Category: Big White Bus

Posted on

June 26th, 2004 (Post #47)

June 26th, 2004
New Site, New Shocks
I decided that I needed a site for the online display of my Big White Bus. So as you read this
OkieRover.com is up and running. It contains the same old stuff I had before just in a different format and with a different look.

I was finally able to get some money together to replace the shocks. The control of the dead shocks is starting to scare me on bumps. It’s adventure to go from I-235 on to I-40 west bound. That’s what I call “real driving”. Anyway…I bought Old Man Emu shocks from Ryan at Rover Cannibal. They should be in any day now. Hopefully I can put them on this long weekend. I’ll post the models and maybe some links when they arrive.

Posted on

May 17th, 2004 (Post #45)

May 17th, 2004
A Big Pause
Well ROVErica has had a great month. She competed and won a position on the Longfellow
Middle School Cheer Team for next year. We are very happy about this as her grades have gotten better too. But with this honor my money has been leaving the house at an unpresidented rate.

So I put a couple of projects on hold and have been bracing for the cost of Cheer Camp and all the clothes that go with it. In the midst of this my oldest daughter announced that she will wed her boyfriend in June 2005. We are very happy for her. With this more monies are exiting the domicile now and not even asking “by your leave sir” as they fly past me. Janie’s back surgery went excellently and her recovery is very good. She is not working and thus the funding has also gotten hit on that end. I didn’t really want to get new bushings and shocks anyway.

I desperately need them as The Big White Bus sounds like a creaky old man while traversing the
parking lots and gutters of our hometown.

I did start on the trailer lights and had to stop. I wanted to disassemble the deck lid and get
the rust stopped. I quit on this too. If a day or two come up in June I’ll get back on it hopefully.

Good News.
The catalytic converters on the Big White Bus are no longer rattling. I guess all the driving has ground them down and they haven’t rattled in month. I wish all my issues fixed themselves like this.

Funny story. My friend recently got a Jaguar XJ6. Nice car, very pretty. She was getting a message from the car that her “boot” was open. She had no idea what that meant. She drove around for a few days and it quit. During recent dinner at her house and JagGuy gave her a lesson on British car terminology just in case she had any more error messages she didn’t understand.

I have started working on graphics for a web page featuring my truck. I need a new name for the Big White Bus. Many people name their trucks but I have yet to find one I really, really liked. If you have a suggestion, email me at rover dot eric at cox dot net. Thanks.

Posted on

November 24th, 2003 (Post #35)

November 24, 2003
Updates
I could have told you cold weather was coming. As you will see the list of repairs for the Big White Bus has only grown right here before Christmas and the weather was beautiful the last two weeks. But alas no money in the pocket of this hapless Rover owner for repairs.

Well lots of things have been going on lets get them listed. I have reported the Error 34 and it’s cause, I am sure, is the oxygen sensors. So I consulted the site Rangerovers.net and am going to buy the sensors fairly soon. I am going to try the NGK equivilent parts at the reduced cost. I’ll let you know how that goes.

I also have to have new tie-rod ends. Those are obviously getting critical due some noticable
variations in my steering. This is a less exciting repair but again very important. As I don’t wish
to pay for two alignments I will probably order a bushing set also. With the addition of installing my new springs and shocks this will make for a very interesting Saturday I am sure.

I have a catalytic converter with a nasty rattle also. I will probably wait to do this as I am not sure I can afford to put that much out all at once. This is not so critical and I can stand the noise for a bit more.

A new leak in the power steering hoses near the steering box is going to be yet another adventure. I have learned a lot from the last time and will be more careful this time. I hope they will be able to be recrimped and if not I will have a new set made. This is a tiring annoyance and I don’t want to do this project again.

This morning I noticed a bit of anti-freeze on the drive way on the driver’s side of the truck. I was running late and not dressed for auto maintenance this morning so that will also wait ’til later. I can’t think of any good reason for the leak over there so I am a bit concerned.

As you can see dear friends the Big White Bus is showing it’s age. We intended to take her on a trip this fall to Denver but with all these things I decided not to risk the long drive. Sad as she would have been a more comfortable alternative to our Taurus. I have been contemplating a big rebuild but I don’t have a third car so that will also have to wait. My laziness and my financial situation have crept up on me and it shows due to the list above.

