We have had what passes for winter weather in Oklahoma the past week. This is a picture of my drive through Oklahoma City’s Crown Heights neighborhood on the way to VZDs for lunch on Tuesday. You can see what’s left of a light snow from a few days before.
This morning I woke up to 9ºF, light winds (thank God), and very dry snow falling. I snapped a picture and took a short video that wasn’t worth the trouble of setting it up. 9ºF is so cold that the little ceramic heater I have set up in the Range Rover can’t keep the snow off the windows. It’s probably time to upgrade the little bugger next year. I like to get into a warm car in the morning and I don’t like scraping ice.
When I got home last night I was greeted by Sophie and my son’s dog Bo. He had managed to get one of their blankets stuck on his head and he was dragging it behind him like a cape. I wonder how long he’d been doing that. In this picture you can see Sophie greeting me with what can only be described as a “wailing cry, punctuated with slight growls”. She is talking to us. I imagine she is telling us how happy she is that we are home and how much she missed us and about all the people and dogs that passed behind the house during day. It goes on for 5 minutes or more. The more you talk to her, the more she goes on. She usually stops when I give her a “final pat” on the back and tell her “that’s enough”.
I have to confess, I quit paying attention to the weather forecasters on Sunday of this week. I have to mention that they refrained from telling us that we were all going to die. They have actually said that in the recent past. Our news channels are all trying to sell commercial time for cars and furniture and will say just about anything to get you to turn in to the next broadcast. You’ve read my Snowpoxyclipses posts 2009’s Snowpocalypse, and 2011’s Snowpocalypse 2: Electric Boogaloo so you know what they are capable. We are all lucky to still be alive after those weather events. wink, wink
You have to have some serious stones to tell your viewers there is a 50-50 chance of something happening. You might die, or maybe not.
The Big White Bus performed excellently today. I saw several lesser vehicles spinning their wheels and several less sure drivers putting along on the interstate. I try not to be annoying and I give a wide berth when I drive in this type of mess. It just proves the point that when you are picking out tires PRICE is the LAST THING you should be concerned about. Performance is far more important. My current set of Firestone’s have the Revo 2 rubber in them and I’m pretty sure Spiderman is jealous of the grip these tires provide.
196,000 miles out of one fuel pump. That’s pretty good. But as you have read in previous posts it was time for a new pump. Let’s first sort out the process for testing the fuel pump.
Checking for fuel at the fuel rail was first. I disconnected the fuel line from the fuel rail.
Remove the hose clamp. Place a rag, preferably a large one like a t-shirt under it. You are checking for fuel coming out. WARNING. When you turn the key to the on position it activates the fuel pump. The fuel pump will run for a short burst to pressurize the rail. It will then shut off. A lot of fuel will come out when you turn on the key. It may even shoot out on to the engine. DO NOT DO THIS WITH A HOT ENGINE.
When I disconnected mine, no fuel came out. So that told me the pump did not run. So I climbed in the back and disassembled the back to get to the fuel pump access panel. Some time in the late 1990 models they started manufacturing an access panel to repair the frequently failing pumps.
I wanted to first check to make sure I didn’t have a blown fuse. I couldn’t remember which fuse was the one for the pump. So I pulled all of these and checked for a blown one. I also reseated the fuel pump relay (silver one) located between the green and brown items. All the fuses were good. On to the pump.
Remove the carpet and the dogs from the rear of the vehicle and access the panel.
I don’t know why they think it is okay to get in the back of the Range Rover. Luna and Paisley
Remove the six screws. Move them to a safe place. Remember you are about to open the fuel tank. If you have something that might fall in the tank…it will fall in the tank. Secure all loose items NOW.
After you are open you are dealing with two fuel lines, a ground wire, and the power connector.
There is also a fair amount of dirt under there. I used a shop vac to get as much as I could to eliminate debris from getting in the tank. Vacuum before you start to remove any bits. Vacuum again after you have knock the wrenches against stuff.
Pull the connector and set your volt-ohm meter to volts. Have someone turn on the ignition. You will see a voltage spike for a few seconds. Remember the pump only runs for a few seconds. I checked across all the combinations of wires. I had power to the plug so….it had to be the pump.
Disconnect the fuel lines and the ground wire.
You are going to use a mallet (I used a rubber one) to hit a large flat-head screwdriver to turn the ring. They make a special tool for this…I didn’t buy it. Take your time and lightly tap this ring until it spins enough times to remove it.
The next series of pictures is me pulling the pump from the tank.
Holding the fuel supply lines out of the way.
Remember the fuel level indicator is connected to the float. So as you are pulling it out you will angle the pump to slide it out. The lower part of the pump is a sump that keeps fuel around the base of the pump. This way the vehicle is not starved for fuel when the tank is low and you turn a corner and slosh the fuel to one side.
So as you are pulling the pump assembly out. Let the fuel run out of the pump. This will prevent fuel being spilled in the cab.
Fuel draining out.
I inverted the pump and drained more fuel out. You can see the official Land Rover Tool Kit in this picture. I needed to use it due to having an insufficient collection of tools in my tool bag. I remedied this by purchasing a socket set for the on-board tool bag.
Once I was back in my garage I took the old pump apart. Look at the debris attached to the filter. NASTY!
Look at the debris in the bottom of the “starvation tank”.
While I was sourcing a new part I just placed the access panel over the hole and replaced the carpet.
I ordered a new pump from Atlantic British and paid the up charge for it to be delivered in 3 days. 300$ for the kit. I originally intended to repair the old one. I talked myself out of that due to my schedule this week. Two assignments, a test, and the weather (four inches of rain in four days, thank you God.) made this an easy decision. I will rebuild the old pump with a replacement pump. I expect it will cost less than a hundred dollars to replace the pump portion.
With the new pump in hand, I went about installing it.
I placed the rubber seal in the tank and then fitted the pump through the seal. It was a tight fit. You then screw down with the red securing ring. Use the screwdriver and rubber mallet. Take it easy and take your time. No need to use the mallet like Thor uses Mjölnir (Wikipedia).
Connect the power connector pig tail thing they send in the kit. Reconnect the fuel lines.
With the access panel still open, I started her up. I watched for fuel leaks. NONE. So I buttoned everything back up.
I drove the Range Rover over to Braum’s in Tri-City to have ice cream with my grand kids (and my daughter and son-in-law). I had a single dip of chocolate chip on a sugar cone. Yummo.
The Range Rover ran great. I noticed the fuel gauge had me at a quarter of a tank. With a new pump and new indicator I thought it prudent to fill the tank and make sure the gauge was working correctly. It was all good and showed a full tank.
I pulled over in the parking lot of the Chickasaw Nation Training facility. This is the old T.G.&Y. building. I really loved that job. I called JagGuy and chatted about lots of stuff and he looked up replacement pumps will we gabbed. I’m lucky to have him, both as an automotive resource and friend.
As I was chatting I saw the state bird of Oklahoma, a Scissor-tailed flycatcher fly by. Spring has officially come to Oklahoma.
On the Difficulty Scale I’d rate this a 2. It is not difficult, just a tad fiddly.
Thank you to Justin and Lecia for letting me maroon the Range Rover in their driveway. Thank you to Lecia for helping me check for electrical continuity by turning the key while I was in the back.
I am heading to Fort Washita for the annual rendezvous this weekend. Get out and support your local historical society this spring.
