Відео

Hi thanks very much. Actually never thought about it tbh. Maybe the gear lever does not need locking in neutral. I just did it all the times I worked on it - installing the bush, changing the mechanism and the cables too. I’m sure I thought there was some logic to it at the time but now thinking about it you maybe right that it’s probably not required at all, because like you say the cables are a fixed length, so it doesn’t need locking in-place while adjustments are made or anything like that

@@beaulunaedvantures Hello again, thanks for your quick response. After all the different works/repairs/optimization you've done on the gear shifter mechanism, I think it's worth to block the shifter in neutral (as you had shown), to avoid any mechanical stress on the cables, ball joints etc. And, as you had also shown in your videos, it's easy to lock and unlock - great suggestion to the same work I will do in spring time (actually too cold outside). Thanks a lot for the video(s). Have a safe trip all the time 🤩

Hi thanks very much. Yes on the outside I sealed around the window with the same black sealant/adhesive that came in a kit to bond the window to the van. There is a couple of videos on our channel on fitting this window and a tiny bunk window which maybe helpful too if you haven’t already caught those too. We fitted the larger sliding door windows from van pimps and they were fine, but we wanted one with a built in fly screen for this one so got it (and the tiny bunk window) from Leisure Vehicle Windows. Good luck I hope the installation goes well and you enjoy your build 😁👍

@@beaulunaedvantures Hi thanks for prompt response. This is very useful. Im going to order same window and crack on in confidence. Ive watched a few other vids and yours was most useful. One last question - I dont think you did - but can you confirm there was no need to cut recesses for the bottom vents and these are accommodated by the thickness of the the sealant adjacent to them. ta

I do enjoy driving the manual stick shift, nice when driving tight corners through mountains.

That’s really good to know, I didn’t want to risk it but it’s good that it’s easy to remove when it’s dry too 👍

Happy new year mate, I hope you’re well. Awesome information from your engineering background very much appreciated Todd - especially the part about not engineer braking, I don’t use that much tbh, however I did when going through the mountains in Andorra to save cooking the brakes on some crazy gradients. Interesting regarding the difference in gear oils too, I think eventually it will need a recon transmission, but as I know about the vans issue with 2nd gear I’m very gentle in letting it drop into gear, rather than ramming it in. And you have brought back memories from when I was around 19-20 years old and my Renault 11’s clutch cable snapped and I got a replacement but didn’t really know what I was doing replacing it and had to drive around by blipping the gas to change gears without the clutch 🤣 fun times. I still popped it into gear without the clutch out of habit sometimes when it felt just right even when it was properly repaired 😁👍 Purely out of interest with your expertise, do you use any oil or fuel additives in your vehicles Todd?

@@beaulunaedvantures Happy New Year to all of you as well. You guys had an amazing 2024, and I'm looking forward to what you do this year! Regarding using the transmission as a brake. I think what I wrote wasn't clear. You are correct to have the transmission in a lower gear, when descending a long grade. The general rule being, whatever gear you used to climb the grade, you used to descend the grade. That doesn't hurt the transmission at all. What I was speaking about, is the use of the transmission to slow the vehicle down, by "down shifting" into a lower gear. For example, when approaching a corner, or a stop sign, or stop light. People who do that by "down shifting" are asking the synchros to "brake" the transmission internals, and that causes premature wear. The correct method of shifting, in that situation, is to "back shift" which requires the engine speed to be raised to what it's about it be in the lower gear, and that allows the syncro to do no "braking" work... it just applies some friction to the hub of the next gear, they both match speed, and then the shift collar slides easily. That method is the same method used if there was no clutch at all. Basically using the engine to match speeds, applying light force to the gear shift lever, and as the speeds match, the gear shift lever moves into the next gear. Since you have such good driving and shifting skill, I'll be you can get that transmission to last for years. Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. The '05 CR-V that I purchased a year ago, has 279,000mi on it, and 3rd gear syncro is worn out from a combination of the previous own "speed shifting," Honda's lame transmission fluid, and the rev-hang that Honda has programmed into the computer, as a way to cheat emissions levels. I switched to the Amsoil, and shift into 3rd as if I had no clutch. No more crunch, and I can live with it. The only additive I use: A couple times a year, I'll dump a can of SeaFoam (white metal can with red lettering) into the fuel tank, usually when I fill up just before a big road trip. SeaFoam does a fantastic job of cleaning fuel injectors, intake ports, and the backs of the intake valves. On a car that's not been treated, the improvement in running is usually very noticeable.

