Changing a gas guzzler (Post #94) 6/13/2008


Well I am half way through the tune up. Oxygen sensors are in and my sum gas mileage benefit of spending 250$(US) is….Zero. My first tank came in right at 13.5mpg.
To say I was disappointed would not even begin to describe my mood. I dearly love my Land Rovers and of all the things that upset me most, even if I could go out and replace just one of them with a fuel efficient vehicle I’d loose my shirt on the trade in. Trading the Classic is totally out of the question as it is paid off and 15 years old. No dealer in their right mind would give me anything close to an amount I’d be happy with.
And the selection of vehicles is terrible. Jeep put out a diesel Liberty a couple years ago. And they have a 3.0L V6 diesel for 2008. They boast 450 miles on a tank. EPA estimates of 18 city/23 highway. Hell that’s almost tolerable at 4.30$(US) a gallon for diesel fuel. They are only offering the CRD on the Grand Cherokee model for 2008. Who made that decision?
Lets look at the Land Rover Website. There you have it, TDV8. Boasting a 25.1 mpg in a RANGE ROVER.

Lets look at the Discovery 3. “The TDV6 engine has been developed to cope with the specific requirements of a Land Rover: strength and durability when operating in dusty environments, on steep inclines and wading through rivers.” I couldn’t have said it better if I tried. TDV6 available.
Lets look at the Freelander 2. I would at first say I wouldn’t drive one, but hey, 37.7 mpg out of the 2.2 TD4.

And finally the Defender. “DefenderĀ“s all new 2.4 litre Diesel engine produces a class-leading 360Nm of Torque (90 percent of peak power is on tap from less than 2,200rpm to over 4,350rpm) and enhances its legendary capability yet again.” This is not a vehicle you worry about fuel mileage with but RANGE of the tank.

So to summarize, 4 different diesels. NOT ONE AVAILABLE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Mercedes has diesel vehicles but no SUV models. Isuzu has diesel motors, I know our cousins in Australia speak highly of them. None available in the USA.
I could go on for an hour. Every auto maker has a diesel available for each of their product lines, EXCEPT for the American auto companies. I can’t even get a diesel motor in their Chevy 1500 or Ford F150 pickup trucks. I have to order a 3/4 ton model or more to get one.
So where is all this logic headed?
I want to replace my petrol 4.2 for a diesel. I have for a while. I know I’ve read a few threads on many boards about people who have done it themselves. What I’m wondering is, if I ordered the diesel motor Land Rover used in 1990 versions of the Classic and had it shipped here, how much would I be out?
My friend JagGuy says, “Why? you could buy a lot of fuel for 6000$.” I answered, “range”. But really I think its for economy. He is correct about the fuel cost, it’s just under two years worth at 4.00$(US). But then I’m right back where I was.
I made a Fuel Cost Comparison spreadsheet. You can download a copy with this link (MicroSoft Excel).
Depending on the numbers you use. You can see savings in just a couple of years that would pay for a motor swap.

Lets use these numbers for my 2003 Discovery.
Petrol
$4.00 Price per gallon
13.5 Miles per gallon (mpg)
$0.30 Cost per mile
22 Fuel tank volume (gallons)
297.00 Range in miles
$88.00 Cost per tank
48 miles per day
$14.22 Cost per day
$3,555 Cost at 12000 miles

With a diesel getting 25 miles per gallon.
$4.60 Price per gallon
25 Miles per gallon (mpg)
$0.18 Cost per mile
22 Fuel tank volume (gallons)
550.00 Range in miles
$101.20 Cost per tank
48 miles per day
$8.83 Cost per day
$2,208 Cost at 12000 miles

Total savings compared to the Petrol 4.6
$5.39 Difference per day
$161.71 Difference in 30 days
$1,967.43 Difference in 365 days

How about the 2.2 TD4, getting 37 miles per gallon?
$4.60 Price per gallon
37 Miles per gallon (mpg)
$0.12 Cost per mile
22 Fuel tank volume (gallons)
814.00 Range in miles
$101.20 Cost per tank
48 miles per day
$5.97 Cost per day
$1,492 Cost at 12000 miles

$8.25 Difference per day
$247.64 Difference in 30 days
$3,013 Difference in 365 days

So you can extrapolate that after 2-3 years for the cost of a decent used car in America you could put a diesel in your beloved Land Rover and begin to recoup your investment.
How many more years do you plan on driving your Landie? I intend to keep my Classic forever, and why wouldn’t I if I can still get parts. And when I can’t there are dozens of axles and transaxles to choose from, upgrades even.

What are the costs? I will be looking into this in the coming months and I’ll compile some of the threads to find what will work and how much.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

Tune up time…Dammit (Post #90) 5/28/2008

The next person I hear say the reason for the high gas prices is high demand, gets a good ol’fashioned hole stomped in the middle of them, which I will then proceed to walk dry.

It’s not demand…it’s the F@#%ing speculators. Seriously, 90% of drivers are doing the same thing they do everyday, drive to work. Where’s the increased demand? It’s all bull shit.

As many of you Land Rover fans have discovered, 4$(US) per gallon gasoline and the SUV lifestyle do not have positive affects on your wallet. It’s been so bad that I have actually started to car pool again. Something I never thought I’d have to do again.

I car pooled back in the early 2000s when gasoline was a halcyon 1.65$(US) a gallon and we thought we were getting raped with those prices. When I changed jobs (and buildings) I stopped. But now I am back in that building and have two other guys in my car pool. With this car pooling I have had to give up my beloved books on tape and my quiet time each day. But it has saved us a lot of money so far.

So when the Atlantic British catalog came in the mail and the gas mileage on the Disco dropping below 14mpg and the price of petrol inching toward outrageous amounts the perfect storm of common sense and dammit I’ll do it have come together.

