• Asus Nexus 7 Charger Port Repair

    The ASUS/Google Nexus 7 suffers from an issue where the USB charging port wears out, so the charger no longer makes proper contact and the device won't charge. The headphone socket (which is on the same board) can also fail.

    In order to repair this, a small board must be replaced (which will mean replacing the headphone port as well). Replacement boards are available on Amazon for about £8. It's a pretty straightforward process, and doesn't require any special tooling.

    This documentation will walk you through the necessary steps (there's a video at the bottom for those who'd prefer a video guide) to remove the old USB charging port and install a new one.

  • Dismantling a Saab Door Lock Unit for Repair

    Video showing how to dis-assemble a Saab door locking unit in order to gain access to the actuator motor's contacts.

    This locking unit is from a 2010 Saab 93 1.9 TTiD Saloon

  • Gearbox Rebuild on Generic Chinese RC Car

    I bought some cheap(ish) remote control cars from Amazon, although they're pretty good fun (and have taken some abuse) longevity has been somewhat mixed so far. An early failure was caused by the pinion being improperly fastened to the motor's shank, leading me to strip down the car to repair it.

    These cars also suffer from another issue - common to almost anything remote control with a gearbox: when you give it to a kid, they have a tendency to sometimes crash into things and not subsequently release the throttle, leading to stripped teeth in the gearbox.

    That's exactly what happened with one of the cars, marketed on Amazon under the mouthful of a name "Remote Control Car RC Cars Karting Car Electric Remote Control Off Road 2WD 1:16 Scale 2.4Ghz High Speed Racing Buggy Off-road Fast Radio Controlled Electric Model Cars" (though the box says "Warrior"). Although it can happen to almost any RC Toy, in this case it wasn't helped by the manufacturer using a brass pinion but plastic gearing.

    This documentation details the process I followed in order to replace the damaged gear and rebuild the gearbox

  • Gearbox Repair on ZFLIN RC Car

    I bought a couple of (relatively) cheap Remote Control off-roaders on Amazon - primarily for having a bit of fun driving them about in the garden.

    Although ostensible different brands, models and sellers, the two cars are exactly the same except for the colour of the wheels and the cowling fitted.

    The cars are:

    Although they differ on Amazon, the boxes both show as "Top Racing Series". The ZFlin car carries a model name of the "Pillager" whilst the other is the "Warrior".

    They were fairly cheap when I bought them, and unsurprisingly, are made in China. They do nip around quite nicely

    However, I hit an issue that's alluded to in some of the reviews (on both) - after a few outings the gearbox appears to fail.

    Initially, you get a slipping clutch effect where the motor will rev up quite a bit before the car starts moving, eventually degrading to it sitting stock still and just making a whining noise (the difference in time between these two states, in my case, was about 10 minutes of driving time). The assumption most have made is that the motor is overrated for the gearbox and has destroyed the gears.

    Inevitably, this happens after you've thrown the packaging away. As helpful as Amazon are, I didn't want to deal with their returns system, so I decided to strip the car down instead to see if it could be repaired.

    Turns out the issue is much simpler than I'd assumed. This documentation details how to (quite easily) repair the car.

  • Google Nexus 7: Replacing Headphone and Charger Socket

    • Short video detailing how to remove the back cover from a Google Nexus 7 in order to replace the USB charger port and headphone socket to resolve issues around it not charging. The written process can be found here

  • Performance Power 1Kva Generator has no output

    Performance Power 1Kva Generator

    Although this isn't technically a vehicle, there isn't a more appropriate category, and it is basically just a petrol engine and stator, after all.

    My Performance Power 1Kva (label reads as Ikva though!) petrol generator failed in service, and I've just got around to stripping it down to look into why and whether it can reasonably be repaired.

    This documentation details the process I've followed.

  • Vauxhall Corsa D: Oil Pressure Switch Replacement

    Vauxhall Corsa D Failed Oil Pressure Switch

    Also known as "My Vauxhall Corsa D is leaking oil from top left hand side of the engine", the Vauxhall (or in some markets, Opel) Corsa D has a known issue with it's Oil Pressure Switch failing.

    After some use, they eventually fail and start to leak oil inside your engine compartment - worse, some of this oil can get pushed back into the wiring, and then drawn up into the loom via capillary action - left long enough, a failure of this switch will be followed by failed lambda sensors, airflow sensors and then ultimately, the ECU.

    The part is cheap and simple to replace, it really is 10 minutes work.

    Make sure you give your car time to cool down first though, you're going to be working in close proximity to the manifold - when that's at temperature it'll happily sear the flesh off your hands.

    For those who prefer it, there's a video version at the bottom of the page.