As posted previously I changed my 4 strut accumulators last year. Does anyone have experience and any tips or write ups on how to do the remaining 5.
Also check out my new Avatar (this is where the Rover name I use comes from)
Q45a accumulator swap
I take it you DO have an FSM right? I assume so, cause you'd be some sort of crazy americano if you didn't .
GreenQ45a (Jeremy) may be able to help you. Life's been a little hectic for him lately though.
Very nice car btw! Do you have or have you ever owned one, or is it a sort of "dream" car?
Corey
GreenQ45a (Jeremy) may be able to help you. Life's been a little hectic for him lately though.
Very nice car btw! Do you have or have you ever owned one, or is it a sort of "dream" car?
Corey
Re: Q45a accumulator swap (rover3l)
There are the front and rear main accumulators. Front main is in front of right front fender well, mounted vertically, about 2"dia x 10" high. Rear main is mounter horizontally in fromt of right trunk well. about same size as front main. Front 'valve' accumulator is mounted on the pressure control valve--which is by the front main accumulator. This small (1"x 4") accumulator mounts horizontally fore-aft on the front side of the valve assembly and is easiest accessed by removing the headlight assembly and coolant overfloe reservoir. Alternative is to disconnect the valve assembly and drop it out (not a big deal really.) Rear vavle unit is mounted onto the rear pressure control valve, points to the rear,--2 styles interghangeable) one is 1" x 5', the other 1.5" x about 4". .
1.Support the car on 4 jack-stands placed under the frame, one behind each front wheel, one in front of each rear wheel. These should each be rated at 2 tons. Weight must be off the wheels.
2.(not necessary if on a lift.) Remove all four tires. Store the tires under the car. (Also provides something other than you for the car to fall on)
3.Remove the left and right front fender well front shields. Most of the plastic panel fasteners have a plastic screw in the center, which are unscrewed, releasing the clip.
4.Remove the plastic shield covering the right rear suspension valve under the trunk.
5.On the right front control valve, (in front of the right wheel) attach a clean hose to the two ‘brake bleeders’ in turn and release any pressure. Re-close lightly. 6.On the Right front control valve, locate the main pressure bleed screw, which is held with a lock nut. Loosen the lock nut and screw by turning it counterclockwise to release any system pressure. Sometimes this valve is ‘stuck’ and you can unscrew the entire screw/nut assembly and it will ‘free up’ immediately. Retighten the pressure bleed screw lightly and just snug the lock nuts.
7.On the LEFT front control valve, locate the pressure bleed screw, held in place by a lock nut. Loosen the nut and turn this valve IN to open. It is backward from the others IN to open, OUT to close. After the pressure is bled off. Turn it back out lightly closed and snug the lock nut . All three pressure bleed valves will be used to flush and bleed the system
8.On the right rear control valve ’brake bleeders’, attach the hose and release any pressure as for the front valves. Re-close lightly.
9.On the rear control valve, also locate the main pressure bleed screw, which is each held with a lock nut. Loosen the lock nut and loosen the screw by turning it (out) counterclockwise to release any system pressure. As for the front, this valve may be ‘stuck’ and you can loosen the entire valve/nut assembly to loosen it up. Retighten the screw and lock nut lightly.
10.In all cases, re-installation is the reverse of removal. Nothing exotic or special. Just remember to put the sealing rings back in place. You should clean them off and lubricate them with some of the suspension fluid. Cleanliness is important. Do not get dirt or trash into your system!
11.The rear main accumulator is black, about 3 inches in diameter and 8 inches long, and has two hydraulic lines attached to the rear with ‘banjo’ fittings. Loosen and remove both banjo fittings (they may be tight) before loosening the clamps holding the accumulator. Keep the banjo fitting bolts and seals in a safe place for re-installation. After removing the banjo fittings, loosen and remove the clamp bolts and ‘stuff’ around the accumulator and slip it out. Remember it may be full of oil. Reinstall the exchange unit and tighten all the pipe connections and bolts.
12.The front main accumulator is in the right front fender well, in front of the wheel opening, toward the outside. It is black, about 3 inches in diameter and about 10 inches long, mounted vertically. A hydraulic line is attached to the bottom with a banjo fitting as on the rear. Loosen and remove this before loosening the accumulator attachments. (Caution, if you do not release all the system pressure using the pressure bleed valves, this connection may spray quite a bit of oil out when in ‘pops’ free. It is an O-ring seal, so just backing off the bolt does not open the fitting, The bolt must be turned out a couple of rounds and the fitting carefully sprung free.) The accumulator is held in place by two small bolts through a ‘tee’ assembly on the top of the accumulator. Reinstall the exchange unit as soon as you can to minimize air infiltration.
13.After all the accumulators are re-installed, all the electrical connections reconnected, all the lines re-attached and tightened and checked, etc., you are ready to begin bleeding the system.
14.Fill the reservoir with new fluid (Get it from Scottsdale Infiniti). If you are tempted to reuse the old fluid, filter it very carefully through two layers of paper shop towels or 4 layers of paper towels. Dirt is death to hydraulic systems. Please be extremely careful and don’t get road grit in the system. Remember to check and refill the reservoir frequently during the early stages as air is being bled out. You have to replace what leaked out, plus about a cup for each accumulator replaced.
15.Start the car (it’s still up on jackstands.) Open all the pressure bled screws -- the ones with the lock nuts—each in turn starting from left front. Leave them all open for about 5 minutes to flush things out real well. This removes most of the air and any debris that may have gotten in. Close all these pressure bleed valves, starting at the rear, then right front (screwing IN on these two), then the left front (screwing OUT on this one) tighten them and snug down the lock nuts.
