Things that have gone wrong with your Land Rover
Discussion
There is this mountain in the jungle, as far as I know never climbed by a Brit before. Some friends and I set out in my Devender and a Toyota. Mild 4x4 track in, then it was three days of hacking with machetes to cut a trail to the top and camping in the jungle. Back to the trailhead, utterly exhausted, cut to bits, soaked in mud and sweat, looking forward to getting into the cars for the ride back to civilisation. Cue my never faithful Land Rover deciding to make itself look stupid. The immobiliser fob decided that it had had enough of working, and refused to let the engine start. Had to abandon the f
king thing and we all piled into the Toyota. How LR can build an off-road machine and allow it to be undone by a little bit of stty plastic is beyond belief. Apparently there is no way to get around the immobiliser. Very handy when it throws a wobbly in the middle of fking nowhere.
king thing and we all piled into the Toyota. How LR can build an off-road machine and allow it to be undone by a little bit of stty plastic is beyond belief. Apparently there is no way to get around the immobiliser. Very handy when it throws a wobbly in the middle of fking nowhere. Update on my machine - took immobiliser key fob apart, removed battery, soaked parts in Grey Goose vodka, dried it with hairdryer, replaced battery with new one, took a day off work, and my wife's Land Cruiser, to find my abandoned piece of st. Managed to start the bh, drove home, went to doctors to get injuries seen to. Note to self - always carry spare key fob batteries, always have spare key fob somewhere in vehicle, always make sure there is a Toyota available for when rescue is needed.
She has got a lot of making up to do.
t. Managed to start the bh, drove home, went to doctors to get injuries seen to. Note to self - always carry spare key fob batteries, always have spare key fob somewhere in vehicle, always make sure there is a Toyota available for when rescue is needed. She has got a lot of making up to do.
Progressing at speed on a motorway, approached exit, slowed and went to change gear.
Wouldn't change!
Limped it to the menders who diagnosed a shot clutch master cylinder. Duly replaced.
Following weekend, progressed at speed on a motorway, on exit - total clutch failure. Fortunately I was in a high gear and I was able to stall the engine. In a low gear, there would have been no way of stopping short of turning off the ignition.
Recovery truck to menders (LRs don't have garages, they have menders). Diagnosed slave cylinder failure, so replaced entire clutch system.
On other tick in the 'character' box then.
Wouldn't change!
Limped it to the menders who diagnosed a shot clutch master cylinder. Duly replaced.
Following weekend, progressed at speed on a motorway, on exit - total clutch failure. Fortunately I was in a high gear and I was able to stall the engine. In a low gear, there would have been no way of stopping short of turning off the ignition.
Recovery truck to menders (LRs don't have garages, they have menders). Diagnosed slave cylinder failure, so replaced entire clutch system.
On other tick in the 'character' box then.
Well I checked all the fuses on my Defender, found one that was blown (no idea what it did), replaced it, but the headlights still didn't work. Realised that each headlight has its own fuse, so if both are not working not likely to be a fuse anyway.
Toyed with the idea of tracing the fault myself, even bought a current checker thing with electrodes, but rapidly saw sense and called in a proper Land Rover person.
He spent two days checking the circuits and ended up finding a short, and replacing the light switch.
I now have lights!
Toyed with the idea of tracing the fault myself, even bought a current checker thing with electrodes, but rapidly saw sense and called in a proper Land Rover person.
He spent two days checking the circuits and ended up finding a short, and replacing the light switch.
I now have lights!
There is now an occasional graunching noise from somewhere near the rear suspension.
I suspect the universal joint is fked, although it was greased only a few weeks ago
Mechanic I rang told me he greases his U/Js every month without fail.
Who the fk greases their universal joints every month? Seems like with a Defender, you have to.
I suspect the universal joint is f
ked, although it was greased only a few weeks agoMechanic I rang told me he greases his U/Js every month without fail.
Who the f
k greases their universal joints every month? Seems like with a Defender, you have to. Ayahuasca said:
Well I checked all the fuses on my Defender, found one that was blown (no idea what it did), replaced it, but the headlights still didn't work. Realised that each headlight has its own fuse, so if both are not working not likely to be a fuse anyway.
Toyed with the idea of tracing the fault myself, even bought a current checker thing with electrodes, but rapidly saw sense and called in a proper Land Rover person.
He spent two days checking the circuits and ended up finding a short, and replacing the light switch.
I now have lights!
Headlights have both gone again. Toyed with the idea of tracing the fault myself, even bought a current checker thing with electrodes, but rapidly saw sense and called in a proper Land Rover person.
He spent two days checking the circuits and ended up finding a short, and replacing the light switch.
I now have lights!
Ayahuasca said:
Ayahuasca said:
Well I checked all the fuses on my Defender, found one that was blown (no idea what it did), replaced it, but the headlights still didn't work. Realised that each headlight has its own fuse, so if both are not working not likely to be a fuse anyway.
Toyed with the idea of tracing the fault myself, even bought a current checker thing with electrodes, but rapidly saw sense and called in a proper Land Rover person.
He spent two days checking the circuits and ended up finding a short, and replacing the light switch.
I now have lights!
Headlights have both gone again. Toyed with the idea of tracing the fault myself, even bought a current checker thing with electrodes, but rapidly saw sense and called in a proper Land Rover person.
He spent two days checking the circuits and ended up finding a short, and replacing the light switch.
