Front Half Shaft Oil-Seal Failure (Post #493) 5/1/2014

How many of you remember this commercial?

So the problem I’m having is exactly like that commercial, except that it’s not delicious, I haven’t bumped into a cute girl, and there’s no creepy old man helping solve the problem, there isn’t a happy ending, and it’s 2014 not 1982.

You got swivel housing grease in my differential oil!

No you got differential oil in my swivel housing grease!

Continue reading “Front Half Shaft Oil-Seal Failure (Post #493) 5/1/2014”

Starter Problems (Again?) (Post #486) 4/20/2014

The Big White Bus came home on the back of a flatbed of shame wrecker Friday night. The starter has failed. Thursday night as I was leaving the Marine Corps Coordinating Council dinner the failure was foreshadowed by the starter giving me a telltale click sound when I tried to start her to come home.

When I turned her over I got a few clicks, uttered an expletive, and turned the key and then she decided to start. I drove to the gas station to fill up and when I went to leave she started just fine. The next morning she started just fine. So when I came out to go home, I had honestly forgotten the starter was misbehaving. Continue reading “Starter Problems (Again?) (Post #486) 4/20/2014”

America Explained in One Minute (Post #482) 4/16/2014

I was reading the Just A Car Guy Blog (btw, you should too) and caught his post. The first video you are about to see is a brief explanation of America. Actor Neal McDonough explains why we are driven. The video is ultimately an advert for the new Cadillac ELR, a car I will never own nor probably ride in. The second is Ford’s “sustainable” response. Another car I will never own.

There are a couple of great lines in there. Enjoy.

http://youtu.be/qGJSI48gkFc Video has been removed….damn.

Ford’s reply.

All this has me thinking I should make a Land Rover version…maybe I will.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering, N’est-ce pas?

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.

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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”

Not the Water Pump (Post #474) 3/26/2014

If you read “Sometimes Things Don’t Go Your Way” you saw that I thought I had a failing water pump. The “new” water pump was only a few months old so it was quite out of the ordinary for it to be failing. I took the Range Rover to Mickey’s Garage on Monday to have it looked at. It turned out it was not the water pump.

So the sound I heard was definitely a failing bearing. It turned out to be the belt tensioner pulley’s bearing. The pulley is attached to the water pump by a bracket that mounts directly to the water pump. So any noise from the pulley would be transmitted up to the water pump housing. That’s where I put the screw driver “stethoscope” to confirm it was the water pump and not the NEW power steering pump I just installed.

I have a video of the sound. You can hear it as I rev the motor. It’s the prrrrrr sound as the engine winds down.

Mickey’s wise words, “I would not drive that to S.C.A.R.R. without replacing it.” had me stopping at Rover Cannibal on the way home Tuesday. I went in and talked to Ryan. I told him what I needed and he said what I already new, “Those are getting hard to find.” Indeed this is the case. He called “KC” over and together we went up stairs to the bin. KC’s knowledge of where everything is located in that warehouse is impressive. I explained to him that there were two types of pulleys used on the Range Rovers. Once we got to the bin I showed him how they were mirror images of the other. I found a good one and was ready to get out. Once again Ryan and Rover Cannibal had what I needed.

I determined to place the pulley in my spares box for the trip. The growl has been going on for a while and I was not in the mood to swap another part last night. I called Mr. Fisher over to help but at the last-minute decided that if it did fail all I would lose is the belt and I have a spare in the spares box.

I knocked the grease and surface browning off with my wire wheel. I painted it up and have it ready to pack.

S.C.A.R.R. is this weekend and I have only one other task to complete. I must do an oil change this weekend. I hit 206,000 miles and that 6 is divisible by three so 3 thousand miles have passed. Time to put in some more Castrol 20w50 and a new Wix oil filter.

I’m working on a way to service these pulleys. The bearings are behind a cover in the center of the pulley. If this housing can be removed and replaced, or reinstalled, it would allow for repacking the bearings with grease. More investigation is warranted. Thankfully I have a damaged one I can practice on.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.