Colorofkris
Well-known member
Black magic is a really good way to put it
. It is incredibly impressive!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
2012 Range Rover HSE Build/ Travel Write Up
- Thread starter Colorofkris
- Start date
Black magic is a really good way to put it
. It is incredibly impressive!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Colorofkris
Well-known member
Sorry for the lack of updates, been a busy few weeks. The Range Rover has developed another coolant leak after slamming on my brakes last weekend to avoid a drunk driver that pulled out of a bar as I was driving down the road. Luckily those Rover brakes are pretty dang good. Kicker was there was a cop cruising along side me. However since that I’ve had to top the coolant off twice in the past 2 days, so it is now sidelined until the weather can calm down enough for me to dig into it. I’m supposed to be taking it camping again next weekend so fingers crossed I can figure it out with a quick turnaround.
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Colorofkris
Well-known member
Leak on the Range Rover seems to be coming from the plastic hose that connects to the elbow that was leaking previously. I’m going to order another assembly and see if I can do a quick swap out. (I’m pretty sure I actually have a spare one already.)
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Colorofkris
Well-known member
Trip Report
Last weekend (4th of July weekend) the Range Rover made its second camp trip. Originally it was supposed to be a Friday-Tuesday trip but due to weather it was cut short Sunday night.
Friday
Our trip started out about 3 in the afternoon on Friday. We met up with my dad in his outback and Adam with 2 of his kids in his Lr4. We had reserved a spot out in Paints Creek TN, which is a Nf campground on the NC border. The wife and I have stayed there once before and stumbled on the campground on our way out to Cherokee Nf on our Smoky Mtn trip just about 2 years ago. We figured for a holiday weekend to play it safe and guarantee ourselves a place to camp not knowing how busy the Nf would be that weekend.
We arrived at camp, set up, and cranked out some Philly cheese steaks for dinner which were stellar. Most of us called it an early night since we were planning to pack up the rovers the next morning for some exploring.
Saturday
The morning was much more leisurely than we had originally intended. 1 by 1 we made our way out of bed, coffee was made and eventually I was awake enough to make some breakfast. After packing up the rovers we rolled out of camp an venture off for the day. The plan was hardly a plan at all. We wanted to drive the scenic paints creek drive, which was beautiful, then after that we wanted to go through hot springs NC and make our way back to camp. After heading driving through paints creek and exploring another forest road we decided we weren’t satisfied. With the whole day ahead of us we decided to make the drive to buzzards roost since most of the group had never been out that way before.
We headed out of paints creek and over to Pisgah NF on the other side of hot springs, road through max patch and out to the entrance to buzzards roost. It was hot, like hot hot, that afternoon so we made a stop at the river before the climb to buzzards roost for a swim, which was absolutely delightful. The drive up to the roost was nice, nothing crazy though.
The last time the wife and I went to buzzards roost we both had a really hard time getting anywhere close to the edge of the lookout. It was pretty nerve wrecking to walk up to a sheer drop like that. This time around the wife was able to walk a lot closer with out having a heart attack and I was able to get to the edge. The views are absolutely breathtaking and it was quite the treat to be able to come back after a few years, especially bringing friends and family out there for their first time.
After soaking in the views everyone loaded back into the rovers and we backtracked to hot springs. After spending most of the day on gravel roads we were all pretty well beat so we decided some nachos and a beer in hot springs was the way to go, and what better way to top nachos off then to grab some ice cream and an iced coffee to keep me alive until we got to camp. After leaving hot springs we took the Nf road back to camp. The sun started settin so it started getting pretty dark in the forest. Upon arriving to camp we had just enough daylight left to get a swim in at the swimming hole in camp and get the tents set back up. After swimming we started up a fire and the rest of the night consisted of s’mores…more s’mores and eventually bedtime.
