Tag: auto restoration

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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.

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

I started the weekend fixing my 2014 F150. I’ve been hearing noises from the front and could feel some vibration in the floorboard. I talked to a few of my co-workers and they diagnosed wheel hubs. So I ordered a set of Timkin hubs and new brake discs and pads. I spent 5 hours putting them on. I setup the awning for shade so I wasn’t in the sun the whole day.

Victory was mine and I spent the rest of the day mowing the yard and working in my pumpkin patch. I have 5 Kakai pumpkins so far and will have a bunch of pepitas to munch on.

Sunday I set to getting the seam on the new panel sealed. Nothing too exciting about this. I did learn that 3M seam sealer is way more expensive than the German made UPOL brand. 3M $72.00(US), UPOL $22.00(US). That’s a big discrepancy.

I’ve got a problem with the welds on the transmission tunnel side. I can’t reach them to get them cleaned (the panel under there is oily and dirty), the rubber coating (no longer attached to the steel), and I can’t get to the panel because the exhaust is in the way. I’ll need to drop the exhaust. I’m not excited about that. I need to get her up on a lift to see if it would be easier. More on this on another post.

I’ve got everything sealed. Next up, I need to coat all the panels in the wheel well in truck bed liner. I’m hoping this will DELAY the inevitable.

The next post will be me fumbling to remember how to reassemble this part of the truck.

A little shout out to Mrs. Okierover as it is our 35th wedding anniversary this weekend. Happy Anniversary sweetheart.

That’s about it, like and subscribe, and as always Happy Rovering.

https://youtu.be/yBh2xRWomw0
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Footwell Repair Part 4: Floor Panel Repair, Failing Spectacularly at Metal Working (Post #663) 7/20/2024

I started the day with glorious visions of finishing the welding on the Floor Panel. All I managed to accomplish was spectacular failure.

Things that worked:

  • I had some luck with my homemade plug weld drill bit. It worked well at removing the layers of primer and seam sealer I had foolishly laid down.
  • Welding. Some of my welds actually held pretty well. I managed to get a good ground and the welds stuck until I stressed them too far. On second thought, maybe that means the welds sucked.
  • My home made air hammer … hammer bit stretched the metal a lot. But the shape I needed and the one the I got weren’t going to work.

Things that didn’t work:

  • Welds. As before, they popped when put under a lot of stress.
  • My understanding of metal working,
  • My spinal cord did not like the constant bending over.

After I had the panel welded in place I tried to apply my air hammer on the panel to get the metal to stick. I also tried using self tapping screws to get the panel to stay in place. This may have worked better if I had shaped the panel better.

All in all, it was a waste of wire and gas. I’ve since cut the panel down smaller. I cut all the plug welds off. I’ll try edge welding when I start return to make the fix. Changed the way the transmission tunnel weld was fixed. It’s now straighter less “bowl shaped”. I’m pretty sure I’ll need help holding the panel in place while I make the first few welds.

Range Rover 1

Okierover 0

That’s it for this week. Like and subscribe.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

https://youtu.be/-0hDDW1aPcE
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