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March 12th, 2003 (Post #24)

March 12, 2003
The brake pedal is the one on the left
Ah better weather is upon us. And just in the nick of time too. Brake problems are now haunting the beloved Big White Bus. The brakewear indicator began lighting up last week. I got home walked around the truck and the telltale smells of a very hot brake were eminating from the right rear wheel. I went in and change and proceeded to remove the wheel and inspect the brakes.

Now this light tells you when the pads are worn thin. These pads have been on the Big White Bus since September. I didn’t think I had been stopping a great deal in the last 6 months. But never the less the light was on. The pad is in very good shape. But it did smell burnt. So I took the pads out and inspected them further. No excessive wear was found.

Basically the way the indicator works is when the pad is worn down there are two wires in a channel near the metal backing plate of the pad. When the wires are exposed and you hit your brakes they “short” against the brake disc. This tells something else to illuminate the light. Anyway that’s how I understand it works. When you pull a worn brake pad you will see the channel very well and the wires too.

I can’t see the wires or any reason other than this that the light should be alight. I noticed a black burned substance on the top of the pad where the wires enter the channel. My hypothesis (21 point Scrabble word, impressive) is that the brake pad was heated up, due to what I am not sure. But this heating has caused the filler substance to “boil” out and the wires inside now are touching.

Is this verifiable?
Am I insane?
What business do I have making these types of hypothesis in the first place?
Who invented aerosol cheese products and why?

These are all valid questions but unless someone can tell me differently I’m gonna stick with my hypothesis. The solution is to unplug the sensor plug.

But aren’t you disabling an important sensor?
Yes and no. Yes it is no longer part of the diagnosis system. But the front pads will wear much faster than the back and they still have sensors on them. Besides, I’m not some Rover Noob. I check my brakes when I rotate my tires once a year or so.
And my Dad was a television repair man, I have an awesome set of tools, I can fix it.
(Fast Times at Ridgemont High, 1982)

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February 24th, 2003 (Post #23)

February 24, 2003
Great Stuffage
This weekend we had an Ramp Travel Index get together at Rover Cannibal. I got to meet a few members and future members I haven’t seen before and chat with some I have. I was surprised to see how many of our trucks are white. It looked like an Extreme UNSCOM Convention was going on. As we pulled our trucks up to the RTI ramp I saw a few other colors.

As I was being measured on the ramp Alan Bates came around to my side of the Big White Bus
and said, “You’ve got some great stuffage going on there.” Seems my right rear tire was way
up in the wheel well. We ran the trucks on the ramp inside, because of the weather, and then
as we were not entirely pleased with the results we ran them up outside off of the concrete. Alan
has a very awesome 1992 Range Rover. A really great looking truck check out his pics on the Member’s Page.

With the shifting of the transfer case I found another annoyance that had slipped from my memory since the last time it occurred. The microswitch that activates a bell that noisily informs you that you are in neutral would not go off. Finally after a few minutes it did finally go off. It has been chirping on bumps ever since. With every day that goes by I feel like it would be a worthy project to park the Rover and take it mostly apart and fix all the little problems. I do not have another vehicle to drive and no place to do this maintenance close to home. So it will have to wait for later when the average daily driveway temperature to climbs into the 60s fahrenheit.

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February 13th, 2003 (Post #22)

February 13, 2003
Whooo Hooooo
Off road driving can some times be done ON ROAD. Near my home they are widening an intersection from the quaint two lane county section-linesque road to the behemoth 5 lane with traffic light.

There are several level changes between the old road and the new road beds. They are sharp and should not in a normal car be taken at more than 10 miles per hour. While driving home with my family from a school function the other night I learn that the Big White Bus can get it’s tires off the ground. Did I say we were going 30mph and decellerating.

The snow had fallen the day before and this day it had melted enough to flood the lower sections of the road construction zone. Fog had rolled in and obscured my vision to a few hundred feet. As normal we transitioned down a gentle slope. Great fun, the kids loved it. Then I saw the other transition point. A 15 foot wide puddle that we quickly learned was a foot deep. Water came up on the hood and then we hit the HOLE! and as we came out the other end the ramp up on to the new road had a nice lip on it and we all came out of our seats. My wife and kids screamed, RovErica hit her head on the roof and all the tools and equipment in the back reordered itself. Great fun!! We all settled down and had a big laugh.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Sir Issac Newton.
The opposite action is the creaky and growning the Big White Bus now makes when the suspension is tested. A simple turn into the driveway presented me with new sounds of creaking and growning. It seems the suspension will be the first thing this Spring I will need to look at. It has passed the radiator cooling problem by a few points to take the lead in requiring my attention.

