The internet vs mechanical repairs

So the Sprinter is the first new(ish) enough vehicle I've owned to actually have brake pad wear sensors. They're common on virtually all vehicles nowadays, despite being more of a novelty than anything else.

But discovering how these ridiculously simple parts work is extremely difficult in an internet world. Correct mechanical *advice* for virtually every topic, part, real or imagined is incredibly difficult to find. These brake sensors are quite magical if you start trawling forums, youtube, and general car help forums.

Possibilities include:
• It's an open circuit that shorts against the rotor and signals the pad is worn.
• It is a magnetic sensor.
• It's a resistive sensor that changes impedance as the pad gets low and should be XYZ ohms when new.
• The metal clip is a sensor and very delicate.
• The sensor incorporates "electronics".

However none of these are true in any make or model, year or timeline, this universe or the multiverse, yet most of them are the PREVALENT explanation.

How it really works:
• It's a closed circuit. Impedance if any is irrelevant and not measured.
• The metal clip is just a springy metal clip to assit in keeping the plastic sensor secure in the brake pad cavity.
• When the brake gets low, the little plastic nubbin on the ROTOR SIDE of the clip wears down and breaks the circuit where the wires previously traversed.
• Dash light goes on.
• Part is consumable and cannot be re-used. It is literally worn down like the brake pad.
• ...the end...

So thanks to the internet, I once again had to spend excessive time trying to diagnose multiple options that may or may not be true, until I finally conclude which combination is the only and obvious choice. If the sensor is a closed circuit and is unplugged/absent/damaged/used, this will trigger a brake warning as an open circuit is detected. Otherwise everyone would leave the sensor unplugged and not replace them. This is the only combination of events that makes sense, keeps costs low, and is reliable.

Thank you internet. You cost me many brain cells for something very simple yet again.

ps: Don't arbitrarily replace pairs. Just replace the one that tripped the fault. Go ahead and replace pad sets left/right if you want for convenience...but re-use undamaged sensors.

48th Birthday 2022

It's ma' fourty eighth birthday! Jana sent me a message this morning to remind me, because I had truly forgotten!! Normally I look forward to buying myself a gizmo on this day, but the van sucker punched me in the wallet this year so I kinda forgot about national-spending-day.

Grandma and Grandpa brought over some cake and ice-cream and we all need a post-pigout-nap.

In the morning I got busy on the van and removed the front discs. They're just inside spec for Road Worthy inspection, but some inspectors cry when they see a worn lip around the outer edge. I took both discs to work to scrape off the lip on the lathe. I suspect these are the original discs, and wear indicates they've lived up to their 260k/km life. It took seconds to take off the lip. I've never lathed cast iron before. Wow it's so soft and powdery. I shoulda' known from drilling XP.

Garrick drove us there and back to contribute to his 120hrs required on his L-Plates, and we collected my annual Red Rooster discounted birthday lunch! Awesome.

Jana got me an awesome AEG jigsaw!! Now I don't have to steal Wes's from work. The AEG stuff is absolutely awesome. It comes with a 3yrs warranty by default, and extends to 6yr with registration. The warranty covers trade-use, unlike Ozito which is infrequent DIY only. (Ozito have a "Full-Boar" brand for trade use). This is my 3rd AEG tool, and they're absolutely awesome.

Some time ago I deliberately decided to stay with 240V tools except for (some) drills. It's just too expensive for me to either stay brand-loyal, or switch to a new battery-standard when batteries die. My next big AEG purchase will be their drop saw as it has an awesome 70 degree mitre tilt. Most saws only do 45 degrees and we CONSTANTLY do 60-cuts at work. Can't wait for that tool. :)

Sprinter prototype layout

The old van ended up pretty much to plan minus some luxury items built-in, which were replaced by off the shelf portable items.

The new van is 1100mm longer.

• I can turn the queen bed to sleep length-ways without smooshing it in.
• A proper 900mm x 700mm (standard small size) shower fits behind the driver seat.
• Seats are reduced to 500mm wide which fits an automotive bucket seat.
• The table is reduced to 650 long instead of 900mm and will probably lift against the wall again.
• The fridge is modeled to scale on a 12/24V camper fridge found at Jaycar.
• I expect to use a 300mm wide two burner stove top similar to the cheap Divanti brand stuff.
• The sink will be whatever fits in the remaining space of about 500mm.
• A large access sliding door to the storage area under the bed will be repeated.
• Cupboards above the driver may or may not happen. I like how open this van is.
• Bed cupboards are 300x300mm for the full 2030mm length of the bed.
• Space under the bed is ~900mm tall again to fit bikes. The Sprinter is ~100mm taller than the old van.
• Kitchen overhead cupboards are 1350x400x400. Under-sink cupboards are whatever fits.

