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October 4, 2014May 16, 2023

Video Blog #3 (Post #514) 10/4/2014

Video Blog.

As I mentioned in the Okierover Video Blog #3, I recently got a Service Engine light.

I don’t see Check Engine or Service Engine lights very often. I forgot that this was not the CHECK ENGINE light. So I rambled on a bit on the video. Here’s how to reset the SERVICE ENGINE light on a Range Rover Classic.

Find the SERVICE Module under the passenger seat. Just remove frustration, move the seat all the way forward and lift it up too.

Turn the ignition on. With a paper clip or other metal bar pierce the paper sticker on the top (it has probably already been pierced) and insert the rod. You will feel the pins and if you look at the instrument cluster the SERVICE ENGINE light will go off when you have satisfied the reset.

Now if I could only find something to short out to fix the ABS / Traction Control problem…oh well.

Thanks for reading/watching and Happy Rovering.

October 30, 2013May 15, 2023

Guthrie and Beyond October 2013 (Post #406) 10/30/2013

I loved the lines.
High on a hill east of Guthrie.

Mrs. Okierover and I love a good road trip. So when our oldest daughter (Fireball) told us our oldest grandchild (Pistol, aka Tater) was cheering in Guthrie, Oklahoma, we had to go. Guthrie holds a special place in our family’s history. Fireball was proposed to in this city by our now son-in-law J-man.

From our home in Norman, Guthrie is a solid one hour drive on the interstate. The first grade football game began at 0830. This meant both Fireball and her brood would need to roll out of their racks around 0630 in order to be more or less on time for the game. It’s no small task to haul a 6, 4, and 9 month old anywhere let alone at 0630. I’ve done it, alone, with only 6$(US) in my pocket, so I know. (A story for another time.)

I am not fond of “rolling out” at 0730 on my only “sleep in” day of the week. Add driving an hour on the interstate on a OU home football game weekend. Not fun. So I ponied up the money for us to stay in Guthrie over night. The grand kids had never stayed in a hotel so we knew they would have fun. Continue reading “Guthrie and Beyond October 2013 (Post #406) 10/30/2013”

November 24, 2012May 15, 2023

Circumnavigating the Great State of Oklahoma (Post #305) 11/24/2012

While we listened on the radio to Norman North High School defeat Owasso Community College* in the semi-final round of the state 6A football playoffs, my wife did some preliminary mapping of a route to circumnavigate the state of Oklahoma.

As I have mentioned before I would like to drive around the entire state of Oklahoma. My ultimate goal would be to drive exclusively on county roads. This would simulate as rough a passage as any jaunt around Africa. Oklahoma has notoriously bad roads and bridges (#6 on the Business Insider Website).

Mainstreet.com has us at #3. Sweet! Well, not really sweet unless you like driving on crappy roads.

Mrs. OkieRover took down some preliminary distance and time calculations. The initial route is on highways that edge around the state. It looks like it would take at least 4 days to accomplish the feat. We plan to make lots of stops and take lots of photos and video so this may morph into several more hours of travel per leg. The best part is if we run out of time we are at the most eight hours from the farthest point directly home.

I am thinking where possible we would use the state line roads. I know there is a lengthy section on the western border and across the northern border. The southern border is the Red River and has a good part of it lined with county roads. We will use these as we can.

The eastern border is mostly “mountainous” or what passes for mountains on the plains of Oklahoma. As such, the roads are a windy passage around the peaks and through the valleys. Not a lot we can do there.

I am thinking the trip will require us to outfit the Range Rover with a roof rack and fuel cans, “just in case”. It would be really awesome if I could figure out how to get the trip sponsored and some coverage by the local news. I will think about this more as we get closer to finding the dates for the trip. Spring Break would be ideal.

As far as the Range Rover mechanically, I think she would make the trip today if I wanted her to. The fuel mileage is not ideal but as I discussed in a previous post we have some things to work on in regards to that. I would like to get the radio outfitted. Having some boss tunes would be good but not absolutely necessary. The Mrs. and I most go radio-free on long drives. We just spend the time talking. And lastly, I don’t think the trip would be possible without air conditioning. Mrs. Okierover is fond of conditioned air.

To recap, it looks like 4.5 days of driving with a moderate level of stops. If the Mrs. is working the numbers she is game to give it a try. I really like to have 100% buy in and I believe I have it. I wish I could say we would sleep in a tent in the fields “expedition style” but that is not practical considering I would not want to “camp” in some farmer’s field without permission. This is Oklahoma and I can tell you I would not appreciate it if I found someone on my land.

Now I’m off to secure some URLs and to plan the next phase.

Thanks for reading. Go Timberwolves and Happy Rovering.

*This is an inside joke in our state. A joke the east side schools don’t appreciate. There are four east side schools that are enrollment-wise, twice as big as the biggest west side school. Each of these districts refuse to split like the west side schools have. The largest of them Broken Arrow has 4500 students enrolled 9-12th grades. Therefore the media on the west side of the state calls each of them either a college or university. There is even talk at the OSSAA, Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (the sanctioning body of high school sports) of making a 7A class, just for those schools. We on the west side of the state are all for this, of course. Since 1996 only Jenks High School or Union High School have competed for the state title in football.

