Shuush The Little Haffies Are Sleeping

[AustHaflinger]

No John - I am not a millionaire - I own a Haflinger

[AustHaflinger]

Well from what I see on the news it looks like the UK Haffies are going to have to stay locked up for a quite a while which is quite sad.

I find this virus quite strange in how it impacts various countries.

Australia has half the population of the UK, it has similar lifestyle, similar wealth and health, similar health care, similar government, similar policies and similar policies and timeframes to initiate COVID19 measures.

Yet despite all these similarities the UK has nearly 19,000 deaths and 140,000 infections - yet Australia with 50% the population of the UK has only had 76 deaths (still too many) and 6,700 infections - many from cruise ships - a huge difference in infection rates.

Given all the similarities I am surprised at how great the infection rate is in the UK or why is our rate is so low. The only thing I can think of is our low population density - however the cities are just as dense as those in the UK.

While we have been in lockdown, it is certainly not as strict as elsewhere in the world, eg I can legally drive my haflinger and have done so occasionally, but I guess it is nearly impossible in the UK at present.

So to all our forum members in tight lockdown, wherever you are - stay safe and be cautious - for our US members, as an outsider to your country I would be weary of supporting the lifting of restrictions too soon which seems to be happening.

Stay safe - stay well.

Garry

[Julian B]

We are indeed living in a bubble. We are still allowed to drive anything, but Mr Plod might stop and question you to see if the trip is "essential". The list is pretty extensive, from going to food stores, pharmacies, to work, etc. I drove 30+ miles each way to do some work on my mother's farm yesterday, and would not have flinched had I been stopped. Social distancing has been my mantra for decades, so no real difference there #billynomates.

Australia does seem to have got off very lightly so far - long may that continue. Our deaths are waaaay to many, and the number of front line NHS staff (& carers) who have died is appalling. RIP to them all.

I am very very pleased that I don't live on the 10th floor of a tower block with three children to a room. For them, this must be miserable in the extreme ...



PS My 90 year old mother, who lives on her own in an isolated rural location hasn't been out of her garden for 4 weeks, and probably has another 8 weeks of self isolation to go. I saw her from a distance yesterday as I dropped off some food parcels, but she was remarkably stoic. More strength than I would have!

[AustHaflinger]

PS My 90 year old mother, who lives on her own in an isolated rural location hasn't been out of her garden for 4 weeks, and probably has another 8 weeks of self isolation to go. I saw her from a distance yesterday as I dropped off some food parcels, but she was remarkably stoic. More strength than I would have!

My 92yo mum lives in the family home by herself (500km away from me). She is also doing remarkably well with her little doggie for company. She has home care coming in once a week and they either clean or go shopping for her. These people are a bit of a worry for me in that they visit lots of people and while they take precautions, they do not wear face masks when on the job (they are impossible to get anyway, though my mum did get some and now wears them when the home carer is in the house and hand sanitises a lot after they leave.

I agree - more strength than I would have.

Garry

[heinkeljb]

Lurch came out of Hibernation to take part in the first Trials of 2021 where we are. Various things have come to light after basically not being used for a year. The windscreen leaks like a sieve round the frame, so lots of brown water stains down the dash and footwell. The accelerator stays down when pushed rather than coming back up. The brake pedal does the same. Then the push button starter switch decided to explode and I now don't seem to have all the pieces to put it back together again, so I jury rigged an Battery cut out switch in place which at least allows me to start the engine.

So a couple of pictures from the day.

The slope was not very steep, maybe 20 , 25% but had a hard smooth surface under the mud. Every body who went slowly sat there with wheels turning but not going anywhere. You had to go up at speed from outside the course but then somehow slow down as the moment you it a dry patch of ground with grip there was a turn to negotiate.

John

[AustHaflinger]

Hi John its great that you have been able top get out and take Lurch for a good outing. It is never fun if you dont have to jury rig something - glad it all worked but looks like fun

Garry

[jhon]

Nice to see you and the Haf out and about competing again John; a reminder of the way things used to be and will hopefully return to in the not too distant future.

No trials/events on up here at the moment, though the Haflinger is still getting weekly use running about the countryside and shifting materials.

Here's to better days!

Cheers

John

[AustHaflinger]

Ghee Whizz it is quiet in here - no posts for a couple of weeks.

I got an excuse because it is winter here and it is very wet and cold. Got some thing wrong with my headlights - parkers work, and tail lights work but low beam head lights are not working and hi beam is intermittent. Most like a wet and corroded earth but the front parkers have the same earth as the headlamps but maybe not. I will look at it when it gets warmer.

Garry

[heinkeljb]

Lurch is laid up with no petrol tank as it started weeping a while ago. Took it off with the intention of mending it. Got side tracked into redecorating my old room (we converted the garage into a room for me) for my grandson, but it has turned into a major job. The wall paper was hiding cracks that had to be dealt with. The floor (chipboard) squeaks when you walk on it and when we investigated, there is a 1 inch difference in height between the lowest joist and the highest. So unfortunately Lurch has taken the back seat and nothing more is happening to him until we get the room sorted.

John

[AustHaflinger]

The floor (chipboard) squeaks when you walk on it and when we investigated, there is a 1 inch difference in height between the lowest joist and the highest.
John

I have that issue as well - my house is over 3 levels and the floors creak really bad when you walk over them - I think I am going to have to raise the floor coverings and screw and glue them back down.

Haflinger starts and runs OK just no headlamps.