16.After all the bleeding, shut it off, install new dust caps on the bleeders (get new ones at any auto parts store they are brake bleeder caps.) and put all the access panels back on, put on the wheels, remove the jack stands, check the fluid level and go driving. It is usual for it to make some funny sounds for a day or two if all the air has not been bled out. Don’t worry that is normal and will eventually go away.
Maybe this will help a bit. From Texasoil
1.Support the car on 4 jack-stands placed under the frame, one behind each front wheel, one in front of each rear wheel. These should each be rated at 2 tons. Weight must be off the wheels.
2.(not necessary if on a lift.) Remove all four tires. Store the tires under the car. (Also provides something other than you for the car to fall on)
3.Remove the left and right front fender well front shields. Most of the plastic panel fasteners have a plastic screw in the center, which are unscrewed, releasing the clip.
4.Remove the plastic shield covering the right rear suspension valve under the trunk.
5.On the right front control valve, (in front of the right wheel) attach a clean hose to the two ‘brake bleeders’ in turn and release any pressure. Re-close lightly. 6.On the Right front control valve, locate the main pressure bleed screw, which is held with a lock nut. Loosen the lock nut and screw by turning it counterclockwise to release any system pressure. Sometimes this valve is ‘stuck’ and you can unscrew the entire screw/nut assembly and it will ‘free up’ immediately. Retighten the pressure bleed screw lightly and just snug the lock nuts.
7.On the LEFT front control valve, locate the pressure bleed screw, held in place by a lock nut. Loosen the nut and turn this valve IN to open. It is backward from the others IN to open, OUT to close. After the pressure is bled off. Turn it back out lightly closed and snug the lock nut . All three pressure bleed valves will be used to flush and bleed the system
8.On the right rear control valve ’brake bleeders’, attach the hose and release any pressure as for the front valves. Re-close lightly.
9.On the rear control valve, also locate the main pressure bleed screw, which is each held with a lock nut. Loosen the lock nut and loosen the screw by turning it (out) counterclockwise to release any system pressure. As for the front, this valve may be ‘stuck’ and you can loosen the entire valve/nut assembly to loosen it up. Retighten the screw and lock nut lightly.
10.In all cases, re-installation is the reverse of removal. Nothing exotic or special. Just remember to put the sealing rings back in place. You should clean them off and lubricate them with some of the suspension fluid. Cleanliness is important. Do not get dirt or trash into your system!
11.The rear main accumulator is black, about 3 inches in diameter and 8 inches long, and has two hydraulic lines attached to the rear with ‘banjo’ fittings. Loosen and remove both banjo fittings (they may be tight) before loosening the clamps holding the accumulator. Keep the banjo fitting bolts and seals in a safe place for re-installation. After removing the banjo fittings, loosen and remove the clamp bolts and ‘stuff’ around the accumulator and slip it out. Remember it may be full of oil. Reinstall the exchange unit and tighten all the pipe connections and bolts.
12.The front main accumulator is in the right front fender well, in front of the wheel opening, toward the outside. It is black, about 3 inches in diameter and about 10 inches long, mounted vertically. A hydraulic line is attached to the bottom with a banjo fitting as on the rear. Loosen and remove this before loosening the accumulator attachments. (Caution, if you do not release all the system pressure using the pressure bleed valves, this connection may spray quite a bit of oil out when in ‘pops’ free. It is an O-ring seal, so just backing off the bolt does not open the fitting, The bolt must be turned out a couple of rounds and the fitting carefully sprung free.) The accumulator is held in place by two small bolts through a ‘tee’ assembly on the top of the accumulator. Reinstall the exchange unit as soon as you can to minimize air infiltration.
13.After all the accumulators are re-installed, all the electrical connections reconnected, all the lines re-attached and tightened and checked, etc., you are ready to begin bleeding the system.
14.Fill the reservoir with new fluid (Get it from Scottsdale Infiniti). If you are tempted to reuse the old fluid, filter it very carefully through two layers of paper shop towels or 4 layers of paper towels. Dirt is death to hydraulic systems. Please be extremely careful and don’t get road grit in the system. Remember to check and refill the reservoir frequently during the early stages as air is being bled out. You have to replace what leaked out, plus about a cup for each accumulator replaced.
15.Start the car (it’s still up on jackstands.) Open all the pressure bled screws -- the ones with the lock nuts—each in turn starting from left front. Leave them all open for about 5 minutes to flush things out real well. This removes most of the air and any debris that may have gotten in. Close all these pressure bleed valves, starting at the rear, then right front (screwing IN on these two), then the left front (screwing OUT on this one) tighten them and snug down the lock nuts.
16.After all the bleeding, shut it off, install new dust caps on the bleeders (get new ones at any auto parts store they are brake bleeder caps.) and put all the access panels back on, put on the wheels, remove the jack stands, check the fluid level and go driving. It is usual for it to make some funny sounds for a day or two if all the air has not been bled out. Don’t worry that is normal and will eventually go away.
Maybe this will help a bit. From Texasoil
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rover3l
- Posts: 514
- Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2003 3:22 am
- Car: 1998 Q45, 2000Q45 Anniversary, 1965 Rover 3L,
Just been researching the archives and it would seem that the next stage should be to replace the two mains as the other 3 units have minimal effect. The only part of the job I am nervous about is working on the car while it is on 4 jacks. I have a healthy fear about it falling off when I am applying force to the banjo bolts