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Another busy day working on the Veccy...
After yesterday's marathon maintenance session:
http://www.vectra-c.com/forum/showpo...2&postcount=19
Another day of tinkering beckoned, and a Sunday at that! Well the main job was the gearbox oil so I decided to go straight for that.
First I had to remove the battery and battery tray. The battery is secured to the tray be a 13mm bolt/bracket. A 10mm nut holds each terminal on, start with the negative first. Once these are off the battery can be removed. I found it easier to split the two main wires (13mm captive bolt) going the the positive terminal for getting the battery out.
With the battery out, access is granted to the three 13mm bolts that hold the tray it. I've highlighted them on the pic below. There is a black box clipped to the inside of the far left corner of the tray that needs to be popped out - one little clip that a small flat screwdriver will defeat.
Next remove the near left corner of the tray - a couple of clips - to allow you to remove the two cable channels as highlighted in the pic below. They are a bit fiddly but use the small flat screwdriver again to release the securing clips.
The tray can then be removed. I unclipped the metal module with the purple connector so that it could be moved safely out of the way.
With the tray out you can now clearly see the filler plug for the gearbox.
This and the drain plug underneath the car are 8mm allen types. The drain plug is easy access and I used an 8mm allen key on it (with a grolley bar) but the filler isn't so easy unless you have a 8mm allen socket key. I don't so I used a T50 torx key that I could just get a bar on. The filler plug is not so tight so it wasn't a problem. Just make sure you can undo the filler plug before you drain the gearbox...
With a suitable recepticle under it, you can crack the drain plug and let it pour out. If it's a windy day you might want to have a wide opening on your container...
Once it has drained sufficiently (10mins) put the drain plug back in and tighten it. When mine was draining it looked pretty red but in my container it didn't look so fresh...
Next remove the filler plug and put two litres of Vx fully synth gearbox oil in. I always use a short offcut of garden hose (hoselok - it's quite tough) to refill gearboxes. It's a very snug fit into the filler hole, you may have to screw the hose pipe in a bit in fact. I did. Vx very helpfully don't include filler necks in their oil containers so I had to decant into another (empty) gearbox oil bottle that did have.
So there we go. Refitting is reversal of removing etc.
Took her for a test drive and initially didn't notice much difference. However after a short drive, 10 mins or so, I did. 1st and reverse are again easier engaged, in fact after a while I stopped noticing. The overall gearchange action though is much smoother now, a pleasure in fact.
Next job was going to be to fit reversing sensors but I forgot about having to paint the sensors. Painted them and left them to dry, will fit them later in the week.
Changed the panel filter, the old one was black. Then I investigated a non-functioning rear speaker. Traced it to a bent pin on the back of the headunit. All working lovely now.
Last job was to adjust the headlight levels as they are really low. I wound them up a bit and waited for night...
Once dark I took the car out for a test drive to check the lights and all seemed fine. On the way back the battery light came on...
Smell of burning coming from the alternator area. The chap I bought the car from a week and a half ago had just had the alternator repaired. ****. Ah well, I'll give the local auto electrician a ring tomorrow. See how much to repair this one.
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and i wasnt wrong -
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