[heinkeljb]

First off check if you get 12 volts to the back of the bulbs. If not then check fuses. Got power? Then next check the two switches - main turn on/off switch and also dip/main switch.
Do you have the head light flash switch on your indicator stalk? That could also be faulty.

John

[AustHaflinger]

Do you have the head light flash switch on your indicator stalk? That could also be faulty.

John

No I don't - do you? What about self cancelling indicators - I dont, and keep leaving them on which confuses other drivers at times.

[heinkeljb]

My indicator switch has a headlamp flash switch incorporated in it so if you bring the indicator lever up toward the steering wheel, it brings the main beam on.
No self cancelling indicator though - that's a bit too modern! I have the indicator switch facing the middle of the vehicle rather than the outside so you don't kick it by mistake when you get in.....

Actually thinking about it, I don't think it being faulty would be able to stop your head light from being turned on by the normal dashboard switch. Either the flash operation would not work (contacts remain open even when lever is pulled up) or the headlights wold be on all the time if the contact fused together.

Use a multimeter and check if you get 12 volts on the back of the bulbs when the main dashboard switch is pulled all the way out. Then press the DIP switch and see if things change. Dipped beam means one circuit is working, so concentrate your efforts to find the break in the other circuit. Probably a joint or the main dashboard switch.

John

[AustHaflinger]

Its been over a month since I have been having problems with the headlamps - parkers are fine, tail lights are fine and high beam are fine but no low beam.

So I put the car up into the garage as it was so cold outside - wind blowing off the snow and snowing on the nearby mountains but keen to fix this as I need to do a 100km trip on Sunday. I had in my mind that as only low beam was the issue the problem was likely to be the hi/low switch on the floor. But I do have a philosophy that most issues are simple so decided to check the fuses - now I don't know what fuse does what but they were all fine - but after checking them the low beams were now working - the fuse ends being brass just had a bit of verdigris on them and stopping the green steam from flowing - fixed and all sprayed with some lanolin spray to prevent further verdigris.

Great stuff but then the front left parker and the front right blinker stopped working when they worked not 30mins earlier - these will be either blown globes or most likely earth issues. Will look at it tomorrow when the weather is a bit better.

Also had a drip, drip from under the engine so I replaced the brass washers on the oil filter sump plug and the main sump plug and degreased everything so I will have to wait to see if that has fixed this leak.

Also as we know, Hafs do not have internal rear vision mirrors - so in 2013 I purchased a suction cap version which of course would not suck and stay on so I glued it in place with silicon sealant - has sat there for 8 years no issues and yesterday just fell off. So today I glued it back on so we see how long it lasts this time.

Its the little things that take up most of the time - oh the battery that must be nearly 10 years old is not coping with our -5c mornings and it is currently on charge again - normally recovers for a week or so but is definitely going - I have a small lithium jump starter that seems to start the car ok.

Oh - got to tighten up the drive belts - it never ends.

Garry

[heinkeljb]

Lurch has been sleeping for so long I am going to have to do lots of things once I get the petrol tank back in place and full of fuel.
Don't even know where to start!
I think maybe the throttle linkage as that seems to stick where ever you get it to! Then on to any thing else..... Maybe even more tin work killing!

John

[AustHaflinger]

Yes it never ends.

[Julian B]

Lurch has been sleeping for so long ...

I am embarrassed to admit that I haven't even looked at my Haflinger since June 2017 - let alone use it.

[AustHaflinger]

Lurch has been sleeping for so long ...

I am embarrassed to admit that I haven't even looked at my Haflinger since June 2017 - let alone use it.

Well that is just totally unacceptable

No stars for Julian.

[AustHaflinger]

With headlights working I turned to topping up oils, fixing the right flasher and the left front parker.

Oils have not been changed in a couple of years but only covered 1000km so just topped up - most were ok and needed little additional oil. I changed the engine oil and am constantly amazed how dirty the engine oil gets with this engine - as bad as my diesel RRS.

Hit a couple of grease nipples with the gun. Not sure why the clutch cable has a grease nibble in it as grease will lubricate the one spot but as it does not creep will not do the rest of the cable - a oil system would be better. Noticed a couple of perished rubbers on cable ends so need to tape them up as a stop gap. Also looked for spots to put my after market windscreen washer bottle - a few spots under the body but all hard to fill.

The front right flasher was just poor contacts on the festoon style globe so cleaned up and all OK. The front right parker has magically started working again so is a earth fault but as it is working a fix for another day.

I have a leak from the oil pump/filter area of the engine - when running one drop every three seconds. I dont think it is from the filter and my guess is where the filter housing bolts up to the engine. I got a new housing from Bernard but have not put it on. It is held in place by three nuts on studs but it looks like I have to removed the crank pulley to get clearance.

So anyone removed the crank pulley and are there ant special tricks I need to know about? When I do that I will put new belts on and adjust them up tight again - a little lose at the moment.

Garry

[AustHaflinger]

Did a 4wd trip into some rugged country yesterday. Before going I sorted all the above lighting issues before hand.

Came back in the dark last night - one tail light did not work all day, no low beam, one front parking light not working.

After being parked on the front lawn last night - checks electrics first thing this morning and all working great, yet when parked up last night had the faults listed above - Grrrrr.

This is more than faulty earths - likely due to high levels of rain over the past few months and high humidity causing light corrosion forming on connections not helped by the type of fuses used in the fuse box and the festoon type light bulbs used in the tail lights and blinkers - these lose contact when being bounced around in a bucking Haflinger.

Time to go through the systems, cleaning and sanding contacts - soldering some of the festoon connections so they remain in contact and also checking and tightening all earths.

Garry