Sunday
It was another leisurely morning, eventually coffee and breakfast was made. My dad was heading out in the afternoon on Sunday and Adam and his kids were planning to hit the road later in the evening after dinner. The goal today was to get back into the scenic route on paints creek and stop at the swimming hole. Adam and his kids went into town for a bit after breakfast and my dad headed out about the same time. This left the wife and I at camp for some down time which was spent taking a nap in a hammock.
Once Adam returned to camp we headed out to swim. This was short lived as the weather started to come in and our pup wasn’t a fan of people jumping from the rock ledges. It was a super cool spot though. There were a couple little water falls, the winning area was a good size, and there were places to jump into the water from several different heights.
Once we got back to camp we made some steaks with red potatoes and leaks for dinner and the wife an I contemplated staying until Tuesday. The weather was starting to get worse and severe weather reports were starting to trickle in. As much as 2 more nights of peace and quite sounded, the weather wasn’t going to provide much peace or quiet so we packed up knowing full well we had a bunch of adult stuff to do at the house anyways. Adam an I decided to head out of camp and take the fun way out of the forest….and by the fun way I mean the way that would lead to me popping a tire and having to unload the whole trunk to get to an air pump because Adams arb compressor fried after about a minutes use last time we camped in Helen. That being said we were able to swap the wheel with the spare and make our way gently to the paved roads and head home. I knew this getting the wheels and tires I did, but road tires are definitely just not it. As soon as we hit gravel the rain started, followed by lightning and a good bit of wind. I think leaving early was the way to go.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Last weekend (4th of July weekend) the Range Rover made its second camp trip. Originally it was supposed to be a Friday-Tuesday trip but due to weather it was cut short Sunday night.
Friday
Our trip started out about 3 in the afternoon on Friday. We met up with my dad in his outback and Adam with 2 of his kids in his Lr4. We had reserved a spot out in Paints Creek TN, which is a Nf campground on the NC border. The wife and I have stayed there once before and stumbled on the campground on our way out to Cherokee Nf on our Smoky Mtn trip just about 2 years ago. We figured for a holiday weekend to play it safe and guarantee ourselves a place to camp not knowing how busy the Nf would be that weekend.
We arrived at camp, set up, and cranked out some Philly cheese steaks for dinner which were stellar. Most of us called it an early night since we were planning to pack up the rovers the next morning for some exploring.
Saturday
The morning was much more leisurely than we had originally intended. 1 by 1 we made our way out of bed, coffee was made and eventually I was awake enough to make some breakfast. After packing up the rovers we rolled out of camp an venture off for the day. The plan was hardly a plan at all. We wanted to drive the scenic paints creek drive, which was beautiful, then after that we wanted to go through hot springs NC and make our way back to camp. After heading driving through paints creek and exploring another forest road we decided we weren’t satisfied. With the whole day ahead of us we decided to make the drive to buzzards roost since most of the group had never been out that way before.
We headed out of paints creek and over to Pisgah NF on the other side of hot springs, road through max patch and out to the entrance to buzzards roost. It was hot, like hot hot, that afternoon so we made a stop at the river before the climb to buzzards roost for a swim, which was absolutely delightful. The drive up to the roost was nice, nothing crazy though.
The last time the wife and I went to buzzards roost we both had a really hard time getting anywhere close to the edge of the lookout. It was pretty nerve wrecking to walk up to a sheer drop like that. This time around the wife was able to walk a lot closer with out having a heart attack and I was able to get to the edge. The views are absolutely breathtaking and it was quite the treat to be able to come back after a few years, especially bringing friends and family out there for their first time.
After soaking in the views everyone loaded back into the rovers and we backtracked to hot springs. After spending most of the day on gravel roads we were all pretty well beat so we decided some nachos and a beer in hot springs was the way to go, and what better way to top nachos off then to grab some ice cream and an iced coffee to keep me alive until we got to camp. After leaving hot springs we took the Nf road back to camp. The sun started settin so it started getting pretty dark in the forest. Upon arriving to camp we had just enough daylight left to get a swim in at the swimming hole in camp and get the tents set back up. After swimming we started up a fire and the rest of the night consisted of s’mores…more s’mores and eventually bedtime.
