The Landblogger

Rangie Update

Since my last post back in February, the truck went through a bit of growing pains. The head gasket, which I later discovered to be aftermarket rather than Elring OEM, corroded away its compression seal in late spring, causing the cooling system to pressurize and exploding the expansion tank. I have a hunch that the earlier leak sprung between the block and timing cover was the first indication of this bigger problem. I ordered the proper gasket and had it replaced by early June, and the truck has been solid since then except for one other odd hiccup...

I was hearing a pfffting noise whenever I was above 2000 RPM and under even the slightest acceleration. After several attempts at fixing what several experts thought to be an exhaust leak at the header pipe, I was able to do a brake-stand of sorts at the exhaust shop and it was discovered that the problem was a leaking injector.

The lower brass washer/seal had disintegrated. Luckily we caught it before much damage was done as the hot gasses escaping through the injector could easily erode the aluminum injector seat. A 9/16th drill bit was sacrificed by grinding down its tip flat and inserting it into the injector port and using it to hand-polish the injector seat before installing 4 new copper washers. What I learned was that these washers need to be replaced every time the injectors are removed, and they're cheap anyway.

Last week the truck turned over 100,000 miles, which is about 20,000 miles on the diesel now. My wife drives it as a daily driver and loves it.

10,000 cheap miles

After the Range Rover V8 hobbling along on 6 cylinders, and spewing partially unburnt hydrocarbons back into the environment, I'm feeling quite assuaged about the emissions of this diesel. Rather than 12-14 MPG the truck now gets 30-32 MPG (Imperial) and is very drivable. I've been able to use 50% biodiesel for about half my fuel over the past year and hope to increase that as time goes by.

I've taken the truck off the road for a couple of weeks to do a couple of repairs. Primarily, a coolant leak started whenever the pressure was over about 5 pounds, and as usual these leaks never fix themselves. This one turned out to be in about the worst spot possible — between the engine block and the timing cover. This means that the entire front engine has to come apart to fix it. Just my luck. It appears a thin paper gasket failed. It's getting a heavier layer of the Right Stuff this time round. While its apart, I'm going to address a power steering leak by replacing the steering box with a better used one I have from a 1997 Discovery, and I'll likely replace the head gasket as well. Currently it has a 3-notch head gasket, because that was what I had on hand, but its in spec for a two-notch (thinner) gasket which will increase the compression slightly and perhaps the power. The gasket I had on hand at the time of the rebuild was also an off-brand and has seeped a bit over the last year, so hopefully this L-ring brand name gasket will stop that seepage. Last step of this repair job is to fix a small hole on the oil pan, since its off anyway. It isn't leaking, due to some black gunk patching material, but this is as good a time as any to make it right.

Other things I did to the truck over the past year... new springs and shocks all round, 2" lift. New Discovery aluminum wheels. New alternator and starter motor. Madman gauge. TurboSmart boost adjuster.

This is a fun truck to drive so I can't wait to roll it out of the shop again and be on my way.

It's Running!

During the past few weeks I've methodically check off everything on the list, and today I was able to start it up. It got oil pressure immediately and after about 30 seconds, I shut it down to check the levels. I was surprised to see that it needed an additional 4 litres of oil. The 5 litres I put in must have been gobbled up by the new cooler in the rad, the filter and all the oil galleries. Anyway, topped up again, restarted. Everything seems to be working and no leaks so far. 

I did come across one oops, which I'll have to attack tomorrow. After carefully relocating the shifter to the left, I discovered that I had rotated it too far now and as a result it interferes with the handbrake lever. I'll have to tear apart the console and the access panel again and pull the shifter and re-weld it. Oh well, most of the rest has gone smoothly.

I finished the wiring for the starter circuit and the glow plug circuit yesterday, as well as reinstalled the fuel tank and the drive shafts.

So tomorrow, its bleed the brakes, fix the shifter and reinstall the bonnet. Later in the week its off to the muffler shop to get an exhaust system built.

A good days work

Today, being Saturday, I got out in the shop by 9 AM and basically gave it on the Range Rover all day. I started with completing and bleeding the clutch hydraulics, then finished installing the 4 gauge wire to the starter, rerouted the ground strap, and installed the new radiator in the rad enclosure. A lick of paint here and there to hide the occasional rust spot, which is mostly surface, but the inner fenderwells are calling out to be replaced sometime... 

Also installed the starter and its heat shield, the new clutch disc and pressure plate, torqued all the bolts and got the engine on the lift. Finally lifted it in for, hopefull, the last time and it went together with the transmission smooth as silk. I installed all the attaching nuts, but so far can't put my finger on the safe place I put the 4 long bolts. Hmmm. I lowered it way down with no motor mounts and tightened the upper attaching nuts. Then lifted it again, inserted the motor mounts, and tightened the rest of the engine bolts. I'll leave the motor mounts loose until I get the rad, fan and shroud in place to ensure everything fits together smoothly.

