Someone Else's Problem: 1994 Land Rover Discovery ES

loose_unit said:
Looking awesome! I hope to have a go in this one day followed by you getting back into it and it suddenly peeing itself!

:lol: This one hasn't done that yet but there's always a chance! Unfortunately the chances of it ever making it to a Ringmeet are slim.

Why not use something like Dynamat? Seeing as how you have all the carpets out anyway! There is also another product which is spray on and works well too.
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I'll check out the prices, I've considered taking down the nasty, sagging headliner and under-bonnet liner too and replacing those with similar stuff so that might work. I want something that won't hold water and will cover the areas of the floor that might be questionable. :D

I've looked at U-Pol Raptor in the past, a good thick layer of that would work. I still have a lot of this anti-rust paint at the moment, it dries with a plastic-like finish so not sure I can go over it. :think:

I could flood the floor with it. :|
 
Back on 4 wheels!



Body mounts sorted now even though I got the bolt length way off, resulting in one bolt being too long and the nut actually reaching the end of the threaded part. I didn't feel like coming home and running it through a die (ruining the zinc coating in the process) so I just used the original imperial bolt. What's annoying is that I waited until this week to get these M10x100mm bolts as the local hardware store only sold M10x80...

Anyway I wanted to find out what was causing the power steering leak today so I can start working on that and it didn't take long. This pipe is the culprit, I'll check prices for a new one but if it's too much I'll speak to a friend about replacing the rubber section and re-crimping it.



As it happens this phone takes much better photos, I almost think I could get away without calling them potato photos.
 
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Another weekend, more progress. The power steering leak is taken care of with a new hose, but only after fighting to get the thing to thread in to the power steering box. I blame poor quality parts, I had to file away at the thread with needle files before it would stop cross-threading and It was clear that the thread wasn't as good as the original machined thread on the old part. One of the rivnuts set in the chassis for the pipe retaining clips also decided it wanted to see what the world was like from all angles and now spins freely so that needs fixing.

After turning her around under her own steam for the first time in 6 months another item was ticked off the list: the leak on the brakes. I struggled to find the 'leak' at first until I saw that the area around the bleed nipple was wet, I just nipped it up a little tighter and after cleaning up I couldn't make it leak. That's good enough for me.

I still need to rebuild the front end (I need to make a bracket) and I now have to deal with this on the driver's side:





I should probably fix the seat diaphragm that my arse busted through.



On the plus side I found 20p!



It turned out to be from 1984.

Oh yeah and she needs a new water pump, this one sounds rough.
 
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thomas said:
So the difference between this one and Bugsy is the amount of rust? :D
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Visible rust. Bugsy has rust too but you can't eyeball it. :D

Anyway I've now developed a new seating arrangement, I think I'm going to be a millionaire with this.



However this does leave a gap where the driver goes. Rear seats are completely gone.



It's looking a little messy in there.



However I did get the centre console fully reinstalled. Yes, this is it.



And the front end is rebuilt!



More work would've been done if the delivery company had actually made the delivery attempt that they claimed they had on Friday...
 
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Another weekend, more time working on Keely. However this time I've been learning from Harry Potter's uncle Dave and I performed a spell that made all the shit vanish out of the back. It looks scabby but will be painted.



I now have an MOT booked for Tuesday so I had a list, on a bit of cardboard in the style of Roadkill. I'm going for the "If it isn't there then they can't fail me on it" line of thinking and this is what I got done:

Seat bases sandblasted and painted.
Passenger floor painted.
Seats re-fitted.
All rear seatbelts removed (bigger job that it seems, 14 rusty bolts and only arm-power tools with me. Doubt my impact gun would've helped much anyway).
Front grille trimmed to allow better headlight adjustment.
Wings bolted back on and indicator repeaters fitted.
Snorkel re-fitted.
Another rivet added to driver's door trim plate to stop it catching on the front wing (it was bent) with the help of Mr. Mini-vice.
Tested all electrics (all good apart from rear wiper which seems dead and rev counter jumped until I messed about with the connector on the alternator)



Front looks more plush with the seats in


Even the floor looks good painted


LUXURY


Had to take the rear side panels off to unbolt the seatbelts so they're staying off. The tray under the window was full of broken glass, must've bust the window at some time.