Sunday
It was another leisurely morning, eventually coffee and breakfast was made. My dad was heading out in the afternoon on Sunday and Adam and his kids were planning to hit the road later in the evening after dinner. The goal today was to get back into the scenic route on paints creek and stop at the swimming hole. Adam and his kids went into town for a bit after breakfast and my dad headed out about the same time. This left the wife and I at camp for some down time which was spent taking a nap in a hammock.
Once Adam returned to camp we headed out to swim. This was short lived as the weather started to come in and our pup wasn’t a fan of people jumping from the rock ledges. It was a super cool spot though. There were a couple little water falls, the winning area was a good size, and there were places to jump into the water from several different heights.
Once we got back to camp we made some steaks with red potatoes and leaks for dinner and the wife an I contemplated staying until Tuesday. The weather was starting to get worse and severe weather reports were starting to trickle in. As much as 2 more nights of peace and quite sounded, the weather wasn’t going to provide much peace or quiet so we packed up knowing full well we had a bunch of adult stuff to do at the house anyways. Adam an I decided to head out of camp and take the fun way out of the forest….and by the fun way I mean the way that would lead to me popping a tire and having to unload the whole trunk to get to an air pump because Adams arb compressor fried after about a minutes use last time we camped in Helen. That being said we were able to swap the wheel with the spare and make our way gently to the paved roads and head home. I knew this getting the wheels and tires I did, but road tires are definitely just not it. As soon as we hit gravel the rain started, followed by lightning and a good bit of wind. I think leaving early was the way to go.
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Colorofkris
Well-known member
On a side note the Rover is still leaking coolant but can’t pinpoint exactly how or where it’s leaking. I thought it was the part I had previously replaced and it
Possibly still could be. It’s not consistent at all and no obvious signs of leakage aside from the coolant level dropping and some residue on the elbow fitting I previously replaced. I’m curious if the new elbow didn’t seat properly with the o-ring. When I have some time over the next few weeks I’m going to try and do a pressure test on the system with the intake off and see if it’s noticeable.
Another thing I did was went in with the gap tool and modified the tire size in the computer and it’s running, shifting, and cornering light years better then it was. Adam sent me a write up on it and a lot of the symptoms they were having were similar to some of the quirks on mine.
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Possibly still could be. It’s not consistent at all and no obvious signs of leakage aside from the coolant level dropping and some residue on the elbow fitting I previously replaced. I’m curious if the new elbow didn’t seat properly with the o-ring. When I have some time over the next few weeks I’m going to try and do a pressure test on the system with the intake off and see if it’s noticeable.
Another thing I did was went in with the gap tool and modified the tire size in the computer and it’s running, shifting, and cornering light years better then it was. Adam sent me a write up on it and a lot of the symptoms they were having were similar to some of the quirks on mine.
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Colorofkris
Well-known member
Coolant leak is getting worse so I went ahead and replaced the elbow again with a new brass kit. The new brass elbow fit much better then the previous one that didn’t seat in the connector. The plastic one was very loose and moved pretty freely until I went to remove it. It ended up snapping off which made a 5 min job last 2 hours.
Anyways, new brass elbow is installed, new oring, and new clip connector (don’t know the name of it). Bled the coolant and took it for a drive. There was a lot of residual coolant on the bottom plastic dust cover so when I parked it I think it spilled some out. Not signs of a coolant drop yet. The wife will drive it to work tomorrow which regularly would mean it needed to be topped off at least once a day.
I will update tomorrow or Friday on the findings!
(Sorry no pictures, with coolant all over the place and frustration in the air I decided to keep the phone down.)