All being well, I'll have a few more hours to fiddle with it tomorrow too.

Doing the To-Do

I made a list last week of things to do with the engine out before I put it back in again for the final (hopefully) time...

Paint frame & motor mounts

paint radiator enclosure

install new rad in enclosure

fab shifter to new position

fab top of firewall to make a removable portion to make rocker cover removable easier

check input of steering box for leaks

prep heater core hose connections

replace positive battery cable with longer version

clean up fenderwells and shock towers

install clutch and pressure plate

clean up slave cylinder

install clutch hydraulic hoses

Well, yesterday and today I made some pretty good progress. The frame and motor mounts have had 3 coats of paint, I've taken apart the shifter, cut it, rotated the linkage 90° clockwise to be in a better position for left hand drive, welded it back together, and reinstalled it. I've also made my fabrication to the top of the firewall by removing the centre vent assembly, then carefully cutting a 4" by 8" rectangle and removing it. I then created an inner edge out of aluminum and installed it so that the 4x8 plate can be removed and replaced at will. This will make it a good deal easier when re & re-ing the engine as well as when the valve cover needs removal for valve adjustments. I then worked on the hydraulic hoses for the clutch. Still a little bit to do on the clutch, yet, but things are indeed plodding forward. Also completed, is the battery cable, some fenderwell cleanup and prepping the heater. I've decided to leave the shock towers alone until later as if any bolts break when I try and remove the old rusty towers it means waiting for a new spring plate, so this is a job that can be done later...

Is it running yet?

This summer just disappeared. It's now the end of October, a frosty morning and snow is bound to fly soon. In early July I put the 200 tdi project on hold as summer vacations were coming up and there was trucks to prepare for the various planned expeditions — trucks that were actually running!

So most of July was spent getting the Series IIa 88" ready for the Alexander Mackenzie Heritage Trail, which we did the first week of August. We rechristened this truck SpongeBob Squarepants during the trip, as its such a square shape, and the suspension so spongy. It wasn't until we made our way down the steep hill into Bella Coola after 5 days in the bush that we noticed that the shackle Dave and Peter had found 3 days ago along the trail had been ours. We were running on half of a spring shackle. No wonder it was spongy. A quick stop at a very friendly service garage at the bottom of the hill and we were on our way again. When I returned home, I took the time to retighten all the spring shackles as I had loosened everything off to give the truck maximum articulation. Now, having driven it a bit more, I'm looking for a happy medium between loose and floppy and torqued tight. After the Mackenzie Trail run, we had to work for a few weeks and prepare our other truck, the Disco II, for the long trek down to the Land Rover National Rally. We also took a few additional days and toured the 100 mile White Rim trail in Canyonlands Park. The rally, held in Moab, UT was excellent, and I wanted to do Fins & Things over and over like a kid on a roller coaster — which was much like the terrain we were driving. If you haven't been there, it has to go on your bucket list.

Two weeks later we arrived home, only to get ready for a quick run through the Whipsaw with the Rover-Landers and the Whipsaw Trail committee putting on a great barbeque in rather adverse conditions at 7000 feet. It was sleeting sideways with 70-80 kph winds. A cold and noisy night was had by all, but excellent food and socializing.

Finally, on Thanksgiving weekend, the last Land Rover event on our calendar... The 20th annual Northwest Challenge, down in south central Washington. Again the old Series IIa was selected for the task. This time we towed the truck down as I have a habit of breaking it on the NWC, so we wanted a sure way home. the towing went very well, by the way, although the truck being pulled tends to tug a bit this way or that as the tow bar is very short. Shawn and I tied for first place at the event with a few hair raising moments as we squeezed through some tight side slopes and over some very hard rocks. I have a whole winter of repairs to do to the truck, but it would have driven home on its own power.

So as you can tell, no the 200 tdi project is not done. I did, however, get out there last night finally and got rolling again. The engine, which had been test installed back in June after several attempts at motor mounts, was pulled out again. The final motor mounts now designed and tacked in place were fully welded last night, and thats about as far as I got. I'll be writing a to do list again tonight and away we go.

Exceptional progress

Well, at least for me... after fighting with the obtuse fasteners of the pedal assembly for about 4 hours, the transmission went in tonight with no complaints in about an hour and a half. All bolts found appropriate holes in the frame, and went in quite easily with very little persuasion.

A side trip with a few bumps...

