When you’re pulling bits apart, don’t just rip them straight
off. A lot of the time, the way something is rotated or how
far a bolt is done up will be very precise. In this scenario,
we’re marking the rotation of this pinion seal nut on this rear
diff before counting how many times we’ll unwind it. When
replacing the pinion seal nut you then wind the nut back on
the same amount of times before making sure it ends up in
the exact same position it was before. This will then dictate
how much preload is put on the pinion bearing, which has to
be precise amount for the correct functioning and longevity
of the bearing. A permanent marker will do a decent job,
but struggles with grease sometimes. A paint pen is a
much better idea as once it dries it’ll stay visible and won’t
accidentally wipe off if you bump it
Heatshrink is great stuff, but what if you can’t get any onto
the job you’re soldering onto? If you hit it with electrical tape
as soon as you’re fi nished soldering, the heat still contained
within the wiring will let the fi rst couple of wraps of electrical
tape amalgamate back onto itself. It’s essentially like
heatshrink without using heatshrink. Insulating wiring has two
functions – obviously it insulates wiring from shorting out if
it comes into contact with a metal surface, but wrap enough
tape around a soldered join and it will physically provide
strength to the entire join to help it resist fl exing and cracking
when subjected to corrugationsIf you’ve been getting through your 12V installs with a
test light, then it’s defi nitely time to lash out for a decent
multimeter. All a test light can do is tell you if there’s
some sort of voltage fl owing to the point you’re trying
to test. The amount of things you can do with a decent
automotive multimeter is huge, but in general all you’ll
typically use is the ability to measure voltage, and check
for continuity. Not sure if your wiring is up to spec?
Check the voltage at both ends to make sure there
isn’t voltage drop or an open circuit somewhere. Can’t
fi gure out which wire is an earth, or where that break
in the circuit is? Use the continuity setting to check if
something’s connected to something else. If you have a
workshop manual that lists resistance specs for various
sensors you can test to fi nd faulty parts by checking for
correct or incorrect resistance. A multimeter is your best
friend when it comes to 12V installsWWW.4WDACTION.COM.AU