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[andrewR]

The electric window motors on my wife's golf estate used to do that. I had to drill holes in the door facia and motor casings, so a screwdriver could be shoved through and nudge the motor rotor a bit, every time the window got stuck up (or worse, down!).

If you do decide to take a peek, be very careful not to pull the rotor insides out of the motor, because the brushes will likely spring closed, and sometimes without whatever special tool is used at the factory, its impossible to reassemble. Only remove the rotor from the stator if it is absolutely necessary and you can see how it will reassemble.

If you can carefully take a look, it sounds like a dirty commutator (fixable), or (not fixable) a blown rotor winding.
If you can get to see the commutator on the rotor (the round bit that should look like copper with little gaps, that the carbon brushes run against), then you can attempt to carefully clean it with a swab and a suitable fluid. I used "Track Magic" (Model Railway track cleaning fluid based on Naptha) the other day on my Lucas wiper commutator, and it worked wonders. (Pic below, after cleaning).

[diffwhine]

That sounds like a challenge... I'll report back...

[andrewR]

... other thing that also helps is a drop of very light machine oil on the end bearings ... if the motor is trying weakly to turn because it is at one of its positions with a weaker magnetic flux/force, then reduced motor stiction will help. It might just be able to get around to where it has more torque. On my wiper motor the other day, it went from not being able to turn on the bench at all (even with all the wiper gears removed), to spinning nicely, when connected to a 12V bench supply, by the actions:
- Check brushes
- Clean the commutator
- Oil both end bearings with light machine oil
- Check rotor alignment
Check that the motor rotor is not touching the stator at any point. If so, on the wiper motor you can adjust the alignment by loosening some screws and repositioning, but I wouldn't do that unless you're sure. There is normally only a 1mm or less air-gap. Most motors don't have such a user alignment option it is fixed.
- Sometimes rubbish can get wedged in that air-gap as well, which is worth checking, and blow out with air.
After that, if it doesn't work, it increases in probability that one of the windings is blown, which is almost impossible to fix, without a huge effort.

[diffwhine]

Agreed with all that. I think it is salvageable as it has plenty of power when its running. The problem will be how to get into it... Its basically in a sealed plastic housing.
One project for Boxing Day I reckon...

[Mr Ed]

This wasn't really today, it was last week,

 I finished fabricating and installing new removable gearbox mount.

I had to make a new one, because the original was badly beaten, I took advantage of making it removable, it gave me a lot of work due to the exact position it should have, but it fit very well.
.   

[diffwhine]

Managed to rebuild most of the original Sparto lights from my Station Wagon. Another job done and ready should this vehicle ever turn a wheel.

I then dug out my Trico washer pump and bottle only to find the pump wouldn't work. Some careful tweaking of the impellor and it burst back into life. There must be a bad contact on the motor because it runs fine, but if it stops in one particular position, it won't run again unless I tweak it round a bit. Has anybody ever had one of these motors apart and tried to clean it up?

Took my washer pump apart. Really simple. Drilled out the two rivets holding the motor to the bottle cover. The impellor but separates easily leaving access to the motor once you remove a thin transparent plastic film. Positive and negative connections to the commutator just lift out of the way so the motor can be withdrawn. Easy then to clean up the commutator and reassemble. A small drop of machine oil on the bearing bushes. Even the pipe inlets and outlets have flow arrows. Easy peasy. I've just got to find something to replace the two tiny rivets I removed. I think I will use some tiny stainless nuts and bolts I've had knocking about. Motor runs perfectly, so I can now proudly confirm that these are repairable.

[Mr Ed]

Took my washer pump apart. Really simple. Drilled out the two rivets holding the motor to the bottle cover. The impellor but separates easily leaving access to the motor once you remove a thin transparent plastic film. Positive and negative connections to the commutator just lift out of the way so the motor can be withdrawn. Easy then to clean up the commutator and reassemble. A small drop of machine oil on the bearing bushes. Even the pipe inlets and outlets have flow arrows. Easy peasy. I've just got to find something to replace the two tiny rivets I removed. I think I will use some tiny stainless nuts and bolts I've had knocking about. Motor runs perfectly, so I can now proudly confirm that these are repairable.

Simple design = good design and repairable, away from new and disposable garbage.
Good job.

[andrewR]

Result!

[Genem]

Tx, another job on the to-do list !

[andyjb]

Replaced the damaged top radiator hose and also trimmed the perished ends off the coolant hoses for the lpg vapouriser. Simple jobs but a right pain getting rid of the air lock i'd created.

[Herald1360]

Emptied the tank in the dehumidifier that sits in the rear footwell!

[Peter Holden]

Just home from a really good day out on the Pudding Run organised by Gordon and Wendy.  YOD went really well even reaching 70mph on the motorway coming home.

Peter

[Bonnet-rouge]

Ex military tripod turned up today perfect fit for beacon light , great for late night bbq

[Genem]

An early morning scene round at the neighbours, collecting more Hay...

[Genem]

....my exceptionally kind neighbours, who run Luing Cattle on 10,000 acres (!) allowed me to buy into their winters-worth of stock during the autumn and store it alongside their own. Sadly their landlords are not so kind and will not allow us access to the Estate tracks as a Club. We used to run Green Road Runs there quite regularly but a new management team.... I'll keep trying !