Recently on Land Rover Addict there was a post from one of the members wanting to send his regards — and a thump — to the man who designed the fuel gauge sender on a Defender 110 tdi. Well, I'd like to send the same regards to the man who designed the pedal assemblies for the Rangies and Discoveries. I'm installing the 200tdi and 5 speed into what was a 1988 NAS V8 auto model left hand drive truck. However, what was generously supplied with the parts I purchased from the UK was a RHD pedal assembly from a 1994-6 Discovery 5 speed. From looking at it on the bench, both pedal assemblies look to be the same shape and you would say, this should work just fine... Well the first adjustment wasn't a surprise, the pedals were over to the left about 2.5" further than they should be due to the RHD seating position. I expected this and it was duly dealt with by heating the pedal arms to cherry red, and bending them to the right, then allowing them to cool and putting another bend in the arms closer to the pedals themselves. This worked quite successfully and should stand up well now that I've repainted the arms. Can't hardly tell if you didn't know it wasn't stock.
The second hurdle is the throttle cable, which on the rhd diesel only has a short distance to go. On the left hadn drive, I need about 188 more inches. This was fixed by a surplus cable from Princess Auto and 2 large fender washers assembled on the cable end to sandwich the pedal assembly frame and hold it in place. I had to cut a slice into the fender washers the width of the cable to allow it to slip over the cable and stay in place. Hard to describe in words, but a fairly simple fabrication.
Thirdly, there are two thin metal support brackets that exists on the Range Rover but not on the Discovery. Perhaps the Discovery gets its support in another way. One of these one the Range Rover, however, is directly in the way of the pivot arm that the clutch and brake pedal attach to. I tried 3 different ways to mount it while retaining the support bracket, however the bracket is now gone. Before its removal by sawzall, I put some weight into wiggling dashboard components and found that none of the wiggling I did moved the support bracket, so I concluded that it may not be necessary to the structural soundness.
Finally, offering up the new pedal assembly to the hole on the firewall, I was pleased to see that at least 2 of the 8 attaching bolts actually shared the same holes. The other 6 were off anywhere from 1/8" to 3/4" and as a result I had to do some creative trimming, drilling and utilize more fender washers to get a good solid — and good looking — fit.
This is as close to a bodge as I've had to do on this project, but all in all it worked out well. I've now started a photo album of the install which can be found here.

Progress report

Last Sunday night the V8 came out. I can't believe it's now Friday! This week I cleaned the shop and organized the tools on Monday night, pulled the console and shifter and dropped the transmission out on Tuesday night. Installed the motor mounts, block heater and lots of hemming and hawing on Wednesday night. Finished installing the newly arrived skew gear and manifolds on Thursday. Tonight I brought home a bunch of degreaser and did a thorough cleanup of the engine bay, the shop floor and the driveway. Then I fabricated a rear engine lift mount. I'd like to say this was some sort of planned high performance engineering, but the truth of the matter is I forgot to insert the motor lift point when I torqued the head bolts, and since they are stretch torqued and its only two of them, I decided to leave the head bolts torqued and simply create a new lift point. There are two fairly deep M8 threaded holes at the back of the head, so I created a skookum new mount and attached it there.
I've now also taken the engine off the stand and hoisted it up and moved it around in preparation of first fitting. Transmission is on the floor, awaiting its rear cross member to be installed and then it will get slid underneath and jacked into position. Who knows, I may have my first test fit done tonight.
Gonna have to take some time off from it tomorrow as grass needs cutting, not to mention a half dozen other chores that are niggling...

Now we're getting somewhere

I took a week off work last week, much needed due to some new stresses, but now I have to go back to work to rest up!
I spent several days putting the finishing touches on the 200 tdi. Waiting for Fedex for the final parts — only to discover that when they were delivered it was actually an order for a guy in Ontario. Don't know where mine went, but Britpart is sending again and the skew gear and clutch fork should be here tomorrow.
Also had to order a couple of glow plugs as 2 were shot. Paddocks had them on sale for £1.95 each so I picked up a half dozen. The block heater should arrive tomorrow too, I hope.
Finally, I took the injectors in to the local fuel shop and they rebuilt them, which was surprisingly inexpensive, only $137 — even better, Pamela paid!
So the engine sits with everything done but putting in the skew gear, glow plugs and block heater. Today I cleaned up the shop, and turned my attention back to the Range Rover. I had loosened a lot of stuff but hadn't actually pulled the V8. So today was the day. And boy, was it a messy bitch of a job. One engine now sits on the shop floor, but I have a lot of cleanup to do again.
The next process will be to remove the tranny, clean out the engine bay, remove all the unneeded junk from the V8, install the pedal assembly, simplify the wiring, then figure out whether the pile of engine mounts from various projects will adapt to this one or if I'm gonna be fabricating engine mounts too.