Land Rover at Lowe’s and a New Muffler (Post #461) 3/11/2014

20140308_155449Over the past weekend I stopped at Lowe’s to pick up paint for my Coleman Stove Project which was part of my gearing up for S.C.A.R.R. When I came out this Discovery was sitting next to me. With the parking lot nearly empty parking directly next to me meant this guy must be an enthusiast. So I scribbled a note inviting the driver to check out my blog and to keep in touch as we were forming a Land Rover Club, Red Dirt Rovers, and invited them to check out our Google Community.

Later that day I got an email from John Joyce the owner of the Discovery. He has reached out to me with a couple of emails and I look forward to meeting him at S.C.A.R.R.

His rig looks well used. Seeing this Discovery next to me in the lot has told me I’m pretty sure if I ever get another Land Rover it will be a Discovery I. So much awesome in such a little package. Like anyone I’d love to have a classic Series 2a but for a daily driver that is probably not a realistic nor practical option.

I piddled with the rear lift gate last night in the driveway. The latch doesn’t seem to want to latch properly. I got it lubed up and got it closed properly. But I’ll have to watch it.

Today I was researching the power steering pump replacement. I ordered a new one it and will have it for this weekend. I also ordered Oxygen Sensors and will replace them this weekend as well. So naturally when I pull in to the parking lot at work I hear the muffler giving me that lovely rattling sound. It was accompanied by a whistle sound as well. So it looks like a new muffler is in order.

New Muffler

I had the one that is on her replaced just two years ago almost to the month. I wrote about it in the post, “CAN IT GET ANY LOUDER IN HERE?” I took the Range Rover to a shop on Lincoln Boulevard. The shop has been on Lincoln for at least 14 years that I can remember. Sure enough, they went under about 6 months ago. Not that I expected them to warranty the muffler but I would have leveraged him hard to give me a break on a replacement.

So now I’m frustrated with another dead muffler. The original went 150,000 miles without a single complaint. Replacements falling off after just a couple of years is ludicrous. What happened to quality workmanship? So determined to get a muffler that would be under warranty I sourced a local shop in Norman that could provide a Magnaflow.

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Performance Muffler.
A proper muffler shop.

I stopped by on the way home and got a new muffler welded in. I stopped at Performance Muffler in downtown Norman. The staff were awesome. They let me be in the shop area. That always scores big points for me. I showed the crew what I thought were issues.

Pro Tip:

When I am in a specialist’s shop I don’t tell them anything I can’t back up with 100% accuracy. They are experts and the last thing they need from some guy off the street is for that guy to start spouting complete bullshit. 

So I show them what was going on and described it to the best of my ability.

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They were quick to point out the muffler was “wheezing”. Basically a vacuum is crushing the muffler. The outside looked like when you squeeze a beer can, wrinkled and creased. I told them I wanted a Magnaflow. He had the one I needed in stock and put James to work on it immediately.

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James and my new Magnaflow.

It has a LIFETIME WARRANTY. So the next time I have trouble I’m getting a new one. The truck has that nice throaty sound to it now and we’ll see if the added horsepower they claim I will get will translate into some fuel economy.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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