UPDATE: We did not win. We were proud to have the chance to play though. Heads are up.

October 7, 2011May 15, 2023

I’ve always wanted to do this (Post #268) 10/7/2011

I’ve always wanted to do this.

TULSA, Oklahoma — People driving westbound on I-44 near the Lewis exit were warned to be on the lookout for zombies Thursday.
…
So far no zombies have been reported in the area. Nice touch on the end of that report.

That’s classic. Well played.

Thursday night I pulled the radiator out of the Range Rover Classic. As I reported to you last, the radiator has developed a leak. I knew it was leaking a bit around the fill port but it has since developed a crack to the inside of that and was leaking a decent amount of coolant. Also I was completely unable to remove the fill plug. My attempts jacked it up pretty good too. Brass just doesn’t hold up well. Perhaps some copper lube when it is reinstalled.

I reported also that there were no radiator repair shoppes in Norman, Oklahoma. So far to my knowledge I am correct. Jennings Garage advertises that they are a “radiator shop”. When I called them they said they stopped working on radiators and now only “swap them out”.

This lead me to speculate about the reasons these shops have gotten more scarce. I am betting a dollar on some sort of regulation, either the E.P.A. or some other. I’m sure the vat of acid and associated chemicals must be a nightmare of paper work for a small shop. I will ask Osborn’s Radiator Shop today when I stop by and drop off my radiator.

The removal reminded me that I wanted to swap my mechanical fan for a set of electric ones. My research has found that a late 1990’s model Ford Crown Victoria’s fan assembly works. Now I need to find one. I will first get some measurements and then go shopping at the Pull-A-Part or the Ford “breakers” (salvage) yards in Oklahoma City.

Apparently I can buy a new one in the range of 95 – 150$(US) plus shipping. I’m hoping the breakers yard will part with one for less than 50$(US).

I’m glad I found this detailed measurement drawing. I am skeptical that it will fit. But I’m willing to try anything once. The associated fuel savings is reported at 2-3 miles per gallon. Even if it is one mile per gallon I think it is worth it.

I’ll post some pictures of the damage next week along with some detailed measurements.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering. Oh…and BOOMER SOONER! Beat Texas!

November 4, 2010May 15, 2023

Sick…again (Post #215) 11/04/2010

I know you are out there wondering “why no post from this last weekend, what a freakin’ slacker”. Well I’ll tell ya, I have been sick, again or maybe even still sick. I’ve been fighting sinus problems for more than a month now. Now its official, I have a sinus infection.

I managed to start Saturday by putting a few nagging tasks behind me on the Restoration Project. I first relocated the retaining clip for the tailgate springs. In its present location it was rubbing off the paint I labored so hard on the week before. I also removed the tires in preparation for another round of brake bleeding. I also hooked up all the electrics underneath the passenger side seat. I also sprayed some 3m Undercoating to seal the holes in the cargo area. And I got all the tools that were scattered all over the garage, put back in their places. All of this was so I could test out my handy work on the suspension, brake system, and viscous coupling with a short drive.

My goal for Saturday was a drive. As fate would have it though I was asked by my wife’s best friend’s husband if I would like to use his wife’s ticket to attend the University of Oklahoma vs the University of Colorado football game at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Allen “The Cable Guy”, is a hoot to tailgate hang out with. He informing me that the ham he was bringing was smoked for 8 hours in his smoker, and a promise of a ride to and fro, I accepted.

By Saturday mid-morning my head felt like someone had driven a chisel directly into my brain with the entry point between my eyes. Normally, I would have said no thank you I need to rest and recuperate. But I was thinking a handful of Advil and a couple of beers and I’d be good to go for a football game. Hell, I’d felt like this all week, how would today be any different than yesterday?

I had a haircut scheduled for 13:00 and wife my wife’s advice I stopped in at the Minor Emergency Clinic at the Healthplex for some drugs. Normally, I would have attempted to see my preferred physician, Dr. Karl Langkamp. The name almost impels you to say it with a hard German accent punctuated with an exclamation mark.
Doc-tur Kaarl Lang-KAMP!
But, Dr. Langkamp is not a first generation German emigrant like my friend The Evil German Dude (EGD) whom I’ve written about several times. The good doctor, is a gentle and jolly man, sans German accent. To get back to the story, Dr. Langkamp does not see patients on Friday afternoons and I didn’t think I was all that sick on Friday. I was at that time, still holding out hope that I would defeat the infection.

So after I got my hardcore Marine Corps style haircut, I went to get some treatment for my sinus infection. I filled out the forms, saw the doctor, got a few prescriptions for treatment of a chisel-to-the-forehead style sinus infection. I had to fill them away from my regular pharmacy (chemist) as well, they close at noon on Saturdays.

With pills in hand I arrived home just before Allen “The Cable Guy” was due to pick me up. With Mrs. OkieRover, THE REGISTERED NURSE, by my side she gave me instructions about the pills.
“Take the antibiotic now. You can start the Prednisone and Respa C&C tomorrow. That way you can have a few beers tonight.”
So I popped the first dose of Azithromycin, 500 mg, 2 tablets, as instructed and went to the game.

