Technical Multipla JTD 1.9 Clutch Replacement (in progress...)

[MarkX]

Progress Today...

Clutch replacement:
- Exhaust rubber
- NS driveshaft bolts

MOT:
- Windscreen washer jets
- Blocked spare washer tube leak
- Washer bottle/pump leak
- New wipers
- Checked lights etc.

Exhaust rubber: One of the last few tasks on the clutch replacement project - install front exhaust rubber/hanger. Struggled with this, pushing the rubber onto the 2 rods? off the underside of the car and the front exhaust. I was going to give up and let the garage do it, until I had a brainwave - lubricate the rubber with oil/grease. It worked.

NS driveshaft bolts: Removed each bolt one at a time, cleaned up the thread with my B&D and wire brush attachment, applied threadlock, then semi-tightened. Once all 6 bolts had been done, I went round them all again and tightened to the specified torque (40Nm - from the horses mouth: FIAT).

Windscreen washer jets: Removed and cleaned the washer jets by rotating the internal section until the inner cavity was exposed and then shaking them up in a jar with washing up liquid and hot water. A lot of crud came out. Installed and tested them on the car, really good jets now. Probably would've been even better if I'd soaked them overnight. Anyway it's a vast improvement on no squirt at all, and I saved £16 for 2 new jets.

Blocked spare washer tube leak: The other tube from the washer pump, which I think is supposed to go to the rear windcreen, leaks water from the washer reservoir. I removed my ineffective homebrew screw/stopper from the end of the tube, pushed in some Blu Tack, then some RTV to seal the end. Think that's sorted, however...

Washer bottle/pump leak: This is leaking like a sieve out of the grommet between the pump and reservoir. I think that some RTV would sort this out. Wonder if it'll get through the MOT as is?

New wipers: Put some new windscreen wipers on. I'm always a bit "dyslexic" when it comes to putting the blade on the wiper arm, but I got there eventually. (Aside: I was installing wiper blades on my late Polo once, and the steel wiper arm minus the blade sprung back and put a lovely bullseye crack right in the middle of the windscreen. Never done that before, what genius designed those wipers ?!!!)

Checked lights etc.: Tested operation of various lights for MOT purposes. All appeared OK.

Quick wipe around the dash with a cloth. I'll quickly jetwash the car tomorrow before it goes for MOT prep in the morning. Didn't have time to put on the other wishbone (finished at 8pm), but if the car fails on that, if I can legally get the car home at the weekend, I'll do the wishbone then.

Mark

 

[MarkX]

Quick update...

Gave the car it's first jetwash in 6 months, pumped up the tyres, and took the car to the MOT garage Today. Owner said he wouldn't have time to look at the car before Monday but I could leave it with them on a nearby car park. So I brought it back home, more secure at my offroad site over the weekend, than a backstreet car park in my local town. Tried all the gears on the way - no problem. I had forgotten how nice these Multi's are to drive, doesn't feel like driving a big car. Even better with a brand new clutch etc.

So if the weather holds up (looks dodgy for this weekend tho') I can try to sort out the leaking washer pump/bottle, and have a go at the OS wishbone. Save a few quid.

Popped into some partstealers to return the redundant washer jet, and get some proper exhaust nuts: copper with a simple locking device to nullify the effects of vibration. I am impressed with the partstealers in my part of the world, they're all helpful and pleasant to deal with. Had no problems returning redundant parts. That's what I call good customer service. Used 4 at various times on the clutch replacement.

Mark

 

[MultiplaAbarth]

I agree, when everything is "done", no crunching gears, nice almost precise gearshift, no drop link clonks, no anti roll bar thumps, no rear suspension knocks,
no rattling stereo, these old lumps drive really well, very relaxing, a mobile living room that handles, shrinks on the move, and fun to boot!
My g/f has my old 115 jtd multi and I have a 1.3TD Qubo, which is also a great design, we both prefer to do longer journeys in the multi, that middle front seat is so handy for food, drinks, phones and seeing the kids in the back, poifect.

 

[MarkX]

Progress Yesterday...

