SCARR – Day Four (Post #481) 4/9/2014

Sunday the sun came up as expected in the east and we realized it was time to go home. We started packing up the kit. The tent fit in the amazingly small bag with a little coaxing. The boxes were all loaded and I lashed everything down on the roof rack.

Jayden and John in their Discovery 1.
Jayden and John in their Discovery 1.

John and Jayden were keen to caravan with us home. It couldn’t hurt to have a support vehicle after what we had just put our Rovers through. We agreed to meet at the main pavilion.

The night before after I found my on-board air compressor, I had aired up my tires . When we got to the top it turns out they have an airing station right there on the site. What a great amenity to have for the off-roaders. Continue reading “SCARR – Day Four (Post #481) 4/9/2014”

195,000 miles (Post #316) 1/19/2013

195,000 That’s a lot.
Just 5,000 more miles and I’ve  reached TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND MILES (dramatic reverb) in a LAND ROVER! I know there are Land Rovers out there that have crossed that mile marker and are about to lap it. I’ve only had one other vehicle with anything close to that kind of mileage on her. That was my 1993 Ford Ranger pick-up truck. I sold her after 185,000 enjoyable miles.

That Ford Ranger still had the original clutch in it. In comparison the Range Rover still has her original transmission. But not for long. I need to have the transmission rebuilt. As I have mentioned before, the  transmission is slipping. I know I’ll improve on my gas mileage if I have a rebuilt transmission.

In addition to the transmission, I need to sort out the sound system and get a functioning air conditioning unit working. If I am to make the Range Rover a daily driver again that will need to happen.

The door handles will also need to be adjusted again. I can’t seem to get those working correctly. I may take her into a body shop and get their opinion about it. The left rear door is so far out of wack I can hear the air escaping like I have a window cracked open. That is disappointing.

After that the anti-lock brake system is out of range due to at least one bad wheel sensor. Those are ridiculously expensive in my opinion. But if I want the factory system to work correctly I’ll need to sort that out.

Springs and shocks are on their way. I ordered those last week. I’m hoping that won’t change the drive shaft angles too much. The springs will provide a 2 inch lift. I’m optimistic that will not affect the drive geometry too much.

The last thing is the buzzing sound I sometimes get. The guess is it is related to the brakes. More on this as I get closer to finding the part causing the sound. I think it is a relay that is failing. I hate electrical problems.

Out on the periphery is a problem with the headlight being too dim. I read something once upon a time about the wiring harness being inadequate. It may just be a set of Hella headlights that have reached the end of their life.

Well that is a basic list of the things I have to deal with as the clock turns 200,000.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

What? Code 44 again? (Post #304) 11/21/2012

It seems like every time I drive the Range Rover I get a Code 44. This is a GROSS over exaggeration of course. It only happens every other time. 😉
(did I just use an emoticon in my blog? Wow. I need help.)

I saw the Check Engine Light come on during the drive home on Tuesday evening. When I got home I looked at the display but it had not yet decided to tell me what was going on.

So when I got in the her this morning I again noticed the light and stopped to see if I got a code. I snapped this very dark picture at 0625(CST) with my cell phone in the cul-de-sac in front of the house. It was the code I expected to see. The gas mileage is pretty disappointing right now (13mpg). I’ve chalked that up to a wonky transmission but suspected the oxygen sensors as well.

On the drive in and as I was writing this I was thinking “what the hell”? I changed out the oxygen sensors fairly recently. It must be something else.

What else you might ask? That’s a very good question. Let’s go to J.E. Robison’s website for a quote. He has a great website and if I lived anywhere near him (Massachusetts) I’d be dragging my Landie in for his advice and service.

Code 44 – Lambda sensor A – left bank

Code 45 – Lambda sensor B – right bank

If one of these fault codes (#44 or #45) is displayed check the wiring to that particular lambda sensor. In addition this fault will be displayed if the vehicle has a condition which causes it to run very lean or very rich on one side (example – a vacuum leak or a bad injector). This code often appears in conjunction with the misfire codes in cases of bad ignition misfire (cross-firing plug wires) If both codes are displayed, the voltage supply to the heater coils of the sensors must be checked. Check for 12V appearing on the O2 signal lead, and check the heater circuit for shorts.

So as you can see there is a lot to get under the bonnet and take a look at. The vacuum hoses are a serious concern. Considering in the last two years we have had some weather extremes. Two summers with 120(F) temperatures followed by two winters with temperatures down to 5(F). This kind of weather is hell on rubber bits. I swap our wiper blades more often than I buy trousers for work.

So what if I don’t find anything out of place I replaced these just a year or two ago. Is that right?

I go back and look through the blog and find the last time I wrote about oxygen sensors for the Range Rover was November 2003. And my last evidence of me actually replacing them December 2003. Seriously? That can’t be right. Is it?

I see that I swapped the oxygen sensors for the Discovery in 2008 just before we reenacted National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) and took the Mother Road out to California. Did I replace the O2 sensors back then on the Range Rover as well? I have a feeling I may have.

That is actually good news, because that was 4.5 years ago. I can live with that replacement rate. However I’m not real happy with the miles on these if they were replaced in 2008. But if I replaced them in 2003, I can seriously live with that.

So while the weather is still nice over the Thanksgiving holiday I will take a look around and see if anything is out of sorts. If no, I will order some O2 sensors.

Lookin’ good in Uptown.
Parked in front of Tucker’s Onion Burgers
on N.E. 23rd in OKC.

Thanks for reading and Happy Thanksgiving to all you out there. We have so much to be thankful for here in Oklahoma.