Right well yesterday it was Bazil Brush day
So bunged the van on a set of ramps and first off removed the traction fuses from the pack by the 12v aux batt and then removed the inspection cover
Removing the plastic over reveals this...........
Next job can be to remove the first brush or remove the two cables that attach to the brush ring, I removed the bolts from these like so...
Now you can either undo the brush cable connection or withdraw the brush, I pulled the spring back and pulled the brush out, it actually pretty much fell out.
Undo the bolt that holds the brush cable and you will then have the old brush in you hand.
A quick check to see what the brush holder looks like, mine seemed fine and apart from some carbon dust which I wiped out using a bit of cloth it seemed fine.
A quick compare of old and new
Yep they where totally trollied
and I think it was only my gentle driving that had saved any worse wear on the comutator.
Right time to reverse the proceedure with the new one
And there we go one new brush installed
only another 3 to go
Right now heres the sneaky bit, you need to rotate the brush ring to get to the other brushes, there are two bolts that are securing the ring and you just need to release these, no need to take them out, in fact I couldnt take mine out as they have circlips to stop you but if yours havent then dont take them out as you'll never get them back without major work !!!
The are here ( its the little bolt hidden in the webbing of the gear casing)
and here ( the one with the blue paint and opersite the other one )
Loosen these by about one or two turns and then the brush ring should be able to rotate freely, there may be some crud that needs to be wiped away but it should then rotate so you can get to the other brushes in turn and cary out the change.
You might find it will be easier to rotate the ring in one direction compared to the other due to the two large cables you disconnected, I dont think it matters which way you go I just went for the easist
Once you have changed all the brushes then re-time the ring by putting the dimpled bit in line with hole, heres a pic of the dimple and hole on the ring, I put a small screw driver in the hole and then rotated the ring until it fell in the hole and then re-tighened the ring securing bolts.
You can see the dimple is about to go underneath the hole in the casting in that pic.
Dont over tighten the ring securing bolts as it is only plastic. Once thats secure then re-attach the two cables and jobs a good'n.
Becareful when un-doing or tightening any of the bolts in there as they are all on brass and so wont take much stick and the last thing you want to do is strip them
Re-attach the cover, replace the fuses, back it off the ramps and jobs done
Now its a REALLY good idea to run in the new brushes before giving the van any stick, you could even jack the van up if you wanted to be REALLY gentle on them and run the motor with the wheels off the ground for a few miles. After which I'd suggest that you take it real easy for a good few charges and not exceed the green bit of the eco meter ( not that I do that much anyway
) before giving the van some welly.
The last thing you want to do is expect the new brushes to be able to follow the contour of the comutator with 400A going through them, it would proberbly result in lots of sparks and damage to the Com
Lastly make a note of the milage so you know when its time to change them next.
I would suggest whole heartedly check your brushes !!! its real easy and could save you a lot of grief in the long run.
Lastly heres a pic of a very sad lot of brushes
These all should have been changed AGES ago
ChrisB