Slow Days of Summer (Post #497) 5/31/2014

 

Coke and a Smile, well a Coke anyway.
Coke and a Smile, well a Coke anyway.

Sorry for the post drought lately. I finally have a new job and haven’t had much time to do much of anything Land Rover. I ordered a CV joint and some other bits to sort out the axle problem that I referred to in Front Half Shaft Oil-Seal Failure. I thought they’d be in this weekend. Rovers North told me the CV joint was on a container ship last week. I thought for sure I’d have it by this week. By Saturday morning it had not arrived.

So Saturday I took the long drive up to Jones, Oklahoma to help the Evil German Dude. The sunroof was open and the windows down and I had a Mexi-Coke. Life is good. EGD has had some trouble with his swimming pool of late. The original liner failed after a few years and a new liner that was installed a couple of weeks ago required yet another new liner. Many hands make light work. Porsche Mike and his sweet wife Mel came out to help as well. Mel is keen to do some “off-roading” with us and very much enjoyed the comfort of the Big White Bus when trying out the seats. I hope to see more of Porsche Mike in the future…like maybe at a Garage Day, hint, hint.

We were thinking of Paparazzi Ford who was unable to attend due to the loss of his father this past week. My buddy Mr. Fisher lost his sister this weekend too. She succumbed to a long battle with cancer. Our thoughts are with both of their families in this difficult time.

209,000 miles
209,000 miles

We finished everything we could do and all that was left was to watch the water fill the pool at 6-8 gallons a minute. I drove home and stopped on the way home for some petrol and the BWB’s odometer was sitting on 209,000. The now twenty-one year old Range Rover has shown us some great miles. I managed to get 15 miles per gallon out of this last tank full. That really surprises me because my new commute has a lot more stop and go traffic due to the new hours I have at my new employment. I am stuck in “five o’clock traffic” on the way home and that is usually terrible for gas mileage ratings.

I guess I’ll schedule next Saturday for an axle tear down. I’m almost reluctant to swap the CV joint. The sound I’m hearing is not there very often. The  noise could also be explained by the wrong fluid being in the reservoir. If I do swap it, the old CV would be an excellent shelf spare if it should ever be needed.

That’s all I have for now. I’ll be videoing the axle tear down and will post it all up when I have the time.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

Land Rovers Owners International Article (Post #495) 5/14/2014

2014june_cover_180x260I saw a thumbnail of my article that will be in Land Rovers Owners International. I’d post it up here but they are kinda funny about that sorta thing. The good folks over at LRO took my words (4500+) and Mr. Fisher’s pictures (50+) for the SCARR 2014 Event and paired them down for a short article (300 words and three pictures). Its on page 252.

It looks pretty good. The Big White Bus gets a good picture and I even managed to be in a picture with Bill Burke! I’ll say more when it actually comes out. I believe it is on the shelf already in England and will be on the shelves and mailboxes on our continent (North America) next month (June).

I can’t wait to have it in my hands and subsequently hanging on my wall.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

Click, Click, Click (Post #494) 5/12/2014

I had another episode with the starter today. I had just walked out of the dentist’s office and got into the Range Rover turned the key and got, click. Turned it again, click. And again, click.

I called the wife (at work), son (at the Y), nephew (at the Y), Fireman Jason (at the station 8), and finally Mrs. Fisher (at work but leaving) for help. Mrs. Fisher offered her Pontiac for a jump. No go. So she gave me a ride home where Mr. Fisher picked me up and we took the battery for testing.

After a short (5 minute) charge and test, the battery registered good. So we took the battery back to the Range Rover, installed it, and turned the key. Of course, it started. Continue reading “Click, Click, Click (Post #494) 5/12/2014”

Diagnostics, Not Just for Breakfast Anymore (Post #490) 4/24/2014

Florida Orange Juice Growers Association had a slogan in the 1970’s, “Orange juice, it’s not just for breakfast anymore.” It was used to encourage people to drink orange juice during the day, not just at breakfast time. It’s clever and a lesson for us. Diagnosing a problem should not stop with only one solution, keep diagnosing through the problem.

Diagnostics is the root of what we do to fix our Land Rovers. If you can’t diagnose the problem you can’t fix it. This was made painfully financially clear to me last night. Continue reading “Diagnostics, Not Just for Breakfast Anymore (Post #490) 4/24/2014”

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”

SCARR – Day Three (Post #479) 4/6/2014

Day Three came with the sun shining and the air a bit on the chilly side. As soon as the sun came up it warmed up nicely. Our plan for the morning was to run some trails.

Photo0012

I got dressed in my Rover Cannibal shirt and cooked up some breakfast. We knocked down breakfast and went up to the main pavilion to meet the other drivers.

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I found the other drivers very ready and after learning Jacob Dearborn drew the beginner group. Jake as he was called was very nice young man and had a course sorted out. We fell in behind a great couple named Max and Diane and their Series. They had owned it for twenty years if I remembered that correctly. We got the CBs set and off went. Continue reading “SCARR – Day Three (Post #479) 4/6/2014”