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February 4th, 2003 (Post #21)

February 4, 2003
123456
Today my Rover rolled past 123456 on the odometer. I bought it when it had a mere 88,000 on the clicker. I had to make an extra trip today so I was unprepared to take a picture of the odometer. With that many miles on my Rover I have been considering another purchase. As many of you have read I want a Series truck real bad. I mention edit to my wife on an errand the other day and she asked the obvious questions.
Are you getting rid of this one to get that one?
Will you be working on it all the time?
Will it be more reliable?
None of these questions were actually answered by me. Better not to promise things I can’t control. I will probably have to wait until the finances look better to get a project like a Series truck. If I could get one now it would just rust in the driveway for lack of funds.

“Why don’t you buy an already restored one?”
That is an excellent question, you deserve a cookie. My answer is, I probably will. But I must wait just the same. The list below of repairs pending will be added to soon. I will be evaluating
my truck for off-road action. I want to make the Southwest Oklahoma trail ride so as not to be a burden to my fellow travelers I will need some repairs. More on that next week. For now wish for snow this week.

Happy Birthday my love…
Today is my wife’s birthday. I would like to wish her many, many more. She has made
my life so complete. Even though she hates my Rover I love her dearly.

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January 27th, 2003 (Post #20)

January 27, 2003
It has finally happened…
It is bitter cold outside. (See below for details.) And the Big White Bus has finally left me at the side of the road. Actually it left me in front of a 7-Eleven but you get the point.

It was in the low teens Friday morning and I got in the Rover to go to work. I started it up and went to fill with petrol. I turned it off to open the gas door. Restarted to keep it warm while I filled the tank with the precious go-go juice. I pulled up to the front to go in and pay. When I returned the key would not turn in the ignition. No way. All the obvious things I tried. Multiple keys, turning the wheel to relieve the pressure of the steering lock, everything. Enough graphite to grease a battleship.

So in my desperate state I returned to the house to check my AllData subscription to see if I was missing anything. I returned to begin taking things apart to find the problem. The key lock mechanism is completely mechanical and free of the solenoids that prevent everything else on the Rover from working unless conditions are met. So with this bit of knowledge from my friend JagGuy I took the steering column cowling off. I messed with the lock some more but to no avail. I did manage to pull the electrics off the back of the tumbler mechanism and now know I can start my truck without the key.

Nothing worked, I had given up. Done. Call the tow truck. “Game over man, game over.” I started gathering the important things and put a couple of things back together. I was about to pull the key out and I thought one more try, what have I got to loose, twist and wow it turned. I have no idea why it turned, but it did. It did not start but it did turn. I had failed to secure the electric switch part of the mechanism back to the tumbler correctly. This is poorly manufactured and even more poorly designed. I managed to get it back together correctly and it started. It started consistantly at least 5 times.

Did I learn anything from the experience? Yes, I can take the silly thing apart in my sleep now. I know how the shifter mechanism works intimately. Could I replace a tumbler, probably but I’m not sure I would try it when the temperature was below 50 degrees farenheit.

I would like to thank Ryan at Rover Cannibal for his generous offer to bring my truck down for the guys to look at it, again. I will take him up on that soon. Thanks to JagGuy in helping me
return the Taurus to Janie so she could get home after work and for his invaluable knowledge of automobiles of the British Isles (do they still call them that?).

Have a good winter. Talk to you next week.

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January 23rd, 2003 (Post #19)

January 23, 2003
It is bitter cold outside. For all of you from other parts of the world that means it is in the teens outside with a wind chill in the minus ranges. I’m sure Rob can tell us of cold weatherup North near Canada. This is the cold that you all know and love. You all know it because nothing fails on your Rover until it gets this cold outside. The power steering pump is failing, I know it’s days are numbered. The fluid leak has exaserbated the problem and I will likely need to replace it. I am now angry that I squandered the 60 degree temperatures of last weekend with house silliness instead of Rover silliness. If the weather guys are correct we should warm up next week. I will be doing auto repair if I know what’s good for me.

Add to the list below….

  • Exhaust.

    • The exhaust is in bad shape. I forgot to include this on the list with the rest last week.

  • Rusty Tailgate.

    • Everyone I know has this problem. I need to find that rust stopping goo. If anyone knows what it is called email me so I can get some.

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