October 11th, 2006 (Post #65)

October 11th, 2006


I’m working on the new webpage design. I hope to start converting the other
pages to the new format in the next few weeks.

Changed the oil in the Discovery II for the first time. Went with Castrol 10w40 and
a Wix Gold filter. It’s the brand I use on the Rangie and gonna stick with it. When
I got under the front end and noticed the placement I was disappointed. There is a
plastic shield under there. Most likely a cooling thing but it might be a stone shield.
I’ve got some feelers out on that. But there is a little access panel to get to the filter.
And I can’t see how you get the oil and filter out without getting oil on the shield.
When I went to take the filter off it is not on hand tight like on the Rangie. It
required an oil filter wrench and some serious turning.

I got it off and oil all over the bits under there. Again disappointing. I decided
that I was going to put that filter on hand tight and make it easier to remove later.

I got all the oil in and when I was ready to drive I heard the access panel slide under
the Disco and I immediately remembered that I had forgotten to secure it. Good thing too.
Oil was coming out from around the filter like mad. Seems it needed the wrench tightening
I was unwilling to give.

So changing the oil on the Disco is not going to be as easy as on the Rangie.

Time to start on the Rangie
I need to start working on the Rangie. As you have no doubt read below there is a huge
list of projects to get her ready for RovErica to drive. She started Driver’s Education this
past week. I’ll get some parts heading this way soon.

August 13th, 2006 (Post #64)

August 13th, 2006

Well that sucked. Lost a big bunch of updates to the Rover Log. I had some stuff
about the Classic and what needs to be repaired. Let me see if I can list some of them.

  • Repaint the tail gate, Rust taking over
  • Replace the rear lift gate, Rusted out
  • Brakes, Need refurbishing, new brake lines, calipers rebuilt
  • Stereo, Needs replacing
  • Air conditioning, recharged or something
  • There was some other things but I can’t remember them.

    We went on a trip to Denver in the Discovery. It rode well and I was a little
    disappointed with the gas mileage. We averaged a little under 15mpg the whole way.
    We didn’t have time for any Rover stuff due to my wife having a problem with some
    anxiety attacks. Kinda weird and were not sure about where they are coming from. We
    are working on it.

    We planned to visit the local area Rover shops and such but we had to come home
    early. The drive home was fun and we visited the Monument Rocks in Southwest Kansas.
    You can read about them on my new Adventure pages.

    Monument Rocks.

    Added some advertising but I got booted for looking at my own site?? I guess I shoulda read the fine, fine print again. I’ll probably try it again if I do anything more commercial.

    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.

    November 1, 2005 (Post #63)

    November 1, 2005
    Heater core replacement
    Finished the heater core replacement. It was challenging but not terribly difficult, in a technical sense. The core itself was a chore to get in the blower box. They disassembly of the dash was easy enough. I took pictures on the parts I was sure I would wonder “where did that go?”.

    The hardest part seemed to be putting the heater supply hoses back on. They are plugged into the heater core at the firewall behind the engine. I found it easier to remove the hood (bonnet) to get to them. I would say this is imperative, but there is someone out there I’m sure who did this and didn’t need to remove the bonnet.

    Heat is good. Read about it here.

    October 15th, 2005 (Post #63)

    October 15th, 2005
    Heater core replacement
    This weekend I am tackling the horrible and dread project of fixing the heater core. As you may remember it popped when I was heading into work back in April when the cooling system was failing with the head gasket problem.

    I hear it is a 4 hour off and 4 hour back on job to pull the dash out. JagGuy is hoping for lots of pictures so he can pull his to fix the expansion valve on his A/C. He will probably want some help when he does his for sure. I owe him big time I hope he asks for it.

    While I’m in there I’m going to check all the electric connections. The problem with the discharge could still be there with a problem associated to the fuse box. Strange thing happened when I was testing problems when I plugged the dome light fuse back in. I got a nice spark and the light started working where it wasn’t just minutes before.

    As the story goes the cab was filled with nasty antifreeze steam and the under dash was definately wet. So I will be cleaning that up while I’m in there.

    Thanks to all the guys that gave me tips about their project. Especially you guys from the LRO Forum.

    I’ll have a write up on it as soon as it is done. Look for it on the Tech Tips page.

