*This message was transferred with a trial version of CommuniGate(tm) Pro*
It seems that the steel spring in the Ferret's left front bevel box vent
valve broke. The result is that there's no longer any force on the little
poppet valve that is supposed to relieve pressure in the bevel box. This I
know for sure because today, on the way to a car show, the little devil
stayed open and the box regurgitated about a pint of gear lube into the
driving compartment. The first sign was the damp (and hot) spot on my left
ankle. Having learned that all British vehicles have the tendency to seep
fluids I always carry a handy roll of paper towel in front. I ended up
having to stop and buy more - it really gushed.
Here's the question - does anyone have these little valves? I managed to
disassemble the thing, replace the spring (taken from a ball point pen) and
re-peen the retainer on the end of the poppet, but I don't know if it's
close to the proper pressure for that valve. It felt about as strong as the
broken parts, but... It will keep the gear lube in, but I don't want over
pressure. Also, the peening may not keep the parts together, so I would like
to replace the valve.
It seems that moisture in the bevel box will cause the spring to rust and
break, so if anyone takes one out, turn the valve body upside down and see
if the poppet stays in place. Mind didn't, which was the clue to the cause
of the minor flood. It should be able to be gently pulled out a little bit
(no more than 1/16th inch) and should reseat firmly in the valve body.
There's no real way to see if the spring is rusting, so if you pull the
poppet all the way out you may cause a weak spring to break.
Ian Wallace
1960 Mk 2/3 Ferret (with a smelly/slippery driving compartment)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Jul 02 2000 - 23:51:27 PDT