We are taking a vacation out to Huntington Beach to visit some friends this summer. And we have decided to drive. Mostly because the price of flying and renting a car is completely outrageous. And besides, who wants to be trapped in a plane, in coach, with a hundred other unhappy flyers for four hours plus airport lay-overs?

Answer: That would not be anyone one named OkieRover, nor any of his spawn.

We have two choices of transportation to Kalifornia.
A 2003 Land Rover Discovery SE or a 2002 Ford Taurus
Lets compare… Pros and Cons

Disco – roomy, not as roomy as a 1993 Range Rover LWB but I don’t have the money or time to convince my wife we should take the Rangie to Kali.
Taurus – not roomy, not at all
Disco – comfortable leather seats
Taurus – probably the most uncomfortable seats in any car known to man with the possible exception of the Mustang I ride in one out of three weeks to work
Disco – individual climate controlled environment and rear air
Taurus – two temperatures in the front, hot or cold, one temp in the back, hot
Disco – 14-15mpg on a good day on the highway
Taurus – 32-36mpg on the highway at 90+. We know that because we drove it to Denver one Thanksgiving and my son ratted my wife out for going 100mph while I was napping. We got really good mileage on that trip.

So as you can see it’s an easy choice and we have a clear winner. We are taking the Disco. Besides just think of all the great things we would miss if we flew on our way out to see Marty Moose:

original

Most of the New Mexican desert
Most of the Arizonan desert
The Grand Canyon
Las Vegas
29 Palms Military Reservation
Los Angeles traffic
San Diego
Padres baseball
Yuma, Arizona
Tombstone
Roswell, NM

And missing the chance to hear my son coin a new phrase describing Kalifornians and their driving abilities. Floridiots was his last entry from our 2005 vacation to Ft. Myers.

Yeah okay, I’ll give ya the fact it’s gonna be a long boring drive. But who wants to miss the Mother Road?

51ZK07AT8YLYeah, that’s what I thought you’d say…but we’re still gonna drive.

So nearly 500$(US) later and we have new sparky plugs, plug wires, and oxygen sensors on the way to get the Disco tuned up for the long drive. Now if I can just avoid ethanol on the way out there we should be able to get there in comfort. Making food into fuel is stupid. It’s made the cost of food go up and everyone that voted for it in congress needs a red hot poker up the tail pipe. Yeah I’m kinda passionate about that. Maybe I’ll blog about that in the future.
Hopefully we can get 16-18mpg while we enjoy each other’s close quarters company in a Land Rover heading west like so many of our relatives did 75 years ago.

But this time we are bringing cash and riding in style.
Go ahead call us Okies, we’ll just smile and yep, we sure are.
Thanks for reading and happy rovering.

November 4, 2005 (Post #63)

November 4, 2005
Gas mileage down, Disco search halted
EGD stated that the BWB has a nasty odor coming from her. Coincidentally the gas mileage has dropped to 13.5 from the 14.5 and 15 mpg I was getting. I expect she is running rich and will need the oxygen sensors replaced, again!

Discovering a Discovery
My dear wife, oh how I love her so. After she watched me work on the BWB for 3 straight weekends, said we needed a new car. I told her I wanted to get another Rover. Her concerns were all valid. You recite them with me being as you are probably a Rover Owner too. Reliability, warranty, etc…

She did have a few guidelines.

  • little or no maintenance: She doesn’t want me working on it “all the time”.
  • So that eliminates an older Disco I and another Range Rover Classic
  • she wanted 7 seats: Sweet! I’m thinking Series 109inch. Man how good would I look
    driving around a 109 or an early Defender 110?!?! Damn good that’s how good.
  • air conditioning: Okay so no Series, Discovery has a seven seat option.

What did that leave me. Discovery SE7. Our price range is mid 20s and lower. That would mean a $500 plus car payment and more insurance. But RovErica will be driving this time next year. And Drewster Rooster will be needing an auto in just under 4 years. He is happy to drive the Taurus and RovErica likes the novelty of the Rover as I do. So I’m thinking she can drive the BWB and I’ll have a Disco II.

All sound arguements. Except for these facts:

  • I DON’T WANT ANOTHER CAR PAYMENT. We just got both cars paid off.
  • SE7s just don’t grow on trees apparently. They are out there, but as of this
    writing there are zero, zilch, nada, AKA none in Oklahoma. Not a single one.

I got cold feet not getting to look at the vehicle, in person, prior to purchase. Also some of these vehicles are quite a haul from our location in Central Oklahoma. One nice one was in Jonesboro, Arkansas, it had the built in DVD for somewhere around $23,500. There were a couple of nice ones in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area too. And at least 10 in Denver. But those are long drives for nothing if I don’t buy.

But alas, I digress.
So we said, let’s wait. So I’m guessing in Spring I’ll be looking for a 2003 or 2004 Discovery II SE7. Good news is those 2003’s and 04’s will be another year older and another year depriciated.

October 13th, 2003 (Post #34)

October 13, 2003
Error 34
I have received some excellent advice regarding my Error 34. My fuel economy was 13.7 on my last fill up and that is unacceptable! I will first try to clean my injectors with a chemical fuel additive. I will add the additive this week and clear the code after I fill up. It is time for an oil change anyway and I will do that this weekend. I checked out the link from Kevin in the
forums about getting my injectors cleaned instead of replacing them.

Cruzin Performance is the link and that looks really cool. A new set of injectors will cost around $600. Where as Cruzin Performance will clean each injector for around $15 plus shipping. I need to check turnaround times and get my carpool buddy to drive until they return, if I choose that route. I wish I could go up there and watch them do the work.

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.