Clutch replacement:
- Installed new front exhaust nuts
- Installed battery retaining strap

MOT:
- Installed new OS drop link (what a difference a blade makes!)
- Removed OS suspension arm

Installed new front exhaust nuts: Existing nuts were just ordinary 13mm M8 nuts. Replaced with copper nuts which include a simple locking device, and washers. Added some Copperease to ease removal next time.

Installed battery retaining strap: With another copper locking nut.

Installed new OS drop link (what a difference a blade makes!): As usual no chance of undoing the nuts on the two old drop link balljoints, I did try. Out with the junior hacksaw. Now the last balljoint bolt I hacksawed through on this project used up 3 new hacksaw blades per bolt. Afterwards the teeth were virtually gone on each blade I used. Anyway I found an old toolbox with a little packet of Spear and Jackson junior hacksaw blades, which are unused but must be 10 years old. So I thought I'd try one. Access to saw through the balljoint bolts was very restricted - only about 2"/50mm of saw movement - even after loosening the nuts quite a way, so I decided to saw through the nuts. The blade was amazing. It went through the nuts like butter, it felt more like sawing through wood than metal. The blade was still intact with all it's teeth even after sawing through both balljoint nuts. The blades I had been using - "hardened steel" from Homebase were obviously made of hardened cheese. Given that my S & J blades are 10 years old, I wonder if S & J are still producing blades now to the same quality? Probably won't find out for a while as these blades are so good.

Removed OS suspension arm: So I'm thinking I've got the whole weekend to do the last few jobs on the car instead of paying a garage. Done the NS suspension arm already, know what to do, should do the OS one in a third of the time... I'd love to say the old arm came off easily, it did. When I knocked out the balljoint pin (fairly easily), the suspension arm just sagged/dropped down with no resistance/push upwards from the top bushes. The arm is obviously knackered, and really old. No problem, glad I'm replacing it. However... Now to undo the 4 bracket bolts. Back 2 long bolts no problem. Front 2 - the right hand bolt sheared, and the left hand bolt was not the correct bolt, coarser thread held on by an extra nut on top of the bracket. Guessing that someone had previously stripped the thread inside the bracket hole so this was the workaround. So with no resistance from the top bushes the old arm slid out very easily. Great. Except that now I have only 2 out of 4 correct bolts to fit the new suspension arm. Sh******t! And it's a weekend and all the partstealers are shut, and the bolts are not common sizes. M10 (I think, or M9) x 1.25 (certain about the pitch cos' I measured it) x about 40mm. Another trip to the only place open - Halfords - bought M10 x 1.5 (coarser pitch, no 1.25), got home, they don't work in the new arm, toyed with the idea of widening and tapping the front bracket holes for the coarser bolts, haven't don't it yet: a) In case I screw it up and ruin a brand new suspension arm, and b) The suspension arm fitting wouldn't be to spec which would worry me.

So I've put the old arm back to get the car secure back on all it's wheels, plus one wrong suspension arm bolt, and one bolt missing altogether. Checked to see if any partstealers are open Sunday locally - nope. Now what? About half of the time on this project has entailed taking something apart, finding that something's scr*wed and needs replacing, then waiting another 2 or 3 days for a new part, in which time I can do nothing. That's why it's taken so long. I've already p'ed off two local garages/mechanics: said I'll bring the car in, put them off, said I'll bring the car, put them off... I'm about to do that again with the latest garage for about the fourth time...

Well can't do anything Today? Might be an off chance of a local garage doing some out of hours work on a Sunday, might have some old bolts...? Delay the garage I'm taking the car to yet again? Order new bolts from Fiat tomorrow, SORN the car (2 weeks grace are up on the 14th, 3 days away), and install the arm later in the week when I've got the parts...? Try to get some bolts when the partstealers open Tomorrow morning...? So frustrating when I'm so nearly over the finish line.

Mark

 

[MarkX]

Progress Today...

Washer bottle/pump leak: This is leaking like a sieve out of the grommet between the pump and reservoir.

Removed the OS headlight and indicator to get at the washer pump and bottle from the top. Cleaned the pump and bottle mating surfaces, then liberally coated the join with black RTV, and reattached the pump. Will find out tomorrow if I've fixed the leak.

Will try to find some OS wishbone bolts tomorrow too.

Turned my living room from a makeshift garage/obstacle course back into a living room Today. Looks a lot better.