    October 14th, 2005 (Post #62)

    October 14th, 2005
    Charging problems
    All of a sudden I have a charging problem. Everything was working fine. I leave my lights on one time at work and drain the battery to zero. So I get it jumped and it manages to get me home and such. So a week later I don’t drive the BWB for an entire weekend. That was nice. Anyway, Monday morning she is dead again. So I jump her and drive her to work. Battery drains over the day and I have to have a jump again.

    I get home and have to jump the next morning again. So I take it to the O’Reilly’s they test the battery and the alternator. Thumbs up on the alternator according to the guy holding the tester. So I go in and get another battery, prorated and it costs me $15.05(US). Sweet what a deal.

    So a couple of days later it’s dead again. I can’t figure that out. So with a suggestion from EGD I begin pulling fuses while measuring the amps at the battery. That was a tricky deal, because the measurement changes as the devices draw. I’m averaging 1.4 to 1.7 draw. I notice how ever that on a couple of fuses when they are out I’m drawing 4.3 to 5.2. With them out I draw more?

    Also depending on how long I kept the leads connected the voltage would eventually drop to .3. I’m guessing that was something to do with the meter. Meters don’t like to be conductive paths and I figure that was a safety feature to protect the meter. That is a guess of course.

    Well as I’m testing I notice a very high frequency hum coming from my right. Over near the alternator. So I listen closer and the alternator is humming. That can’t be right I think. Also the 4.3 to 5.2 is on the meter when I hear it. Remove the leads it goes away. Reconnect it is back. Well a few times anyway. I am unable to make the hum start on my own accord. So I am convinced the alternator is toast. All that charging on a dead battery could wear out an old under powered alternator anyway.

    Lots of web pages mention the alternator being too wimpy anyway. This is supported by the fact that when you order a rebuilt one, they are 100 amp and not 80 amp like the original.

    So I order the alternator from NAPA with a lifetime warranty, five year free towing to a NAPA service center. If the alternator is the reason for the tow a new alternator and the tow are free. What the hell, I say, $290 bucks. Whatever I want the damn thing fixed. The teasing from EGD, Titanium Hitch, and my boss is becoming unbearable.

    So I swap the alternator. Two big bolts, remove the air filter assembly, loosen the belt tightener. Swap. Bolt it back up, done. Poof like 30 minutes I’m done. I cleaned off the terminals and the battery cables and even grease them for fun.

    I go to start it and nothing. Turns over does not start.

    First I’m thinking WTF? Those two things aren’t related, well not much anyway. So I get RovErica to fire her up while I check for spark. No spark.

    With a suggestion from JagGuy who informs me I must have busted a wire when I was working near the ignition relocation module. Okay so I go back and every wire I touch breaks. Makes me wonder how it was running in the first place. So I wire it all back up with some difficulty. Not completely understanding where all the wires go makes the logic hard to follow. But wired back up it was. Still nothing.

    I give up and my wife says it might be good to look for another Rover. “If this one is going to be down three days a week. You’ll need to get to work.” That was bad. I don’t want another car payment right now. And I’m beginning to doubt why I am obsessed with these Rovers. I printed up the testing procedures and got to Test 2 before I find the problem, dead coil. I give up at 11:15pm, send the emails to work telling them to cancel my appointment and telling them I’m dead in the water.

    In the morning I call JagGuy again. He says Eric that doesn’t make any sense if you are wired up and don’t have any voltage at the coil, it’s not the coil. It must be something else. I tell him how frustrated I am and that I’m well over my head at this point. He says casually as he signs off, telling me to call him later and to check your fuses and your connections again.

    I have half the wiring harness disassembled and am wondering how all this works. I think okay check the fuses. Why didn’t I check them earlier? Well guess what dead 20 amp ignition fuse. Feeling like a complete horse’s ass I fire her up and everything worked. Fun thing happens while I’m reassembling the wire harness…the NEW alternator makes the hum sound.

    What is wrong with me? I’m a smart guy, well sorta. I’m no slouch anyway. Why can’t I understand all the concepts related to ignition systems? It’s rhetorical, so don’t email me on that.

    It’s a few day later and all seems well and the alternator is working well. The battery is not discharged. I own a new trickle charger. And I can now get to work.