Here's what the brushes look like.
The brush is basically a block of carbon with a wire attached to it. Do you see the box at the top of the picture with the word BOSCH stamped into it? That's the voltage regulator, and it's sitting on the generator.
I first removed the two screws that connect the voltage regulator to the generator. The regulator was blocking my access to the small screw that attaches the brush's wire to the generator's body. The angle was pretty severe, and I had to use my thinnest screwdriver, but I was able to remove the screw.
Next I needed to move the tension spring that holds the brush down against the communicator. I was worried that I'd break the spring, but I was lucky enough to slide it off the brush. Here's the top brush installed. You can see its shiny, braided wire and the tension spring holding down the brush to the left of the wire.
The bottom brush is an entirely different animal. There's less space for the screwdriver, the angle is more severe, and you have to work upside down with a mirror. Barf.
To loosen the stuck screw, I used the insert from a four-in-one screwdriver and a small Vice Grip tool. It took me about a half hour to stumble upon this combination, and at 12:15 AM I called it a night.
On Saturday morning I spent 15 minutes getting the bottom brush out, and another ten minutes installing the new one. All I had left to do was get the last screw in place.
That took me seven more hours.
For an hour and twenty minutes I tried balancing a screw and it's washer on the tip of a screwdriver. I used a small magnet near the tip of the screwdriver to hold the screw on. Then I used two small magnets on the tip. Then I tried using a cow magnet on the neck of the tool. Nothing worked, and after each failure I'd have to waste five minutes trying to find the screw and the washer after I dropped them. It was beyond frustrating.
Luckily, at 10:15 AM, it was time to get to get cleaned up and to take Charlotte to the Center Grove Orchard (more on this later). I needed a break. I was starting to go a little crazy.
I hate to leave an unsettled problem behind, but I also knew I needed to give this problem some time to breathe. I spent a lot of my free time at the orchard thinking about my screwdriver problem, and on the hayrack ride the solution came to me. I needed to tape the screw to the screwdriver!
Why hadn't I thought of this before? The trick is to get the screw started, and then I could pull the driver and its tape free if I lost contact with the screw head's slot.
I ended up using a screwdriver from my cheapo set of "precision" screwdrivers from the Dollar Store. I make fun of these screwdrivers, but I can't tell you how many times they have saved my bacon.
Here's the angle I needed to get the screw seated. I don't think another screwdriver would have fit.
Once again, thanks Dollar Store!
It's hard to see, that was the problem after all, but here's the bottom brush in place.
Whew, seven hours later (well, five and a half of those hours were spent thinking), and I'm done! I don't think I'll have to do that job again for another 30, 000 miles (aka: never).
And best of all, my "to do" list from July 2012 is finally complete!
No comments:
Post a Comment