I now have lights!
king the headlight circuit....Whilst idling in neutral with the clutch up, I noticed a faint rumbling, rattling noise from the area of the gear stick.
Instant LR paranoia set it - what the fk is that? Was it making that noise before? Is it something new? I dipped the clutch as the noise stopped, then returned as I let the clutch out again.
Googling symptoms seems to suggest that it is a worn gearbox input shaft bearing.
Car is 7 years old and has done about 60,000.
Is a worn input shaft bearing a known 'thing'?
fk.
Instant LR paranoia set it - what the f
k is that? Was it making that noise before? Is it something new? I dipped the clutch as the noise stopped, then returned as I let the clutch out again. Googling symptoms seems to suggest that it is a worn gearbox input shaft bearing.
Car is 7 years old and has done about 60,000.
Is a worn input shaft bearing a known 'thing'?
f
k.En route to the menders to see if they could work out why my headlights are not working, stopped for a queue of traffic, than BLAM!
Someone in a Nissan Pathfinder (big SUV) failed to stop and rear-ended me (not in a good way either).
Got out to inspect the damage, expecting a caved-in rear end as a minimum, surprised to see absolutely no sign of damage to my car, not even a scratch, and a Land Rover NAS-Rear-Step-with-Tow-Bar-shaped hole in his plastic front bumper where his crumple zone had absorbed all the impact.
Land Rover, all is forgiven!
Someone in a Nissan Pathfinder (big SUV) failed to stop and rear-ended me (not in a good way either).
Got out to inspect the damage, expecting a caved-in rear end as a minimum, surprised to see absolutely no sign of damage to my car, not even a scratch, and a Land Rover NAS-Rear-Step-with-Tow-Bar-shaped hole in his plastic front bumper where his crumple zone had absorbed all the impact.
Land Rover, all is forgiven!
Right, at the weekend it finally happened.
Self locking. When the keys are out of the ignition, and the doors are closed, all the doors lock themselves automatically. I have always hated that feature, and normally make sure a window is open if the keys are out of the ignition.
Exploring a drying lake bed, in the middle of nowhere, my buddy used the key fob to open the back door to get something from the car. He put the keys down on the floor of the load area. The door swung shut. The, Click! all the doors locked themselves.
All our stuff - phones, radio, equipment, tools, was inside the car. All we had was a shovel and a knife and a bit of broken office fan that was on the ground. All we could think of doing smashing the little rear quarter window and fish the keys out with the broken fan.
Why why why did the bd LR designers think that self locking was a good idea? s. I will now have make sure there is a spare key secured somewhere outside the vehicle, as it is bound to happen again. Any other ideas for not getting locked out of your car?
Self locking. When the keys are out of the ignition, and the doors are closed, all the doors lock themselves automatically. I have always hated that feature, and normally make sure a window is open if the keys are out of the ignition.
Exploring a drying lake bed, in the middle of nowhere, my buddy used the key fob to open the back door to get something from the car. He put the keys down on the floor of the load area. The door swung shut. The, Click! all the doors locked themselves.
All our stuff - phones, radio, equipment, tools, was inside the car. All we had was a shovel and a knife and a bit of broken office fan that was on the ground. All we could think of doing smashing the little rear quarter window and fish the keys out with the broken fan.
Why why why did the b
d LR designers think that self locking was a good idea? s. I will now have make sure there is a spare key secured somewhere outside the vehicle, as it is bound to happen again. Any other ideas for not getting locked out of your car?Bad thing about running a Land Rover in the tropics - no AA to call out.
Bad thing - no spare windows available
Good thing - a new window can be made up locally for peanuts
Bad thing - pay peanuts, you are not getting Pilkington's finest
Good thing - who cares, it all adds to the character / scar tissue.
I have now owned my Defender for far longer than any other car I have run, it needs constant attention, but somehow it is OK.
Supposed to be going on an expedition to the Darien Gap next month, is that a good idea I ask myself. No, but I am still going.
Got back from trip to find my Defender battery dead as a pancake.
No problem - a chance to use my new super-duty 20 foot jump leads.
Connected it to my Toyota Land Cruiser but nada - no way was the Defender going to start.
Battery now fully charged thanks to a local battery technician.
Who tells me my alternator is fked - it is only putting out 12.17 volts when it needs to put out a minimum of 13.4 volts to keep the battery charged while the engine is running.
Will all the parts on my Land Rover ever work at the same time?
No problem - a chance to use my new super-duty 20 foot jump leads.
Connected it to my Toyota Land Cruiser but nada - no way was the Defender going to start.
Battery now fully charged thanks to a local battery technician.
Who tells me my alternator is f
ked - it is only putting out 12.17 volts when it needs to put out a minimum of 13.4 volts to keep the battery charged while the engine is running.Will all the parts on my Land Rover ever work at the same time?
Edited by Ayahuasca on Wednesday 18th July 10:31
Piersman2 said:
A new one I've not heard of before.... which left me stranded 10 days ago.
2010 FFRR 5.0 S/C - borked transfer box, and smoothed worn output spline shaft from gearbox.
Refurbed transfer box, rebuilt gearbox, labour and various fluids, etc... £4k bill.
Wow. Did the damaged transfer box cause the spine to wear? 2010 FFRR 5.0 S/C - borked transfer box, and smoothed worn output spline shaft from gearbox.
Refurbed transfer box, rebuilt gearbox, labour and various fluids, etc... £4k bill.
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