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Starting your Harley-Davidson Ironhead motorcycle is often taken for granted. You get on the bike, turn on the fuel and ignition and give it a kick to bring the motor to life. All goes well until the day when you go to kick start the bike and the kicker gear fails, leaving you stranded with no way to start the engine. Replacing a broken or worn out gear is time consuming, but well within the abilities of the average home mechanic. You can save hundreds of dollars of expensive shop time by doing the job yourself.

Instructions

1

Disconnect the battery negative (-) cable. Remove the kick starter pedal and both foot pegs. Remove the gearshift lever and remove the rear brake master cylinder from the frame, but do not disconnect the hydraulic hose.

2

Place a drain pan underneath the primary chain cover. Remove the chain case drain plug to drain the chain case oil. Remove the chain case cover and the gasket.

3

Install the spring compression tool H-D 97178-71 onto the crankcase and compress the releasing disc. Remove the retaining nuts, disc and inner and outer clutch springs. Remove the spring compression tool from the crankcase.

4

Remove the outer drive plate and all the friction and inner driven plates. Store the plates in the order they were removed. Remove the pressure plate and chain adjuster. Remove the clutch hub nut and lock-washer and remove the clutch hub.

5

Loosen the exhaust pipe and muffler. Remove the sprocket cover and rotate the crank gear until the starter clutch gear falls free. Remove the shaft nut and lock-washer. Tap the end of the kick starter shaft to loosen the crank gear. Remove the crank gear, kick-starter shaft, oil seal, thrust plate and shims.

6

Inspect the kick starter gears and shafts for wear and damage. Replace as required. Install the kick starter in the reverse order of disassembly. Torque the kicker gear nut to 55 to 65 ft-lbs. and use a new lock-washer.

Purging a pipe involves inducing an inert gas into the pipe to remove reactive atmospheric gases from the welding area. An inert gas atmosphere eliminates oxidation from forming on the backside of the weld. Oxidation forming on the backside or inside of the weld increases friction around the weld joint and causes structural weakness if the oxidation leads to porosity. Use the same type of inert gas for both welding and purging which increases the stability of the weld.

Instructions

1

Cover one end of the pipe with masking tape. Cut a small "X" in the center of the masking tape covering the end of the pipe with a utility knife.

2

Thread a gas regulator onto a bottle of inert gas. Tighten the regulator with an adjustable wrench.

3

Slide the hose coming from the gas regulator into the open end of the pipe.

4

Cover the open end of the pipe with masking tape, securing the hose inside of the pipe.

5

Purge the pipe. Turn the valve onto of the gas bottle counterclockwise to start gas flowing into the pipe. Allow the pipe to fill with gas for one to five minutes depending on pipe diameter. Cover the cut "X" with masking tape to hold the inert gas in the pipe.

6

Allow the inert gas to continue to flow as you weld the pipe seam.

Plugging of the catalytic converter is a frequent problem experienced by many vehicle owners. Many individuals choose to remove the converter completely or hollow the inside of the honeycomb out.

Purpose of the Converter

The catalytic converter serves to reduce harmful emissions that automobiles release into the air. The primary pollutant that is minimized is carbon monoxide, which is reduced to incredibly low levels to have a smaller impact on the environment. Many states have emissions inspections that are conducted on a yearly basis to ensure the catalytic converter is working correctly.

Impact of Removal

When a catalytic converter is damaged or removed, a few different clues signify it. The fuel economy of a vehicle will drop without a converter, along with a lack of power. If pressure is excessive due to the converter being plugged, you may experience frequent stalling or rough idling.

Detrimental Effects

Other impacts of removing the converter include risking damage to the other components, primarily the oxygen sensor, which works in conjunction with the catalytic converter. This may also cause the check engine light to come on, which will cause the vehicle to fail an emissions test.

A single pole double throw, or SPDT, relay is the most common type of relay used in the automotive industry. This relay has multiple pins and is commonly located alongside fuses and other relays in automotive applications. In a 1999 Mercedes-Benz ML320, there are two locations for the SPDT relays. The primary relay location is on the right side of the engine compartment, inside the main fuse box. The second location is above the passenger side foot well. The primary engine fuse box contains relays for the anti-lock brakes, ignition system, cooling fans, and other primary systems. The secondary fuse box contains relays for most of the interior systems, such as the radio and door locks.

Instructions

Primary Fuse Box

1

Turn off the ML320s engine and open the hood.

2

Shine a work light in the back-right corner of the engine, near the firewall.

3

Locate the primary fuse box. It is a large black box, made from high impact plastic.

4

Release the snaps on the box cover. Remove the cover to expose the relays and fuses inside the fuse box. A diagram is printed on the underside of the cover detailing the function and location of each fuse and relay within the box.

Secondary Fuse Box

5

Open the front passenger door.

6

Shine a work light underneath the dashboard.