Old Transit van design. Sideways shortened bed.

Tiny-house Sprinter van. There are NO vans on planet earth with a build like this that fit EVERYTHING and has no "transforming" furniture to make stuff fit. Literally none. This will be a first on planet-crazy-humanz.

Beginner level cosmetic fixes: mudflaps

The previous owner was kind enough to repeat the same failed kludge fix repeatedly on the right rear mudflap, and leave me with the beginners level fix that should have been done from the start.

This guy had slammed in x9 different sheet metal roofing screw holes into the rear fender over many failed mudflap repairs...why repeat the same failure so many times?? The guard was torn in half, and the roofing screws used had a smaller washer-head than the original screws. Just so bad. So Tradey'.

So I gave it a different level of beginners kludge repair, one that will probably last the remainder of the van's lifetime.

The broken pieces were kludged together with some truss-strapping I'd found on the side of the road years ago, and pop rivets. I gave them a squirt of black paint, and found some fresh screws with pan-head-washers and sprayed those black and re-mounted the whole thing. It's a massive kludge, but I don't expect it to ever fail. Some tyre cleaner/blackener makes it look fresh again after install.

ps: mudflaps are a RoadWorthy component in .au.

The rear step guard went back in this afternoon as well. I'm almost done with the basic cosmetic fixes and clean-up, then will move on to the heavy mechanical repairs after I get a windscreen crack fixed this week some time.

Quick n dirty drivers seat upholstery fix

The Sprinter drivers seat was heavily damaged. I've ordered some cheap seat covers, but the damage needs preventative measures.

- Some hemming tape was heat sealed to the upper fabric with a piece of denim.
- The mess was brought together and hand sewn with basic back-stitches at ~5mm spacing.
- Color in the mess with sharpie. Contrary to the camera image, it looks better colored black in real life. (there was a mix of blue, grey, and black surfaces prior).

...very kludge, not pretty, better than exposed foam...it'll do. At $1300 for a replacement seat, the prior owner gets minus 1000 points for disrespect of their own tools.

Some seat covers will make the eyesore go away.

Hard rubbish Christmas Bay Marie

The neighbours had a household Bay Marie (food warmer) on hard rubbish. It's a 1960's era gizmo complete with the original instructions and warranty card. It belonged to the neighbours mum and attempts to sell it had failed. It was pretty messy from food and actual dirt, and tripped breakers when trying to run it.

The instruction page clearly states that it eliminates cooking drudgery. I *HAD* to fix this thing... I got sick of running outside to re-trip the breakers while trying to fix the electrical issue, so took it to Dad's garage which is isolated from the house. It wasn't tripping 10 amp power breakers on cheap household adapters, so the assumption was it had a ground leak which was tripping the fusebox safety switches. Dad found the thermostat controls were actually servicable and basic contact cleaner solved the problem...probable arcing inside.

So Garrick, dad and I gave it a speed-strip-down and washed everything and reassembled on Christmas eve (I think...). It was ready to go for Grandma's Christmas Day lunch. 1000W lower internal element, and 300W top element.

Seems to have worked for the occasion.

Sprinter tow hitch light refurb and misc fixes

A rear impact had pushed the rear step up into the path of the back doors making the opening and closing procedure a bit of a scrape-fest. I loosened everything off and reseated it and fixed the problem, but there was just enough rust that I decided to remove the whole thing and give it some attention. The trailer wiring harness was also destroyed so I tucked that out of the way to fix later.

Like the previous van, I had to use a 2metre breaker bar to get the wheel nuts off all round. Everything got anti seize grease, and now regular humans can perform a tyre change if required.

Stuff removed, power wire brushed, pressure washed, rust treated, sprayed gloss black (not shown), plastic step got some heat-gun reshaping, and everything was reinstalled. The doors now swing freely and the wheels are now removable with van tools.

It was a stinkin' hot 38'C day yesterday. I got up at 5:30am and worked 'till 11am then spray painted late in the evening and finished reinstalling everything this morning.

Images in no particular order, and not really with an audience in mind, they're more reference shots for me.