In this episode, I replace the fuel filter on the Range Rover Classic.
I had a premonition that I might have a dirty fuel filter. I had decided I was going to change it and was planning when I might do that. Then I went out to the Big White Bus this weekend and she wouldn’t start.
Fuel blockage was on my mind already, and I locked in on that. You need four things to start a Range Rover:
Fuel
Air
Spark
Hope
I threw in that last one, better safe than sorry. I know I have air. I don’t know if any fuel is getting up there. When I spray with starter fluid it tries to run. I know spark has been an issue for me in the past, so this is why I didn’t have any hope.
The fuel filter was corroded on the fuel tank side. I finally managed to get some PB Blaster in there to break up the rust. The steel fitting had been in the filter TOO LONG. So once I got it off I installed the new one.
Unfortunately this wasn’t the issue. So I have to diagnose if fuel is getting to the rail, and I have to check if I have yet again destroyed a coil and or an ignition module. I don’t have spares, or I don’t think I do. So playing the Easter egg swap game hoping I find a bad component is probably not going to happen.
If I determine the spark is the issue, I’m going to move to a fully electronic distributor from D.U.I. Performance Distributors.
Parasitic draw. Nothing is worse than electric problems with your vehicle. Nothing. Nope…not even that….or that. Electronic problems top the list. Okay, I googled it and electric problems weren’t even on the list on some sites. It’s numero uno on my list so let’s run with that.
In this installment I set out to the source of my parasitic draw. Seems like this is a common issue with older cars and British cars in particular. This is not the first time for me. A few episodes ago I diagnosed a possible failed alternator. When the diode pack fails in an alternator it can lead to dead batteries.
I currently have the alternator isolated so I know my issue isn’t that. I setup the multimeter in series with my battery and got it placed on the windshield so I could watch the setting change.
I started with 1.9 amps of draw. I pulled every fuse in the fuse block to no avail. I then started on the auxiliary fuses under the passenger seat. There is a row of covered fuses, I check all those. There is also two fuses stuck on the side. Turns out one of these was the culprit. When I pulled the red 10 amp fuse the draw dropped to .01 amps.
I have 4 manuals and one of them had the fuses identified. This fuse was the fuel pump. Now that’s a bit of a puzzler. The fuel pump is OFF when the key is off. I spent a lot of time thinking about it. And I didn’t come up with anything. I’ll need to look at the electrical circuit and see what comes up. I’m also going to call JagGuy and get his take on it.
This is part 1 of I’m not sure how many parts. As many as it takes…
This weekend was the Marine Corps’ 249th birthday. I give a shout out to my friends and family who were Marines. I also gave a shout out to all the veterans in my family. There were a bunch.
Marines, my grandfather William Alvy Stephens served during the Banana Wars after WW1 and my uncle Ben Johnson on my mom’s side served during Vietnam. I also served with several friends who also served with me in the USMCR and went on to retire, MGySgt Jason Rogers, USMCR (ret.) and Col. Mike Gann, USMC (ret.). My friend Howard McKinnis also served in the Marine Corps during Vietnam. My wife has several cousins who also served and retired from our beloved Corps.
I come from a long line of veterans. Both my dad and uncle served in the Navy. Another uncle on my mom’s side served in the Navy. My cousin Victoria retired from the Army and she had a son who also served in the Army. My cousin Dan served in the Air Force and a son of his served in the Navy. Many of my Great Uncles served during WW2 in the Merchant Marines and in the US Army Air Corps. Brave men one and all. I’m sure I could go on to name all my cousins who are married to military men but I’ll stop here.
Thank you for your service to our great nation.
Like and subscribe, thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.
In this post I play a chemist and use muriatic acid to de-galvanize the zinc off my Z bar. Some time ago I sourced some Z bar to rebuild the rusted ledge of the floor panel. Welding galvanized steel can make you sick. It requires a well ventilated space and likely a respirator. There are lots of videos on the YouTubes that show guys welding galvanized steel. I’ve seen enough warnings to know I don’t want anything to do with it.
So using some of the acid for the swimming pool I decided to chemically remove the zinc. This too is very dangerous. So this is fair warning, don’t try this at home kids.
I got the zinc off in short order and got the Z bar double primed and double coated with black paint. I have no fantasy that this will never rust. I just don’t want it to rust through in the next 10 years.
I also got the sunroof drain installed. This was rewarding. Getting little jobs done is great. I bought a “step drill” and am now wondering why I didn’t buy one A LONG TIME AGO. This was pretty awesome. It was expensive at $58.00(US) for one that would cut mild steel.