7

Look on the upper right side of the foot well area. The secondary fuse box is mounted on the upper-right side of the foot well area. This box is a smaller, square box made from the same black plastic.

8

Remove the black cover on the secondary fuse box by depressing the plastic locking tabs. There is also a diagram on the underside of the secondary fuse box cover that details the locations of the relays and fuses within the secondary fuse box.

Powder coating is the process in which dried paint particles are electrostatically charged and sprayed on to your frame. The final product is the same as having two coats of cured wet paint on the surface. This method is fairly new to the painting world, first applied in Australia in 1967. With good preparation, powder coating will give you a solid painted surface that will stand up to the elements.

Instructions

1

Sand away any oxidation or previous paint coatings from your frame. Start with the heavy grit sandpaper if you need to remove layers of paint. Sand the frame again with the medium grit sandpaper to remove any scratches. Wet sand the frame with the fine grit sandpaper to prepare the surface for a smooth paint job.

2

Wipe the frame down with tack cloth to remove all dust and particles.

3

Attach the ground wire from your powder coating gun to the hanging rack. This ground loop will attract the charged paint particles to your frames surface.

4

Plug the power cord for your powder coating gun into a nearby electrical outlet. This will allow the gun to charge the paint particles as they are blown onto the frames surface.

5

Connect your powder coat gun to the air supply hose from the air compressor.

6

Turn on the air compressor and let it charge for three minutes to build up pressure.

7

Fill your paint sprayer with powder coating.

8

Spray the frame evenly until all surfaces are coated.

9

Place the frame in the oven at 400 degrees and allow it to bake for 15 minutes.

10

Remove the frame from the oven carefully using the gloves. Allow it to cool down before handling.

At first glance, tire size numbering can be confusing. You may wonder if a 265/75/15 tire is interchangeable with a 265/75/16 tire. Once you understand the tire sizing format, it will become apparent what tires are compatible with your rim size.

Rim size

The most important information about tire interchangeability is the rim size, which is the last number in the display. For a 265/75/R15 tire, the R15 signifies a 15-inch rim. A 265/75/R16 tire is for a 16-inch rim and will not fit a 15-inch rim.

Tire section width

The first number in the tire size after the letter signifies a tire section width. If the number is 265/75/R15, this means the width is 265 millimeters.

Sidewall aspect ratio

The number after the first slash in the tire size is the sidewall aspect ratio. For example, the tire 265/75/R15 has a sidewall that is 75 percent of the width. It is indicates the height of the tire from where it connects to the rim to the tread.

Tire Lettering

Tire type is the first character in the display, such as P265/75/R15. P signifies use on a passenger car. LT signifies light truck tires, T a temporary spare tire. An LT tire of the same size as your previous P tire could be used as a temporary replacement, but this is not recommended.

When ball joints go bad, the result can be a vehicle and driver sitting on the side of the road with one of the front tires folded underneath the vehicle. There was a day when changing lower ball joints was challenging and still can be on vehicles with traditional coil spring suspension. Most automobiles today, however, have some type of strut suspension and are much safer to work on in the owners garage. One of the biggest challenges for a do-it-yourself individual is how to separate the lower ball joint from the steering knuckle.

Instructions

1

Chock the rear wheels with a wheel chock on each rear wheel. Raise the front end of the vehicle far enough that the front tires do not touch the ground, by positioning a floor jack under the engine cross member and raising the floor jack, following the instructions in the jack manufacturers owners manual. Place jack stands beneath the front jacking points of the vehicle and extend the center posts of the jack stand as far as they will go. Lower the vehicle onto the jack stands, following the instructions in the jack manufacturers owners manual and ensuring the front tires of the vehicle are still off the ground.

2

Remove the lug nuts holding the wheels to the vehicle with the vehicles lug wrench and remove the wheel.

3

Remove the brake caliper, if equipped with disc brakes, from the steering knuckle, following the instructions in the vehicle manufacturers repair manual. Use a piece of wire to hang the caliper from the strut in such a way that there is no pressure on the brake line that leads to the caliper and ensure the caliper will not be in the way of the work at hand.

4

Straighten the ends of the cotter pin that is in the hole in the ball joint shaft with a pair of needle-nose pliers. Pull the other end of the cotter pin out of the hole, using the needle-nose pliers. The cotter pin prevents the crown nut from accidentally coming loose.

5

Remove the crown nut from the ball-joint shaft by putting the appropriate size wrench from a toolkit on the nut and turning the nut counterclockwise until it is off the ball joint shaft.

6

Insert the fork end of a ball-joint separator, more commonly known as a pickle fork, between the lower control arm and the steering knuckle, ensuring the ball-joint shaft is aligned with the center of the pickle fork. Hit the other end of the pickle fork with a hammer, wedging the pickle fork between the lower control arm and the steering knuckle until the ball joint, which is mounted in the lower control arm and the steering knuckle have separated.