using bolts instead of grease nipples. Grease nipples are very shallow so don't have much thread to grip and if your tapping isn't perfect you could easily strip the threads.
Get a good big syringe with a large nozzle.
Weigh the fluid before you start and at the end to confirm you have the right amount in.
Pour the fluid into the syringe. Trying to suck it into the syringe will introduce so many air bubbles you wont be able to use the markings on the syringe to measure it (and its painfully slow).
Both cleaning and filling are very very messy jobs. Be warned and have appropriate gloves and cleaning materials.

Disclaimer
I haven't finished yet or tested it so will report back once done. I'm only posting this here to show how I did it and am not claiming this is the correct method or saying this is how you should do it.

As lack of free time has meant that the engine rebuild is taking forever and a day, I am seriously tempted to just drive up to Bell's and get them to sort it out with new bearings etc. I'd rather like to start enjoying my Hippo - up until now it has been a rather attractive driveway ornament.

Some people have Gnomes in their front garden. I have cars.

rob_bell said:

As lack of free time has meant that the engine rebuild is taking forever and a day, I am seriously tempted to just drive up to Bell's and get them to sort it out with new bearings etc. I'd rather like to start enjoying my Hippo - up until now it has been a rather attractive driveway ornament.

Some people have Gnomes in their front garden. I have cars.

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If the OWU time is below 2 minutes then use it until you get time to sort the VCU. If over then get her running 2wd and leave the VCU for another time.

Forgot to say, cleaning out the VCU without cutting the top off is a job that takes a week or more but you do it in short bursts of 30 minutes or so as it takes a while to drain each time. You can easily do other jobs at the same time.

I just reposted the How To here with photo's.
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/vcu-torque-test-results.109486/page-43#post-3829417

Nice how to there!

I would presume that in order to maintain the rotational balance one would need to be quite careful where the holes were drilled relative to one another - and to ensure that the two cut down bolts (or grease nipples) were of the same weight?

I had a lead on a spare VCU which has gone a bit cold. I'll chase him up - and if suitable, I'll have a spare to play around with!

GrumpyGel said:

I will definitely NOT be cutting the top off and welding - both these activities equate with doom and failure given my willingness to hack through large amounts of steel and zero welding experience (or tools).

If I have to fix the VCU up to a drill to turn it and with a pumping system to pump through some form of disolving/cleaning agent and leave it running for 2 weeks - then that is the way it will be performed!

If I speak nicely to @Joe_H he may even be able to set me up with some electronic wizardry to alternate the drill rotation and speed to create some form of fancy wash/rinse cycle

Click to expand...

Nothing a geared reduction drive, VFD and ac motor wouldn't sort out - you could even measure the torque via the current through the VFD for seeing if it conforms to LR specs when done. In the mean time, the VFD and current measure can control the RPM and flush pressure / feed, also indicate that the unit is getting freer ... Ooooooooo production line -
Thread an adaptor into on of the holes for a slow feed from a drum of spirit / toluene pressurised by the compressor... turn and rinse... - collect old fluid for filtering and settling and reuse for further flushing.

For turning, even by hand, it is best to separate the Hardy-Spicer on the prop to leave just the U portion....

Turn on the power and stand well back with a larger bomb disposal suit on.

Sorted - INIT ! - Booyakasha

Brilliant! Now where did I put those reduction drives, VFDs and motors?

I think I'll have better luck with my Black and Decker drill and the old cambelt from the L Series

GrumpyGel said:

Brilliant! Now where did I put those reduction drives, VFDs and motors?

I think I'll have better luck with my Black and Decker drill and the old cambelt from the L Series

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I am sure you could actually use a boat winch mechanism (trailor winch), superb reduction drive on the better units.- manually or motor driven
It would make life easier for manually turning it
If you put a bike wheel on where the handle goes you can probably drive it from a fairly small motor....

Everything you need you can get from here
I have bought loads of stuff from them... Ali could make a 4 WD scooter too
I could spend a blo0dy a fortune here !! (errr I have............ ooops)
http://www.petrolscooter.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=electric+motors

http://www.petrolscooter.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=gearbox

Joe_H said:

I am sure you could actually use a boat winch mechanism (trailor winch), superb reduction drive on the better units.- manually or motor driven
It would make life easier for manually turning it
If you put a bike wheel on where the handle goes you can probably drive it from a fairly small motor....

Everything you need you can get from here
I have bought loads of stuff from them... Ali could make a 4 WD scooter too
I could spend a blo0dy a fortune here !! (errr I have............ ooops)
http://www.petrolscooter.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=electric+motors

http://www.petrolscooter.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=gearbox

Click to expand...

Or you could stick a crow bar through the UJ and turn it by hand ya lazy begger.