My next step is to dry fit the panel to confirm the Z bar and panel will fit in the place it once was. I also reached out to my biological brother’s sister (we didn’t grow up together) to see what getting the panel stripped with her metal stripping service. I really can’t go forward without that step completed.
That’s about it for this week. Like and subscribe on YouTube. Subscribe to the blog so you get notifications. I had a hit with…
In this episode I change the oil the my Range Rover Classic. My grandson Grady came over to help so we tried to make this mundane task fun!
The good news is we got the Big White Bus running and drove it out of the shoppe! This was huge. It’s been a while and to see her running and driving was pretty awesome.
Not much to say about the oil change, I done this somewhere around 73 or 74 times. Every 3,000 miles, or in this case, after sitting for 4 years. I know, I know, but it all worked out. It’s got fresh oil for now and we’ll be starting and running the Range Rover Classic every week from here on out.
We also gave her a bath. 4 years of dust had settled on her and it was badly needed. Also helps me keep a cleaner shoppe.
That’s about it for this week. Hopefully Mrs. Okierover has won her third straight Oklahoma Senior Games Over 55 Women’s 3v3 Basketball tournament. With a win, they advance once again to Nationals. I’ll report back next week with the results.
Like and Subscribe. Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.
Well here we go again. I decided this weekend I was going to get the Big White Bus started and move her out of the shoppe. I tried to get her started and nothing. I didn’t hear the fuel pump kick on. That’s…a bad sign.
So I asked my son to help me test. I had him turn the ignition on while I checked the voltage at the fuel pump. I had voltage.
That eliminated a LOT of testing of other components. I had a bad feeling the fuel pump was crapped out again. Turns out I was right. It was completely varnished.
What the hell right? I put 5 gallons of fresh gas in it back in December after I replaced the rubber filler hoses. I guess that wasn’t enough fresh gas. I called my friend JagGuy and asked some “chemistry” questions regarding gasoline.
Is it possible that the gas in the tank is so far gone that it varnishes? Its possible was his reply. We came to the same conclusion that all the gas needs to be removed and fresh gas added. We also talked about fuel stabilizer. I’ve never used fuel stabilizer. I guess I’m going to use it going forward.
Who knows how long the Big White Bus is going to be laid up until I can get her running regularly? Not me and I’m the project manager! So fuel stabilizer is going to be all the rage. And I’ll start running her on a regular basis.
What is odd are all these “This [insert vehicle type here] has been sitting in this field for 30 years!!! Will it start?!?!” videos on Youtube. JagGuy surmised, probably accurately that most of the truly ancient stuff has mechanical fuel pumps. Throw in a fresh battery, hope the rats haven’t eaten the wires, and if they drain the tank and use fresh gas…maybe that’s how they get them started.
Otherwise I’m calling bullshit on all these videos. There’s no way 30 year old gas is any good. My gas is five years, old give or take a year, and it’s crap.
Now I’m going to be tasked with trying to drain the tank. And then what do I do with it. Do I dare trying to mix it with good gas and burning it in my cars? What do you think?
If you watch the video you’ll see a demonstration on how simple it is to fix the fuel pump.
Post #666!!!! Not today Satan, I finally wrap this fender up. Maybe a proper Devil Dog would have made a more creative 666 post. You’ll just have to settle for one of my old tags.
Mrs. Okierover made me get a new tag…she’s religious that way.
Anyway, I got this beast reassembled. Mostly reassembled…okay I got the fender on and the wiring loom back in place. It’s significant okay!? Dang!
My grand son Grady came over (mostly because he was bored at home) to help. And help he did! A lot of what I filmed before he got there was lost. I truly hate this GoPro, if its not overheating halfway through a shot, it’s dropping files, or losing the sound track off a segment. Trash. I’ve read a bunch of complaints about this GoPro 11. Several telling everyone they’ve fixed a bunch of the overheating in the GoPro12!! Now it overheats 1/3 less! Nope. Not gonna fall for it. GoPro, if you want to redeem yourself you can send me a 12 for free and I’ll give it a review. You probably won’t like the review, but I’ll give one an honest one.
Back to the assembly, I got the wiring loom put back in place. It went surprisingly well. The fender went on pretty easy. I did make one mistake in the building of the side bulkhead. I should have made it longer. The result was I didn’t have one of the two fender mounting places. I also lost some hardware. So I went to the hardware store to get replacements. Met a fellow Marine building a Skoolie camper for his family to travel in. Sounded like a fun project.
When I got back and Grady and I had wrapped up the video I was finishing the assembly and guess what I found?? Yeah, the missing screws and bolts I stopped looking for 3 hours earlier. Isn’t that just typical.
On an annoying note… the damn Big Whit Bus wouldn’t start. So I get to deal with that issue again. YAY! /sarcasm font.