Mark

 

[MarkX]

Progress Today...

Checked washer bottle/pump leak repair: Filled the washer bottle with water and... no leaks, great stuff, the RTV repair has worked.

Installed OS front suspension arm: I can now admit that at the weekend the NS arm took me 6 hours... WHAAAATTTTTTTT! However, Today the OS suspension arm took me only 1 hour (and it was raining ). Hurray! Learnt a bit from the NS arm installation. The day started with me chasing round the local partstealers for M10 x 1.25 x 40mm bolts to replace the 2 missing OS suspension arm bracket short bolts. I could only get shouldered bolts (I didn't want shoulders), so, as a temporary fix, I had to buy a bunch of thick washers to eliminate the shoulders. Removed the old arm, even easier this time cos' I've undone all the bolts and removed the arm once already. Now to fit the new arm. Got both short bolts in first (my new shouldered bolts), then the longest bolt (original, rear bracket, back bolt). I used a big, flat-bladed screwdriver with the tip under the anti-roll bar bracket to lever the rear bracket down. To get the front bracket long bolt in I tightened it's partner short bolt to pull the bracket down towards the subframe.

Tip: For all 4 bolts I used a simple makeshift alignment tool to check/align each suspension arm bracket hole against/with the subframe hole - a centre punch. The body of the punch was a useful diameter - 8mm - to fit through the holes, the punch tapers from the body of the punch to the pointed tip, and it was just the right length for the job - 10cm. I pushed the punch up from below - tip uppermost - through the hole in the subframe and up into the hole in the suspension arm bracket. Easy way of checking how closely you've got the corresponding holes aligned without having to repeatedly crawl under the car to check by eye under the subframe hole, and you can even lever the bracket a bit with the punch if the other bolts are loose enough.

So that's the last job I'm going to do before the car goes to the MOT garage tomorrow. Fingers crossed that there's not much else wrong. I have a few ideas about what might need doing, but I'm not going to tempt fate, I'll wait to see what the pre-MOT check produces.

Mark

 

[widemouthfrog]

Well? or ?

Fingers crossed it's

 

[MarkX]

Progress Today...

Had the car pre-MOT checked. The outcome was: everything is OK apart from the front brake discs which need replacing. I asked the (very experienced) mechanic how much he would charge to do them and he said that I should do them. I think he realises how hard up I am. Nice of him (he was recommended by a local partstealer). Didn't charge me anything for the checks either. Car will go for MOT once I've done the brake discs: £50 a pair local partstealers (delivered to my door a few hours after purchase). Pads £30.

Was going to do the discs this evening, didn't get them until 17:30, but it started to rain. So I've cleaned the preserving grease off them ready for installation maybe tomorrow. With a bit of luck once the discs are done, the car will get through the MOT no problem. Could be Friday for the MOT as I have to book, and I have other business to attend to over the next 2 days.

So it's not over yet, widemouthfrog, till the fat lady sings... or croaks!

Or as the skydiver who'd forgotten his parachute said on the way down: So far so good... So far so good... So far so good...

Mark

 

[MarkX]

Progress Yesterday...

Intended to get the front brakes done. Unfortunately the partstealer has given me the wrong brake pads.

Anyway got the NS caliper off and dismantled. Installed shiny new brake disc. Couldn't go any further without the pads. Brushed crud off the caliper.

Few bits of info for anyone doing the brakes:

- The two locating dowels holding the brake disc in place are 12mm (deep socket, or spanner maybe). I managed with a normal 3/8" drive 12mm socket, but because the dowels are long I could only get the wrench a few mm's into the back of the socket. Anyway the arrangement worked.

- Brake caliper bolts appear to be 7mm Allen key (definitely not a 6mm or 8mm). I didn't have a 7mm, but a T45 socket did the job. Moral of the story: make sure you have all the tools you need before you start the job!

- Brake caliper to hub bolts are 19mm. Needed my 4ft breaker bar to start them off. OK once started.

- Used the (removed) old brake disc with the old pads still in place to lever the brake piston back as far as possible to facilitate refitting of the brake caliper/new pads/new disc.