Definitely 😁👍

Muchas Muy buenos mi amigo 😂👍

Yes absolutely, this was the roughest track we’ve taken it down 😊

Hi I didn’t disconnect the battery and everything was fine. 2014 Sprinter 👍

Hi that’s great thank you very much for your kind comment. Glad the video was useful, we hadn’t seen any of these tiny side windows being installed so really pleased you got something from it 😁 and thanks too for subscribing - got some more in the editing process now 👍

Hi yes that was the first thing I did to improve the gears, and that made the biggest difference to improve the gear selection 👍

Hi thanks very much. The van is a 2014 313 CDi

🤣🤣🤣 YES absolutely! That’s exactly what it needs 😁👍

Thanks!!

Hi Muhammad thanks for your kind comment - Glad the videos have been helpful. I'm not sure how the old screw can be extracted, and space is definitely tight in there isn't it! I wonder if its possible to get a pair of locked grips on the edge to turn it (we used to call them mole-grips) spray the bolt with some WD40 but then take as much as you can off with a paper towel so the grips don't slide and see if you can get a solid grip with those grips. I hope you get it sorted! Good luck

Thanks we’re really happy with it! And it gives us somewhere to keep a book and phone at night too 😊

This was the first of many! Actually we had already put the skylights in the roof so that was practise for the windows going in 😁👍

Yes we do too, we had some great fun with the frisbee 😁👍

Wow indeed! This was such an interesting place to visit 👍

Thank you! We saw some beautiful sunsets in France Spain Portugal and even Andorra too. And the music is Bach’s cello suit - incredible isn’t it 😊👌

It was soooo beautiful! In the past we would normally head straight for the beach, but now we love the mountains too 😍

We were surprised too, so much to do and really reasonably priced at around £5 (6€) entry and all that parking with no height restrictions or payment required was really helpful

🤣👍

It was a bit of a pain tbh. We stayed on that campsite for a month and had to keep going off site to get bottled water while we were there, which is something we really didn’t want to do. But it was easily sorted once we left and could flush out the tanks and get back to normal 👍

He’s a true travelling dog alright 😁🐶

That’s exactly how we are, and what we thought too 👍

Yes it was a fairly straightforward job tbh. And we have had a few things from the main dealer brand new that have been cheaper than buying second hand off the internet - crazy 🤪

Thank you Todd, wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be cutting big holes in the side of the van, and it’s been good for a couple of years now so must have done something right 🤣👍

@@beaulunaedvantures You nailed it with using the black window urethane sealant, which is the same as is used for the glue-in windshields. Permanent and leak free, forever. Also, yes, leaving the "foot" on the saw is the way to go, because it keeps the panel from vibrating (so much). Blue masking tape is your friend!!

@@austinado16Sounds like you’ve watched the video I’m editing now that’s not even put out yet 🤣 cheers Todd 👍

Hey up Mark, yes it’s got loads and loads of little video clips on the hard drive, just trying to make sense of them and edit them together into something usable. And looking back I can’t believe how many holes we drilled into the van! 4 windows, 2 skylights, 2 water tanks, solar wires, 240v hook-up, water fill point 😬 🤣

Aww thanks Mark, working to hard IRL but still trying to check in now and again 😌 And yes main dealer has been cheaper buying brand new directly from them than buying second hand on eBay sometimes!