Posted on

September 26th, 2003 (Post #34)

September 26, 2003
CV Joint Woes
Well the knocking in the front of the Big White Bus had gotten to the point I was afraid to drive it. With the insistance of my buddy JagGuy I endeavored to persevere. [I miss Chief Dan George] Anyway I went to Rover Cannibal after seeing the prices of a new CV joint on the internet. They had a lovely one in the color I wanted too, just kidding.

So I got that and the premeasured tube of grease and the inside seal. I actually did not replace it but I have it just in case. I went over on Sunday afternoon. It was not as horrible an ordeal as I expected. JagGuy had done his when it exploded and described a nasty job. When they explode or come apart they leave lots of schrapnel all inside the housing. This schrapnel has to be removed and is not a pleasant job. So when he was being insistant that I change it, he was speaking from the experience of a lengthly procedure, and he and I wanted to avoid that.

I (and he) could not get over how easy it was to change this vital part. In our experience
with the countless cars we had owned before this would have been a good reason to get rid of the vehicle. But this thing was amazingly simple and functional all in the same design. These trucks are tough and easy to work on. That is something you don’t see in most vehicles. I have a write up for this but need some pictures which JagGuy is going to provide from his project. My camera died two shots in to the job, dead batteries. So look for it later next month. On the
Difficulty Scale I would rate this job a Level Three. A few tricks are important to know
but nothing the manual probably doesn’t say.

Error 34
I track my gas mileage with a Palm Pilot. So each fill up is lottery of how great or terrible
my gas mileage is. I average 14.9 miles per gallon most fill ups. This last two weeks it has risen to 15.9 mpg and even a 16.1 mpg. Well with all good things there is some bad. The Check Engine light illuminated and a quick check under the passenger seat of the OBD readout shows Error 34. As you are or are not aware that is Injector Bank A, Left Side, still no help with the description.

I do not know which side that is but I will find out soon. I don’t have any idea
what the message means either. I will be doing some investigating of the fuel system and how it works this week I guess. I’m guessing with the gas mileage going up the truck is running leaner than it should. I also have a tappet rattle when I accelerate hard which might be fuel starvation. But again these are guesses. More as I get it.

Posted on

January 27th, 2003 (Post #20)

January 27, 2003
It has finally happened…
It is bitter cold outside. (See below for details.) And the Big White Bus has finally left me at the side of the road. Actually it left me in front of a 7-Eleven but you get the point.

It was in the low teens Friday morning and I got in the Rover to go to work. I started it up and went to fill with petrol. I turned it off to open the gas door. Restarted to keep it warm while I filled the tank with the precious go-go juice. I pulled up to the front to go in and pay. When I returned the key would not turn in the ignition. No way. All the obvious things I tried. Multiple keys, turning the wheel to relieve the pressure of the steering lock, everything. Enough graphite to grease a battleship.

So in my desperate state I returned to the house to check my AllData subscription to see if I was missing anything. I returned to begin taking things apart to find the problem. The key lock mechanism is completely mechanical and free of the solenoids that prevent everything else on the Rover from working unless conditions are met. So with this bit of knowledge from my friend JagGuy I took the steering column cowling off. I messed with the lock some more but to no avail. I did manage to pull the electrics off the back of the tumbler mechanism and now know I can start my truck without the key.

Nothing worked, I had given up. Done. Call the tow truck. “Game over man, game over.” I started gathering the important things and put a couple of things back together. I was about to pull the key out and I thought one more try, what have I got to loose, twist and wow it turned. I have no idea why it turned, but it did. It did not start but it did turn. I had failed to secure the electric switch part of the mechanism back to the tumbler correctly. This is poorly manufactured and even more poorly designed. I managed to get it back together correctly and it started. It started consistantly at least 5 times.

Did I learn anything from the experience? Yes, I can take the silly thing apart in my sleep now. I know how the shifter mechanism works intimately. Could I replace a tumbler, probably but I’m not sure I would try it when the temperature was below 50 degrees farenheit.

I would like to thank Ryan at Rover Cannibal for his generous offer to bring my truck down for the guys to look at it, again. I will take him up on that soon. Thanks to JagGuy in helping me
return the Taurus to Janie so she could get home after work and for his invaluable knowledge of automobiles of the British Isles (do they still call them that?).

Have a good winter. Talk to you next week.

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