Category: redneck repairs

Posted on

Diagnosing Parasitic Draw on a Range Rover Classic: Part 2 (Post #679) 11/18/2024

The Grounding.

Let the grounding begin!

When adversity strikes, that’s when you have to be the most calm. Take a step back, stay strong, stay grounded and press on. – LL Cool J

Authority is supposedly grounded in wisdom, but I could see from a very early age that authority was only a system of control. – Joe Strummer, The Clash

I’m quite grounded. – Enrique Iglesias

Like Enrique…the Big White Bus is now very well grounded. In this installment I install the grounding cables from the battery to the body and the frame. Very important things to have grounded.

The driver’s side is well grounded too. Those ground points to support the ignition system and the engine being grounded to the body. They are lovely.

The passenger side, I couldn’t say that before I finished this job. The ground points probably had not been removed and freshened up since it was wrecked by the previous owner some time in 2000.

The job was not difficult. I got side tracked with a bunch of rust and that removal made this video creep over the coveted 24 minute mark. I actually don’t know what the best length of video is. If you have a sweet spot, comment and let me know.

Three points in this job were the control module for the electric fans. The body which you connect to the fender. And finally the frame connection just behind the recovery points on the front of the frame.

All it took was a little wire wheeling with the Dremel. Cleaning he frame connector. I used a little dielectric grease between the metals. I have no fantasy that this grease will still be there even a year from now.

I found some rust and I knocked that out with some wire wheeling and applying the rust encapsulating paint. Maybe if the painting gods smile that will help keep the rust away.

That’s about it for this week. Like and subscribe and I look forward to your feedback.

Thanks for readying and Happy Rovering.



Posted on

Diagnosing Parasitic Draw on a Range Rover Classic: Part 1 (Post #678) 11/10/2024

Parasitic draw. Nothing is worse than electric problems with your vehicle. Nothing. Nope…not even that….or that. Electronic problems top the list. Okay, I googled it and electric problems weren’t even on the list on some sites. It’s numero uno on my list so let’s run with that.

In this installment I set out to the source of my parasitic draw. Seems like this is a common issue with older cars and British cars in particular. This is not the first time for me. A few episodes ago I diagnosed a possible failed alternator. When the diode pack fails in an alternator it can lead to dead batteries.

I currently have the alternator isolated so I know my issue isn’t that. I setup the multimeter in series with my battery and got it placed on the windshield so I could watch the setting change.

I started with 1.9 amps of draw. I pulled every fuse in the fuse block to no avail. I then started on the auxiliary fuses under the passenger seat. There is a row of covered fuses, I check all those. There is also two fuses stuck on the side. Turns out one of these was the culprit. When I pulled the red 10 amp fuse the draw dropped to .01 amps.

I have 4 manuals and one of them had the fuses identified. This fuse was the fuel pump. Now that’s a bit of a puzzler. The fuel pump is OFF when the key is off. I spent a lot of time thinking about it. And I didn’t come up with anything. I’ll need to look at the electrical circuit and see what comes up. I’m also going to call JagGuy and get his take on it.

This is part 1 of I’m not sure how many parts. As many as it takes…

This weekend was the Marine Corps’ 249th birthday. I give a shout out to my friends and family who were Marines. I also gave a shout out to all the veterans in my family. There were a bunch.

Marines, my grandfather William Alvy Stephens served during the Banana Wars after WW1 and my uncle Ben Johnson on my mom’s side served during Vietnam. I also served with several friends who also served with me in the USMCR and went on to retire, MGySgt Jason Rogers, USMCR (ret.) and Col. Mike Gann, USMC (ret.). My friend Howard McKinnis also served in the Marine Corps during Vietnam. My wife has several cousins who also served and retired from our beloved Corps.

I come from a long line of veterans. Both my dad and uncle served in the Navy. Another uncle on my mom’s side served in the Navy. My cousin Victoria retired from the Army and she had a son who also served in the Army. My cousin Dan served in the Air Force and a son of his served in the Navy. Many of my Great Uncles served during WW2 in the Merchant Marines and in the US Army Air Corps. Brave men one and all. I’m sure I could go on to name all my cousins who are married to military men but I’ll stop here.

Thank you for your service to our great nation.

Like and subscribe, thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

Posted on

Upper Tailgate Repair on a Range Rover Classic, Part 2 (Post #672) 9/22/2024

thumbnail

In this video I continue to refurbish the upper tailgate frame. It’s crusty. I ordered some 30 inch wire bottle brushes to attempt to get the rust out of the frame.

They worked great. I ordered them from Justman Brushes. Made in America too!! I eventually nipped the ring off of one and inserted it into my drill. This was pretty clever of me if I do say so myself.

Once I got as much of the rust out as I thought I could get, I moved to get the paint in there. It did occur to me that I could have dipped the frame in sulfuric acid. But I would have had to start all over and in the end, I still had to rely on the paint pouring to coat the interior.

I will still have to lightly sand the frame to even up the paint. The rust preventative paint is some very thick stuff.

At the end of the video I go on a rant that I liken never finishing the Range Rover Classic to Shipwright’s Disease. I posted on this previously back in 2022. You can see that by clicking the link Shipwright’s Disease [Okierover].

Read Tailgate Repair Part 1 here….

Carry on to Part 3…

Thanks for listening to me whine, like and subscribe, and Happy Rovering.

Posted on

Upper Tailgate Repair on a Range Rover Classic, Part 1 (Post #671) 9/15/2024

Yeah, yeah, I know, “I thought you were working on the floor bed?!?”

