L322 Range Rover - Cheapest ever?

[MJ85]

MARLBOROLITES said:

Ah, the silver trim and flaking paint! Talk about a car being let down by poor quality interior trim! When searching for my purchase I discounted a couple of examples where there was more underlying black plastic on display than the silver paint covering itself. Thankfully, my ultimate purchase was in good health. There were odd areas in need of touching up, but nothing dramatic.

Once I purchased I set about browsing Range Rover forums for ownership hints and tips. I came across one thread relating to touch up paint for the silver interior trim. A company by the name of paints4u had colour matched this and supplied 100ml pots. I ordered some and was very happy with the result. Whenever a defect occurs I dig the pot out and re-touch it.

To order, you need the custom formulation paint code: STD 29 131 181.

Good to know, cheers. It is surprisingly good compared to some, considering the mileage. The rear centre console (where the cig lighter is) has air underneath the paint now, just waiting to peel off! )

[MJ85]

Krikkit said:

MJ85 said:

For reference, for the front air suspension unit (genuine), ball joint, CV boot, lots of hassle of fitting, diag to get the suspension working and whatnot, total bill was £470. No idea what LR would charge (i'm guessing a lot more...).

That sounds like rather a bargain!

Lots of love for the L322, such a nice piece of design, especially in non-drug-dealer spec.

The place I used seem hard to beat. I believe there hourly rate has just gone up (to £40+ VAT per hour).

[MJ85]

It looks like the leaking airbag and time at the garage did kill the battery. A 1 second warning of HDC inactive upon startup signifies a voltage drop. A quick check that the alternator is in good shape...




And it is time for new battery (£120).



Will fit it over the weekend.


I had a go at the LCDs... this is not a fun job. It also did not go well.

Dash and MID/cluster removal went okay. Bendy tool helped!





Having a go at replacing the LCD cable...





Old and new



I didn't attempt the instrument cluster in the end. Whilst cleaning the contacts on the MID LCD, I broke the corner of the glass. Upon reconstruction, the top half of the screen doesn't work at all (although the bottom is much better). Still, big fail. I will have to send them off to be worked on.

Note: the instructions were on photobucket (!!!!) and were low resolution. Anyone with a lack of attention would have given up long before I... be warned! The pictures really do not show how fiddly the MID is to take apart (or should I say, reassemble).

Rest of the car feels good. I think the next port of call will be to sort a deep noise from underneath. I'm going with centre support bearing and prop universal joint. Fun.

[MJ85]

For those thinking about the "performance". Here is a 0-70 mph video. 0-60 seems to be within the book figure of around 13 seconds.

https://youtu.be/IaETnhSyjzY

[MJ85]

Battery fitted.

If you take out the battery tray, you can see the Webasto cabin heater that is standard on TD6s (you can't set it to come on before the car is started, unless specified from new, though.).




However, the day after fitting, the battery was completely flat.

Clearly I had a battery drain. Looking at the usual suspects...

Changed the interior blower final stage resistor (genuine, £60), just like in BMWs. The one I replaced was only a few years old, going by the date stamp. The car has travelled around 100k since that time, so still might be the culprit.



Whilst I was there, I saw the AC flap motor has become disconnected - fitted back after a bit of faff.



I also disconnected the fuse to the non-operational headlight wipers and removed the USB phone charger (as the 12v socket remains live). Battery drain appears to be fixed! Not sure which it was, yet. To be fair, it could be a combination of 2 or 3.




After replacing the rear wiper motor, arm and blade a little while back, the blade supplied lasted about 20 wipes. Spoke to the seller and they sent me a new one.




I'm sure there will be more updates soon...

[Jakg]

MJ85 said:

If you take out the battery tray, you can see the Webasto cabin heater that is standard on TD6s (you can't set it to come on before the car is started, unless specified from new, though.).

Looks identical to the unit fitted to diesel Rover 75 / MG ZT's.

You can get it to start with a remote control easily on those just by grounding or +12v-ing a pin, depending on the model. Loads of into online.

[MJ85]

Jakg said:

MJ85 said:

If you take out the battery tray, you can see the Webasto cabin heater that is standard on TD6s (you can't set it to come on before the car is started, unless specified from new, though.).

Looks identical to the unit fitted to diesel Rover 75 / MG ZT's.

You can get it to start with a remote control easily on those just by grounding or +12v-ing a pin, depending on the model. Loads of into online.

I believe it is the same! I'm not too fussed about the heater, just interested to see it. What does the remote look like?

[surveyor]

MJ85 said:

Jakg said:

MJ85 said:

If you take out the battery tray, you can see the Webasto cabin heater that is standard on TD6s (you can't set it to come on before the car is started, unless specified from new, though.).

Looks identical to the unit fitted to diesel Rover 75 / MG ZT's.

You can get it to start with a remote control easily on those just by grounding or +12v-ing a pin, depending on the model. Loads of into online.

I believe it is the same! I'm not too fussed about the heater, just interested to see it. What does the remote look like?

[MJ85]

Interesting. Maybe something to consider in future. Although there might be call for the winters of '09 and '10, first!