95 RRC LWB question

[Bo S.]

I am thinking about getting a 95 Range Rover LWB I found. It has 198,000 miles on it but the owner (who has owned it since March) says it was rebuilt some time in the past. He is asking $2650 for it. Is that on the high side or a good deal?

Condition:
Both front seats have electrical problems and do not work at all. He told me not to play with them because the mirrors would move occasionally. The steering is making some whiny noises, sounds like the pump is going out. The trans. and transfer case shift smoothly and all the power windows work. It has 245's on it with some clearance to spare so it could have a small lift on it. It is in decent to fair shape on the exterior and interior....no rips of tears and no huge dents.

So what do you guys think? Shoot me straight, I like having an old 4x4 to play with and trail ride but if the price is too high I might be able to negotiate some.

I had a 93 for a couple months but the transfer case got stuck in HI so it was kinda annoying so I got rid of it. I like the interior of the 95 except for the fact that the seat is stuck all the way up.

 

[REDROVER]

get an older model

 

[muskyman]

not a bad price for a LWB if it is clean.

95 is the best year for a RRC.

in the end you are making a commitment to a body so get the cleanest one you can afford and then from there everything else can be fixed.

 

[Douglas S.]

not a bad price for a LWB if it is clean.

95 is the best year for a RRC.

in the end you are making a commitment to a body so get the cleanest one you can afford and then from there everything else can be fixed.

Did the 95's get the ugly (IMO) "new" dash?

 

[Bo S.]

Haha, yes the dash is "looks" the same as a Discovery. I like the truck just not sure if I like it that much. I might offer him 2K. I bought my old one for $1200 and it was slightly nicer but it might have been a good deal because the transfer case was shot.

 

[Dave Legacy]

Love the interior on the 95s. I think the seat controls adjusting the mirrors has me the most concerned.

 

[Rovertrader]

seat/mirror deal is common. '95 shares a ton w/ the Discos, hence cheap and plentiful parts availability- except the windscreen, one year only and expensive...

 

[Bo S.]

Yeah, the front window is cracked but more worried about the miles. If it had slightly less miles id be all over it.

 

[uberhahn]

The price doesn't seem bad. All of the ones I've looked at had corrosion issues on the rear crossmember and frame outriggers, in addition to tailgate rust.

 

[James86004]

I have never owned one, but the 95 is the one I would want. The air conditioning works way better, but then I live in Arizona. Our 89 and 93 just could not keep the cabin cool in the summer if you were stuck in traffic. Also, the heater hoses are way easier to change.

The seats all have issues - there are a couple of ways to fix them permanently on rangerovers.net by adding zener diodes to the switches. If you are the only one who will drive it you just need to get the seat where you want it and never futz with it again.

Take the goofy plastic cap off the radiator (not the overflow tank) and look for bubbles in the coolant when you first start it up. That is a sure sign of a head gasket starting to blow. If it is, that will cut the value way down.

 

[TigerDan]

The driver's and passenger's seats are run off of different systems. Only the driver's seat is controlled with the memory function (which also controls the door mirrors.) There's a memory control module under the driver's seat which is easy to remove and open, it has a battery inside which goes bad and corrodes all over the circuit board. It's often possible to replace this battery (must be desoldered/soldered to replace) and clear up a lot of the problems, but it's also possible to remove it entirely, replace the seat switch with a non-memory switch and with a fairly simple bit of rewiring under the seat, you would have more reliable non-memory seat and mirror controls. If you insist on keeping the memory functions, you can source a memory control unit from a '93-'95 if battery replacement doesn't do the trick. And if you get the truck I can tell you how to bypass the controls to move the seat into a more comfortable position so that you can drive it while you get the other problems sorted out.

The passenger seat problems are most likely due to dirty contacts in the switch, which can be opened up and cleaned. If you wind up getting the truck, I can send you some links with more info. I also worked on one recently that merely had a bad relay for the pass. seat. Replacing the relay made it function again.



Personally, I like the '95 best of all years of RRC, even with its somewhat quirky electronics. I'd love to find a clean SWB '95 (that I could afford!) Changing the P/S pump is pretty straightforward, I even have a used one I could sell you.

Your '93 merely had the lockout solenoid for the transfer case shifter go bad...an easy fix.

 

[Bo S.]

That's good news about the seats and I think I can tackle the power steering pump. I have been looking around and the LWB is pretty rare. I am probably lucky to have found two. I had read about the shifter solenoid and thought it was fairly hard to replace.

I have found some older ones that have worse paint for around 1600, while they have lower miles they don't look as good so I am thinking this one might be the one to get and no one here has really said the mileage is a huge factor. I think the mileage will affect the resale on day though.

 

[James86004]

That's good news about the seats and I think I can tackle the power steering pump. I have been looking around and the LWB is pretty rare. I am probably lucky to have found two. I had read about the shifter solenoid and thought it was fairly hard to replace.

The transfer case solenoid went bad on our 93, and I just removed it. I know when I can and cannot shift it. The 89 didn't even have this feature.

 

[TigerDan]

Yeah, I the lockout solenoid on the T-case shifter was introduced in '93. My '94 is having the same problem, I just haven't bothered to fix it yet. I'll check out the '95 solenoid shifter I have and see if it's any good and decide then whether to install it or remove the lockout feature altogether and install a pre-'93 T-case non-solenoid shifter.

As for the mileage, I don't consider that too much of an issue unless you're buying the truck planning more on reselling it than keeping it. If the truck is clean and well-cared for, the higher numbers don't bother me. These things will go forever and a day. My '91 has 230K on it, I bought it for a grand with 184K miles.

Of course, I've replaced pretty much everything that moves, (at least in the drivetrain) but that's been more due to upgrades than because anything broke or wore out. And you stated that "it was rebuilt sometime in the past" by which I assume you mean the engine, so that's a good thing. You want to listen to the engine on cold startup and see if there's a light knock which goes away as it worms up. This is very common for the 4.2 due to the longer stroke, it's actually piston slap. I've heard it on low-mileage trucks, and seen them go many miles that way without a problem. My '91 has a 4.2 from a '95 in it with about 175K on it and it's still a strong, great-running engine...though there is indeed a bit of piston slap on cold startup.

As mentioned before, check in the radiator for any signs of bubbles indicating the presence of exhaust gases. And drive it at slow speed through some tight turns and listen for any tire scrub which would indicate a locked Viscous Coupling in the transfer cas (a fairly easy fix, but the part is a bit pricey...about $100 used or $400-800 new, depending on who has it on sale.) This is also a common problem on RRCs, especially higher mileage trucks. It's quite possible it's already been replaced.

A guy I know just bought a nice clean 95 LWB from the East Coast and had it shipped out here to Calif. The PO was asking $4500 but due to the mileage (187K) he talked him down to $2500. I've been working on it for him, helping him sort out a few issues and add some goodies. You might want to use the mileage as a bargaining chip to try to get him to come down a little, though that price isn't out of line as is.

You did say something about doing a small lift. I think they look great with about 2" lift and 245s or 265s. Has it already been converted to springs? You know that it came with air suspension originally, right?

 

[James86004]

Yeah, I the lockout solenoid on the T-case shifter was introduced in '93. My '94 is having the same problem, I just haven't bothered to fix it yet. I'll check out the '95 solenoid shifter I have and see if it's any good and decide then whether to install it or remove the lockout feature altogether and install a pre-'93 T-case non-solenoid shifter.

I did not bother to change the shifter - I just left the lever in place. Come to think of it, I may have left the solenoid in place, too, and just removed the plunger from it. It has been too long for me to remember.