I was, but I looked at the upper tailgate and I know it’s gonna be hard to believe, but I found RUST! Shocking! Anyway, I thought I’d investigate and my OCD took over and then I was halfway through with taking it apart.

So what’s wrong? The inner tube of the lower frame is rusting BADLY from the inside out. Lots of surface rust on the outside but also rust has eaten through the steel inside out.

Do I have any hope at all that I can save it? A little, at least I’m gonna slow it down. This is one of those parts on a Range Rover Classic that rusts. Check the message boards…everyone has rust on their tailgate.

IF you buy a new upper tailgate protect it from rust immediately, do not pass Go, do not collect $200. If you don’t you will lose it to rust.

So the plan now is to paint it, I already have two coats of primer on it. The second is a daffy plan to pour rust preventative paint down the tube. Yeah, you read that correctly. I found a place to buy steel tube brushes. Justman Brush Company. I ordered the minimum of 6 brushes.

I’m going to run the brush through the tube until it stops the rust bits stop coming out. I’ve already poured “kitty litter”, you know the stuff that you use to soak up oil spills, down it until I was sure it wasn’t doing anything.

Once that job is done, I’ll reassemble. I’ve already bought all stainless steel hardware. I’ll protect the threads with copper anti-seize. This will hopefully limit the corrosion on the hardware.

That’s about it. If the brushes arrive by next weekend I’ll be finishing the tailgate and reassembling. If no, I’ll be working on the floor again. I forgot to disconnect the battery last weekend so this weekend I was reminded I have a slow drain somewhere in the wiring OR the alternator diodes have failed again. I’ll test next week by just disconnecting the alternator.

Upper Tailgate Repair, Part Two

Upper Tailgate Repair, Part Three

Like and subscribe to the channel and the blog.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

Posted on

Rear Floor Pan Repair on a Range Rover Classic (Post #670) 9/7/2024

In this post I play a chemist and use muriatic acid to de-galvanize the zinc off my Z bar. Some time ago I sourced some Z bar to rebuild the rusted ledge of the floor panel. Welding galvanized steel can make you sick. It requires a well ventilated space and likely a respirator. There are lots of videos on the YouTubes that show guys welding galvanized steel. I’ve seen enough warnings to know I don’t want anything to do with it.

So using some of the acid for the swimming pool I decided to chemically remove the zinc. This too is very dangerous. So this is fair warning, don’t try this at home kids.

I got the zinc off in short order and got the Z bar double primed and double coated with black paint. I have no fantasy that this will never rust. I just don’t want it to rust through in the next 10 years.

I also got the sunroof drain installed. This was rewarding. Getting little jobs done is great. I bought a “step drill” and am now wondering why I didn’t buy one A LONG TIME AGO. This was pretty awesome. It was expensive at $58.00(US) for one that would cut mild steel.

My next step is to dry fit the panel to confirm the Z bar and panel will fit in the place it once was. I also reached out to my biological brother’s sister (we didn’t grow up together) to see what getting the panel stripped with her metal stripping service. I really can’t go forward without that step completed.

That’s about it for this week. Like and subscribe on YouTube. Subscribe to the blog so you get notifications. I had a hit with…

Footwell Repair Part 6: Floor Panel Repair, Seam Sealer (Post #665) 8/5/2024

As of this post it has more than 1,000 views!!! I have no idea why. Most of my videos don’t get to 100 views.

Thanks for ready and Happy Rovering.

Posted on

Fuel Pump Failure: Part Duex (Post #667) 8/19/2024

Well here we go again. I decided this weekend I was going to get the Big White Bus started and move her out of the shoppe. I tried to get her started and nothing. I didn’t hear the fuel pump kick on. That’s…a bad sign.

So I asked my son to help me test. I had him turn the ignition on while I checked the voltage at the fuel pump. I had voltage.

That eliminated a LOT of testing of other components. I had a bad feeling the fuel pump was crapped out again. Turns out I was right. It was completely varnished.

What the hell right? I put 5 gallons of fresh gas in it back in December after I replaced the rubber filler hoses. I guess that wasn’t enough fresh gas. I called my friend JagGuy and asked some “chemistry” questions regarding gasoline.

Is it possible that the gas in the tank is so far gone that it varnishes? Its possible was his reply. We came to the same conclusion that all the gas needs to be removed and fresh gas added. We also talked about fuel stabilizer. I’ve never used fuel stabilizer. I guess I’m going to use it going forward.

Who knows how long the Big White Bus is going to be laid up until I can get her running regularly? Not me and I’m the project manager! So fuel stabilizer is going to be all the rage. And I’ll start running her on a regular basis.

What is odd are all these “This [insert vehicle type here] has been sitting in this field for 30 years!!! Will it start?!?!” videos on Youtube. JagGuy surmised, probably accurately that most of the truly ancient stuff has mechanical fuel pumps. Throw in a fresh battery, hope the rats haven’t eaten the wires, and if they drain the tank and use fresh gas…maybe that’s how they get them started.

Otherwise I’m calling bullshit on all these videos. There’s no way 30 year old gas is any good. My gas is five years, old give or take a year, and it’s crap.

Now I’m going to be tasked with trying to drain the tank. And then what do I do with it. Do I dare trying to mix it with good gas and burning it in my cars? What do you think?

If you watch the video you’ll see a demonstration on how simple it is to fix the fuel pump.

Like and subscribe. Patreon contributions are always accepted.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

Proudly powered by WordPress