I expect that gadget is manufactured that way to dissuade anyone from attempting to repair it. The manufacturer probably considers any non-factory repair attempt unsafe. If broken, it’s pretty obvious the manufacturer wants you to replace it with a new one. I’d guess that’s your safest option. Frustrating I know, but better to be frustrated than injured in a car crash. Once you replace it with a new one then you can experiment different ways to remove that cover. I expect prying the slots to widen the cover will get the cover off, but may further damage the stuff inside.
Yeah but according to the you tube, the guy had the worm gear kit and took the unit apart. Evidently had the service manual and maybe directions come with the kit along with the socket. I suspect the assembly method is more for assembly efficiency.
That YouTube was for a different car, I think.
Exactly!!!..
It looks like Nevada’s and later on my observations (as soon as I saw the pic) are ignored in favor of the DIYer approach to just grinding and JB Welding and or other things seem to be a much better idea then trying the most logical way… Oh well… you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink… lol
Not trying to be disrespectful or anything but good grief, that is not the 1st time I have seen something put together like that…
I don’t see a slot. It was crushed from two points on each side so that a bit of the metal in the middle pushed up.
Drilling out the middle to make a hole for a small punch or drill bit to pry up the now 4 detached pressed pieces is what I would do. Center punch first right in the middle of that little part that is pushed up so the hole is right in the middle.
If the OP tries this repair, they should be prepared for failure. Which means having access to a replacement.
OP, have you tried getting a used one, say on car-parts.com? That’s what I’d do.
It looks to me that there’s plenty of gap there to insert a small flat blade screwdriver toward to outer edge and work toward the center to pry those tangs back out. There’s hardly any width to those sections, I doubt it will take much force at all to open them back up. Start small and gradually increase the size if necessary but I doubt it. No way I would drill, cut or otherwise modify that cover…
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The slot is the dark shadowy part, if you make the picture bigger you can see the shadow around the gap better…
Ok, Forget the J.B Weld, it “might not” hold… Forget the actually welding, it might melt the guts, so what left, “Mechanically Fastening” the cover back on…
So, if I was going to shade tree this repair and I could get the unit off so I have access to and a visual line of sight as indicated by the Red Arrow in the graphic. I would perform the following.
First off, I would mount the EPSU in a vice and then when I was grinding and drilling, I only had one item to hold. Besides being safer, you have a lot more precision…
Next, I would grind off the “ears” of the tabs as indicated in the color BLUE, a moto-tool would be the perfect tool and if the OP doesn’t have one, this is the perfect excuse to go buy one…
Then before removing that cover, I would seal it with tape to prevent any stray pieces of metal from falling inside and then I would drill two 1/16" holes in each tab (four in total) as indicated by the color RED.
Then after I finished the "fix’n…) I would replace the cover and secure it with small cotter pins as indicated by the color Green… If the cover is not quite tight, put shims under the cotter pins or over them, I have had good luck with a ballpoint pen’s brass ink tube slipped over the cotter pin or some similar item… In lien of cotter pins, Finishing nails would also work…
Then, if all goes well, I would log back onto this thread and thank everyone for the time and effort they put into this posting…
Wow, wish I could do that, but I’m not going to even try. Let me edit everything I said so far. Keeping in mind the press fit comment, and your illustration, and blowing the picture up, it looks to me that all you have to do is pry the tabs on the cover that look like they have been indented or pressed together. Then squeeze or punch them back together again.
I don’t know how else to explain it but the opening in the cover to fit over the tabs, looks like it has just been squashed in the center. So just pry them straight out again and the thing should come apart.
You purchased a new bearing for $1? What type of bearing is it? Needle bearing, roller bearing, ball bearing, bushing?
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Going to all that work, I would buy the best bearing I could. I put bearings in my carpet shampooed for pretty cheap but paid $10 maybe for good lawn mower spindle bearings. I would think even the small bearings are going to be much more than $1 fir a quality bearing. I’d got to an actual bearing supplier. Still some around in metro areas.
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My bet - this’ll be a repeat of ‘Al Capone’s vault’ - that piece comes off and…the bearing is still inaccessible.
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I have a Craftsman 2X42 Inch Belt Sander that I’ve had over 20-years. I use it in my knifemaking and it gets plenty of rough service with tons of fine metal filings while grinding the blades.
About 5-years after I bought it, one of the bearings started to scream and upon closer inspection the rest were not far behind. Sears was still an option then and I even had a Service Center near by…
Sears wanted over $25 a piece for a single bearing and in the graphic, the RED Arrows point to the two idler wheels that each require two bearings, for a total of four bearings, for over $100 in parts alone and the Sears wanted another $50 to replace them…
I found the bearings at one of the machinist supply houses nearby for less than $5.00 apiece, same manufacturer as the original bearings… I bought them, $20 and change for all and replaced them myself… Knock on wood, they are still running 15-years later…
I knew about this supply house because I also raced Radio Control Cars back then and a racing buddy was a machinist and he told me about this place as the R/C car’s manufacturers (Associated and Tamaya) wanted about $5.00 apiece for each 1/8" and 3/16" flanged and standard high speed sealed ball bearings and this supply house sold them for less than a dollar a piece and they were from the same manufacturer…
And if this topic has not gone far enough off topic, Lowes sells the HVAC Foil Sealer Duct Tape 2" X 50 yard, used for the ducts on A/C and heater duct work, for over $11.00. A local AC/Heater Supply House that sells wholesale and retail gets only $3.00 a roll…
I used to go to a bearing supply house that was close to work and the prices were very reasonable. Think I needed four snow blower auger bearings. The last couple of time have just used on line. An outfit out of Nashville I think. Buy ten at a time for a price break. You can choose the quality. I think seven or eight dollars a piece. Seems to me the better ones were koyo made in Romania, not China.
Is it a sleeve bearing or bushing?; you just need a correctly sized replacement bushing? Grainger has a pretty good array of bronze bushings, but I don’t see many for $1 each. Most seem to be around $5 each.
Looked like a small roller bearing, like the one inch variety. All you need is the number stamped on it to match. My experience with granger at least in Minneapolis is that they like wholesale not retail. But google is your friend if you have the number.
If it’s the bearing shown in post 18 above, agree, looks like a sealed roller bearing. I expect OP was speaking hyperbolically about the putative $1 replacement cost. Many Mt. Bicycles use that type of wheel bearing (usually ball bearings inside rather than rollers) , and I’ve had pretty good luck just popping the seal off & re-lubing, then replacing the seal.
Since mentioning Grainger above, now I’m seeing an ad for Grainger at the top of each category. First time I’m seeing ads here for stuff I’d actually buy … as photos of the Grainger products roll past, I’m thinking ‘oh cool, I want that’ … and ‘that too’ … lol …
Are you folks also presented with ads here for stuff you’d never buy in a million years?
Nope. I just get ads fir dresses and frilly stuff for some reason. But in my emails I get them all.