Once the MOT work is done (welding plus water pump and new wheel bearings for safety) the dog guard will go in and I'll look for a small fridge. :D
 
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I saw the video, that looked like fun! I haven't looked at that frame but I think it's OK, I know the door frames are pretty rusty though. Some day I might end up with unintended pillarless doors...
 
So, the failure on the way to the roadtrip. I still don't know what it is but the engine got hot enough to burn oil off the block at one point. Probable cause was me not tightening the pressure cap on the expansion tank, allowing the water to boil and not cool the engine properly. This was followed by a lack of proper bleeding of the cooling system.

This weekend I started trying to fix it. I got a new pipe to replace the one that AA guy joined and the matching return pipe because it was only ?2. I also got a new thermostat because I've seen issues like this caused by a dodgy one. With those fitted I followed the filling and bleeding instructions and did some test drives. With the fan removed to heat the engine up faster I did some circuits of the local area and eventually got the temperature to rise above normal, however the heat from the vents was very intermittent and mostly stayed cold.

The fan was refitted and I improved the repair on the shroud as the duct tape came unstuck...


A slightly longer test drive to a dual carriageway confused things, as the temperature went up rapidly once I was cruising at 60mph, rising faster as I got closer to 70mph. I slowed down to hopefully bring down the temperature but it stayed pegged, the vents still blowing cool air. Once back on to small roads I pulled in to a parking area to check it out. The water inside the expansion tank was clearly warm as it was rumbling but no hissing and no water spraying from anywhere. In the 5 minutes I stopped the temperature seemed to drop so I drove home, the temp still seeming to rise at 30mph.

Once I got back I realised something that just makes things more difficult:

Now I'm pretty confused, but I know a few things:

  • The hot water isn't getting around the heater properly
  • The temp gauge cannot be trusted
  • The water is probably still getting warmer than it should

I'm going to order an IR thermometer so I can get some idea of what the different temps are around the engine, maybe a few inline sensors too so I know what the fuck's going on. :lol:
 
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I guess somebody has fitted the coolant temperature gauge from my Porsche 924 to your Discovery! When I daily drove it, on stop start traffic I was always putting my headlights off and on again, just to be sure it's not actually overheating :lol:

Hope you can get it running soon. I guess it's not mixing fluids as you've been doing test drives?
 
Lastsoul said:
Hope you can get it running soon. I guess it's not mixing fluids as you've been doing test drives?
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Not that I can tell, the oil looks fine and Mr. AA used the sniff tester on the coolant which showed nothing. Not sure if I'm convinced though so might get the kit myself.

I think there's a short circuit somewhere that's probably causing the temp gauge to go mad, tried to use my Anker jump pack yesterday and it just threw errors. I hope I didn't melt any wires when the engine overheated. :(
 
How old is the radiator and what's the status of the cooling fan system?
 
I'm not exactly sure how old the radiator is, it was bought from a friend as a good used replacement when the engine was changed in 2012. As far as I can remember I haven't done anything off road that could block or damage it.

The cooling fan is an engine driven viscous unit and spins freely when the engine is cool but I haven't tested how well it locks up when hot.
 
I'd look at flow testing the radiator and checking to see what the cooling fan is doing when warm.

- - - Updated - - -

And it could be as simple as a stuck thermostat. They can be bad out of the box, too. Another possibility is a bad water pump impeller.

You may also want to check the coolant for traces of exhaust gas.
 
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I just replaced the thermostat at the weekend and had the water pump replaced before I attempted to roadtrip so I'm hoping it isn't either of those. It's certainly still possible with the questionable quality of parts these days.

The AA guy checked for presence of gases at the time but I think I'll have to do my own tests.
 
I recorded this so I may as well post it, since looking up the pressurising issue I apparently need to check for cracks in the tank and need to empty and re-bleed the system.

 
I love it, want. I'll even let the LHD slip because it's a Camel Trophy Disco and they were LHD. :D

Anyway may aswell update this, I'm now resigned to the fact that it's a head gasket failure or cracked head. The top end is mostly stripped and I have a list of parts I need, I'm just waiting for a set of deep 6-sided hex sockets to take the head off because I don't have any. The bolts look awful and will be replaced, however I could re-use them according to the workshop manual.
 
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