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Anyways, new brass elbow is installed, new oring, and new clip connector (don’t know the name of it). Bled the coolant and took it for a drive. There was a lot of residual coolant on the bottom plastic dust cover so when I parked it I think it spilled some out. Not signs of a coolant drop yet. The wife will drive it to work tomorrow which regularly would mean it needed to be topped off at least once a day.
I will update tomorrow or Friday on the findings!
(Sorry no pictures, with coolant all over the place and frustration in the air I decided to keep the phone down.)
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Colorofkris
Well-known member
No dice on the elbow fixing the leak. All the coolant still looks like it’s coming from that area though above the water pump. I’m guessing at this point it’s the outlet y pipe. I’m going to pull the intake and intake manifold off next week and start digging. I’ll try to get a pressure test on the system and see what comes up.
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Colorofkris
Well-known member
Sorry it’s been a while, life has a way of taking up all of your time sometimes. That being said I have finally gotten around to further investigating the coolant leak and it looks like both front and rear cross over pipes are leaking. I have replacements on the way and hope to have them swapped out by the beginning of next week. I also noticed a lack of performance as well as some oil residue around the seals of the intake manifold and the throttle body so I have a new set of gaskets for the intake manifold and throttle body.
I’m hoping this does the trick and we can be back on the road doing cool stuff! Update next week.
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I’m hoping this does the trick and we can be back on the road doing cool stuff! Update next week.
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GSP
Member
When I changed my crossover pipes, I literally poured oil out of the intake. I hate that these things don't have a dip stick. Every time I had the oil change at the dealer, it came back saying over filled. I started changing it myself to keep that from happening. I also changed the PCV diaphragms. Not sure what was causing all the oil in the intake.
Colorofkris
Well-known member
Colorofkris
Well-known member
Cross over pipes are done, new gaskets installed. Crank it up, start bleeding the system and the outlet vent tube that runs to the reservoir blew. 
. Replaced that….crank it up, bleed the system. Everything is looking good, running strong, went to bleed from the bleeder nut by the battery….top of the bleeder screw breaks off and proceeds to make a geyser out of my Rover. Now awaiting a new bleeder screw, I went with a brass one because screw plastic. Anyways looks like that will replace pretty much anything that could go wrong on the coolant system at this point. After this is all situated the Range Rover will get a bath and a new battery shortly after.
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. Replaced that….crank it up, bleed the system. Everything is looking good, running strong, went to bleed from the bleeder nut by the battery….top of the bleeder screw breaks off and proceeds to make a geyser out of my Rover. Now awaiting a new bleeder screw, I went with a brass one because screw plastic. Anyways looks like that will replace pretty much anything that could go wrong on the coolant system at this point. After this is all situated the Range Rover will get a bath and a new battery shortly after. 
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Colorofkris
Well-known member
No pictures or anything for this update, buuut I got the Range Rover back together with a new plug and was able to drive about 50 or so miles with no issues. (Knock on wood) I’m hoping it stays that way for the rest of forever. Glad to have it back on the road though. This week will tell if we need a new battery or not. I’ll be giving it a bath at some point and I’m hoping to get it ready for another trip in the near future!
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Colorofkris
Well-known member
After a week of the wife driving the Range Rover, we have zero leaks, it’s idling great, and running way smoother and less lethargic then it has since I picked it up. The only issue I am seeing now is at 45mph it starts to run rough, almost like a stutter, then once you accelerate a little more it goes away. I’m not sure what’s causing the issue but I’m thinking it could be plugs, injectors, coils, or valve build up. I still have the can of valve cleaner that I’m going to run through it maybe this weekend. As for plugs it would make sense that they would be fowled since the injectors were stuck open during the valve cover fiasco. Not throwing any codes or anything though. Battery is also on its way out the door so that will be the next thing to deal with.
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Colorofkris
Well-known member
Adam got his lr4 back yesterday after being down for about a month and change. Nice to see both rovers on the road!
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