That’s what I thought too - some of it was so good 👌

Hi Riki, I’m not sure if the black clips at the gearbox end are adjustable sorry. I fitted second hand cables and the black ends were already attached, I don’t think they are adjustable but couldn’t say for certain. Driving mine daily atm and it’s running well so hopefully the gear cables will sort it for you - Good luck! 👍

Be welcome at a Pride parade that’s for sure 😁

Someone else had issues after changing and find changing the gear linkage cables worked, however they had it confirmed by the RAC that was the problem first

Couple of hours. Helps to watch the video to see how to remove the lower dash. And if I did it again I’d Jack and secure the van to give me better access underneath it, but it was pretty straight forward once the dash was out the way 👍

Hi, we are still about 😁 did a 3 month trip through France Spain Portugal and Andorra in the summer - we’ve popped a few shorts videos on about that. Need to do a few longer vids about the experiences we had travelling this time. It’s really nice of you to check in on us 😊 more videos coming as soon as we get time to put them together and edit them. Take care - thanks again 👍

@@beaulunaedvantures I did the same as you and replaced the cup insert in the gear change but still it's not as I want it lol. So I will order the whole gear change and while I am at it the weight link and plastic link. That should solve it, hopefully. Nice to hear you're still out there on your adventures, stay safe and happy travels. Let us know what you think overall of the gear stick issue and how you think what you did had an effect. Cheers Guys.

Cheers Todd 😊

Hi, I’m not sure why that would be to be honest. Wonder if it might be worth getting a pair of new ones from MB to see if that is the cause of the issue with 5 & 6

Alright mate, did u manage to sort this? Ive just changed mine but 3rd is now 1st 5th 3rd to get 1st i afto lift up to go into reverse got no reverse, im sure i left it in gear when i took old ones off tho thsnks

👊 Exactly 👍 🤣

Did get a crazy at times had to slow it down to about 15 mph at one point, was like someone spraying the windshield with a fire hose! All good fun though 😁

Thank you kindly sir. Took a couple of years to get it to this point, but it works and we’re happy with how it looks, and I suppose the main thing is it works 😁 cheers Todd

Hi wow some great mileage you have on yours. Changing the bush was easy enough, the hardest bit of that process was removing the actual gear knob. It may be better if you can find a replacement gear selector mechanism. I replaced mine with a low mileage one which was more expensive but it meant everything had very little wear on it. If you want to keep the price low replacing the bush also worked, it just took a bit more effort. If you check the other videos on this channel you’ll see the full range of replacing the; gear linkage cables, counterweight, entire mechanism, selector bush too. I hope they help and you get it sorted. Just got back from a 5500 trip in ours with no issues at all, so once the gear selection was sorted it’s all working well with the 274,000 miles 👍

@@beaulunaedvantures hi, thanks for your reply, rac did a temp fix on it, however now im having trouble getting into lower gears, will drive in 1, 3 and 5th gear and can get reverse with a bit of persuasion, im going to resort to change the cables myself, got a set from gsf how long did it take to do,

@@terryhenderson556 Changing the cables didn’t take long at all couple of hours at most. Getting in and out from under the van took the most energy 🤣 if you have someone on hand to pass you tools and bits you need - And get some axel stands or height under the van to make it easier to manoeuvre under there would be better than how I did it parked half on the curb. A part from that once the lower dash inside the cab is removed it’s really quick

@beaulunaedvantures thank you much appreciated, I've since found it it's the linkage at the back, what would they mean by that

Ps did manage to do the nc500 in it over the last 2 weeks and now on 450,000

Hi, the dash is connected really logically and is surprisingly easy to remove/replace. I’m not sure I needed to undo screws around the glove box to be honest, so that might not be completely necessary. I think I watched a UA-cam video for the sequence of removal which really helped give me the confidence to give it a go myself.

@@beaulunaedvantures Thanks for getting back to me. I'll see how I go, hopefully the new mechanism will improve things. Best of luck on your travels.