I have taken this pill many times. Why I can’t remember that I have to take it WITH FOOD is still a mystery to me. In any event you would think your wife THE REGISTERED NURSE, would have mentioned that I not take that on an empty stomach. She didn’t.

So we get to the tailgate and I start to put my drink on. I had 4 hours to game time and a six pack to nurse. I didn’t need to get blind, stinking, drunk, I just wanted to have a nice buzz come game time. At that point, I had also decided that I would treat myself with a cigar. So I walked through the tailgates and down to the neighborhood tobacconist, Royal Pipes and Tobacco, and picked out an Arturo Fuente Opus X. It had a nice draw and overall was pretty good for a 10$(US) cigar.

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So back at the tailgate, I’m nearly finished with my cigar and have had two beers. Then it hit me. I became very dizzy and started sweating profusely. I had the overwhelming desire to lay down except for the fact that if you lay down in public, on campus, surrounded by beer drinking revelers, you are going to get arrested. I also had an overwhelming desire not to be manhandled by the friend police officers of the OUPD. Discipline is the key to life. And today I’m glad I had the discipline to ride it out.

As you can well imagine, I didn’t want my day to end that way. So I sat down in the shade and waited it out. Allen “The Cable Guy” came back to the tailgate and told me, “I didn’t look so good”. I told him the story and we both thought if I ate something I would be good to go. They had just started serving and with a plate full of food and a couple of bottles of water I was in fact, good to go.

We continued to enjoy the company of the tailgate and finally headed into the game. OU prevailed in grand fashion and it was back to the tailgate. I had one more beer and then it was back to home.

Overall it was a good day. I would have liked to finished the short list of Saturday’s tasks but I had a good time and the break from the Restoration Part Duex was well deserved. As you may well imagine, I spent most of Sunday in bed. It wasn’t from the 3 beers I drank either. I started feeling human late Sunday evening. Except for some unexplained tiredness, I think I have turned the corner and feel pretty good. I’m hoping I will defeat the sinus infection this week and get back on the project come Saturday.

This coming Saturday I am going to drain the transmission fluid and replace it with some fresh stuff.
I am going to bleed the brakes and sort out any remaining issues with that system.
I am going to put the carpet and interior parts back inside the rear of the Rover.
And lastly I am going to drive the Range Rover for the first time since late August.

Hopefully it will be a satisfying jaunt and will be a welcome reward for so much time spent working on her.
And if it is not…at least the Marine Corps Ball is that night and I can toss a few back to forget about it.

As always, thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

August 20, 2010May 15, 2023

Its been a crazy week (Post #195) 8/20/2010

My half shaft arrived from Paul Grant yesterday. I also got a hit on my Discovery 2 rims from a chap in Colorado. I’m hoping he will pull the trigger on the rims. I’ve made him a good price and am willing to drive halfway to meet him to save on shipping. It’s insane what it costs to ship something that weighs 30 pounds. Basically it costs more than the rim is worth to ship the rim. At least doubling the rim’s cost. In any event if I can move the rims I can fund the first half of my Range Rover restoration and that would be nice.

Seamus came over yesterday for some help. Seamus is my son’s friend and I genuinely like the young man. He is funny and has a great view of the universe. He often comes over just to chat but yesterday he needed automotive assistance.

His 1991 BMW 325i is truly a sweet car. For a kids first car, it is a dream auto. Lately though according to his mom it has become a money pit. A money pit insomuch as it needs a few maintenance items and the clutch failed. Seamus has a great outlook on it all referring to the age, “Well, my car can vote.”

Seamus asked for help in sorting out a few non-functioning tail lights. So we popped the boot and I showed him the access panels and how the lamps were removed. We sorted out which ones were working and which were not. I went to check the reverse lamps, neither of which worked, when all of a sudden Seamus killed the engine. I told him to fire it back up but he politely told me the temp gauge was in the red. I said, “In the red? but it…” and then I saw the puddle under the front.

The BMW had spilled the magic cooling fluid all over the driveway. The air temperature was over 100F. And I thought it odd it would dump fluid. Seamus reported it had needed a bit of cooling juice just a few days ago and his dad had showed him how to add it. But this was probably not just a little over filling. I believe he has a bad radiator.

I pushed the car back down to his house and told him to leave it so it would cool and tomorrow we could work on it. The radiator is not a huge project and I couldn’t see them paying for labor when it was a couple of screws and its out kinda job. Getting a radiator is the hardest part of the project. To reinforce what his mom Kasey said, “That thing is a money pit.” they will be out around 200$(US) to pick up another.

I don’t believe you can fix a plastic tank radiator. So I suggested picking up a new one and if it wasn’t bad after we got it out, they could just take it back. Disappointing? yes. Devastating? no.

IF I can get the radiator done and Zacker’s football scrimmage (Go Lions) out of the way, the afternoon is set aside to remove the differential from the Range Rover and get it cleaned out and ready for the new(used) half shaft.

Thanks for reading, Go Lions, and Happy Rovering.