So this truck has been a challenge. I have owned it for almost a year now, and it is still not on the road. Some may point to the badge on the grill, but it really isn't that simple.
1. When I picked it up it wasn't running. Jim had just put a 300tdi in it, and the owner was selling it for some reason related to marriage.
2. Getting it running was easy. Kind of. Running is one thing, but running well is another. I knew there was a danger that the head was warped, and so it turned out to be.
3. So a new head and gasket and all that junk. Didn't take too long and it was back on the road. And overheating at strange intervals.
4. Due to a mistake on my part it lost the head gasket again. So off with the head and on with a new gasket. Didn't take long and it was on the road again.
5. Then the head warped again. We'll not go into the details, but it was ugly. In the interim I had replaced the fan clutch and verified water flow throughout the system. I had also found and repaired numerous leaks in the cooling system which I thought were the majority of the cooling problems.
6. So a new head again. This time a performance head from Turner along with a correctly reading temp gauge (!) and an EGT. That all went on pretty easily. Discovered that the head gasket was the incorrect one on this change, so replaced it with the correct thickness.
7. What better test than a road trip to AZ? So off we went. For some reason the truck just wouldn't get up to speed. She cruised at 65, happily enough, but over that was a bit of a struggle. But she wasn't overheating, so I considered myself lucky. Then i turned west just north of Santa Fe and the temp began to climb. I babied her all the way to Abq and pulled off for diesel. I called Jim and he recommended running ATF through the engine. (No, not for the cooling problem)
8. Getting going again, the temp came down and I was getting more power. Not much more, but a bit more. I made it to Prescott with only a couple of 'cooling stops' when the temp got on the uncomfortable side of warm. By that I mean 230*, there was no way I was going to risk another head.
9. So driving around Prescott to get supplies for an Overland Training course, I started to get a really nasty rattle from the engine. The sort of rattle you get when a big end bearing is going. Man it was loud! So I parked it for a week and did the OT course, ignoring the RR.
10. Now faced with the possibility of having to transport the RR back to CO I wasn't happy. Did a little more checking on the engine on a friend's advice and found the rattle was an injector not a big end! So back to the ATF idea, which is to clean out the injectors and the injection pump.
11. Decided to risk the trip back to CO even-though cooling would still be an issue. Started off with a loud rattle and a quart of ATF in the fuel. By the time I hit I-17, two things had happened. The engine was running like a rocket, and was starting to overheat again. The slog from 69 to Flag on I-17 is a good cooling test, and it proved that I was not getting enough of it. (I knew that already, to be fair).
12. So just before Flag I pulled over to cool and decided to get rid of the winch. Took 10 minutes, and I had a big hole in the front. And now I had a whole new car. She could pull 75 going up hills and the temp was sitting on 210* and NOT MOVING! I loved it! The extra cooling from the lack of winch and the injection pump cleaning from the ATF had transformed her. Now feeling good, but with a constant eye to the temp gauge I flew past Flag.
13. And then the transmission let go. I pulled over to the side, tried low range which didn't work, and CDL which didn't help. Got out pushed the car slightly listening for diff sounds. Nothing. Seems like the ZF. Certainly not the weakest part on a LR.
14. So I called some expo buddies in Flag (Thanks Andrew!!) and we towed the RR into town. I dumped it, rented a car and drove back to CO.
15. With the car in Flag I couldn't do much of the diagnosis side, so I had some conversations, did some research and got an R380 manual trans on the way from England. Along with all the bit and pieces needed to make this a manual car.
16. Connie and I made a fun weekend getaway down to Flag to get the RR and brought it back on a flatbed. Back into the garage and start the trans pull. I drained the fluids and pulled the access cover off the bell housing and the bolts that are supposed to hold the flex plate to the torque converter fell out. Yikes! No wonder she had no drive! All 4 bolts were sheared. So that makes pulling the trans easier!
And with all that blah blah blah, here are the promised pics:
cheers
But I can drive to Keith's place in 20 minutes. :shakin: Which means I can bribe him with :beer: .