Question: There is a metal plate/guard attached to the hub which is clear of the brake disc surface at the top, but contacts the brake disc surface at the bottom of the disc - scrapes annoyingly on my shiny new disc. Anyone know if this is deliberate? To keep the disc clean maybe? Or should the plate *not* be in contact with the disc at all? I haven't touched or adjusted the plate/guard at all.

Mark

 

[Mad one]

Mark,

Are you sure it is attached to the hub and not just jammed there?

Reason I ask is that there is usually a pad shaped metal anti rattle / squeal plate that is between between the back of the pad and the calliper, it has a "tounge" of metal that sits over the edge of the pad which when the pad wears down, deliberately squeals when in contact with the brake disc, so that you realise that pads need replacing.

This plate, when new, sometimes has a sticky outer surface so that it can work as a anti squeal device, this however is why it can stick to the calliper.......

Hope this helps!

Ken

 

[Mad one]

Having retread your post, the plate/guard sounds like the brake disc cover, for a better word, on most cars this is a very thin piece of metal that protects the back surface of the disc, you can usually bend it away from the surface where it is touching.

As far as I am aware it is not vital as on a Hyundai Atoz my wife owned, it had virtually rusted away, so I removed it from both sides and it passed the mot for the next 4 years until we scrapped it.

Again hope this helps

Ken

 

[Davren]

Question: There is a metal plate/guard attached to the hub which is clear of the brake disc surface at the top, but contacts the brake disc surface at the bottom of the disc - scrapes annoyingly on my shiny new disc. Anyone know if this is deliberate? To keep the disc clean maybe? Or should the plate *not* be in contact with the disc at all? I haven't touched or adjusted the plate/guard at all.

Mark

The plate is a dust/stone guard. It should not touch the disc anywhere.
.

 

[MarkX]

Thanks for the info chaps. I will take a look/sort it out.

Mark

 

[MarkX]

Brake pads: Contacted the partstealer Today, and they confirmed they have given me the wrong pads. The guy described the pads they'd given me and the pads they should have given me, and apologized. At least this guy knows his stuff. Am going into town tomorrow to swap the pads, and then I'll sort the brakes. The finishing line is getting closer...

Mark

 

[widemouthfrog]

Caliper/pad identification:

https://www.fiatforum.com/multipla/280773-front-caliper-type.html

Don't be fooled by the writing cast into the calipers!

The stone guards are pretty flimsy and can easily be bent to shape. They also rust readily, so check that they're sound around the two mounting holes. I wire brushed & painted mine a couple of years ago (see bottom of this picture):



Will be interesting to see what's left of them when I pull it all apart again in a couple of weeks time....

 

[MarkX]

Caliper/pad identification:
https://www.fiatforum.com/multipla/280773-front-caliper-type.html

Just the ticket! Includes the torque settings which I wanted too.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[MarkX]

Progress Today...

MOT:
- Front brakes: Went to the partstealers to pick up the correct pads. Installed the new discs and pads this afternoon. No problems. Got as much crud off the brake calipers and brackets as I could. Car looks good with shiny new brake discs. Great weather for working outdoors on the car.

Re: The scraping stone guard - I was able to prize it away from the brake disc easily. It is now a few millimetres clear of the disc.

So that's all the mechanicing done prior to the MOT. At last. Too late to book an MOT appointment, I'll try to book tomorrow for early next week.

Another step closer...

Mark

PS. I can confirm that the brake caliper bolts *are* 7mm Allen key socket heads. Bought a 7mm 3/8" socket from Halfords (£4).

 

[MarkX]

Bussed into town this morning and booked the MOT for first thing Monday morning (£45).

Mark

 

[BikeDoc]

I'll be under my Multi tomorrow, Clutch release bearing has gone

Not too upset really, I knew it would probably need something doing before long.
For the price I paid, and the excellent condition of the interior and bodywork, I don't mind having to do a few jobs on it.

I'll fit a new Clutch while the gearbox is off, would be silly not to.

 

[MarkX]

I'll be under my Multi tomorrow, Clutch release bearing has gone

Not too upset really, I knew it would probably need something doing before long.
For the price I paid, and the excellent condition of the interior and bodywork, I don't mind having to do a few jobs on it.

I'll fit a new Clutch while the gearbox is off, would be silly not to.

Have fun!