Thread: RRC garage drama still on-going

Originally Posted by snowbound

From memory the ignition mod consists of 2 transistors. The first picks up on the signal from the optical sensor and in turn triggers the power transistor which switches the current, know as the Darlington pair. Damned if I can remember much else from that course I did some 20 years back when this ****e was new technology LOL

Well that's of course different to the magnetic pickup in the LR dissys, an optic sensor would be from an earlier LR vehicle or an aftermarket system, e.g. Crane. I believe the rover version was not very reliable.

And so here we are 10 weeks on and yesterday I finally cracked the proverbials, here is the complete story again with an update (Hope this OK now Mods, sorry for the oversight)
I bought a RRC Vogue privately. The log book says it's a 1984 but it is EFI so not sure of the true history. Regardless it had a random problem of the expansion tank boiling over but the temp gauge was reading normal. So I took it to a garage which is literally 5 minutes walk from home, so 2 minutes drive. VERY convenient, but not my regular mechanic. Being a V8, I was concerned that if there was a history of overheating there could be serious underlying damage, so the instructions were (and I put it in writing) A: fix the cooling problem, B: check that the motor was still sound and if not, do nothing more, if it was OK fix a few other problems none of which are major. But change thermostat anyway, just so I know it's good.
They claimed to have found a definite leak on a heater hose connection (really? How comes I didn't see the water leaking away) and changed the thermostat. All good, they said come collect it. I drove it home and immediately limped it back as it was running like a dog. They promised to fix it. At this point the mechanic was fighting (verbally) with the Sydney owner of the business and that was the last I saw of him. The owner again promised to fix it. He hired a new mechanic,Michael, who was to start the following Tuesday (this was on a Friday) Michael called me on Tuesday stating there was a problem, the owners kids had got hold of my keys and lost them, did I have spares. Yes a spare ignition key, no spare door or tail gate. So they have removed the door lock for re-keying by a locksmith, when exactly I don't know, it's been a fortnight! In the mean time they have been unable to fix the engine issues, though Michael did ascertain that the expansion tank was leaking badly which was probably the cause of the boiling, and a promise of fixing it. The engine issue is still dragging on and on and on. The car has been off the road now for about a month. I am sick of waiting, I missed a good trip, I have more trips on the horizon and I want my truck back!
Continued:
The new mechanic said he got it running, then had to retract this statement as it had stopped again, I suspected a problem with the distributer and ordered a new one, shortly afterwards Michael announced that he had found the problem, and it was that the previous mechanic or assistant had irreparably damaged the distributer shaft making it useless, luckily I had ordered a new one! The new one took forever to arrive as Australia post had apparently lost it. It arrived just before Christmas (now 2 months into this saga) In the meantime Michael had replaced the expansion tank which he discovered was split (the original problem!) with a plastic one that I sourced and got the locks rekeyed (not the tail gate though). Christmas comes and goes Michael was due back to work on the 5th January, but on this day he is not there at work as he has apparently gone on Paternity leave. The owner declares that he will have my car fixed by the new, new mechanic by today (9/1/2015) 10 weeks from the day it went in with the minor coolant issue. So optimistically I went in at near close of business today (Friday) to find my car in the workshop, both front tires flat to lower it for working on? Also there were major cables and plugs hanging loose and paneling removed under the dash for what reason I have no clue. They had been trying they claim for 6 hours to fit the new distributer and were optimistic that they would actually get it started tomorrow. This is where I finally said ?enough is enough, do not do anything more to it as you clearly don't know what you are doing, I will get it towed on Monday to the Land Rover specialists in Mitchell (Canberra motor works) ?and I have just arranged this and I have informed the garage owner that he is to pick up the final bill to restore my car to a functioning state.. Watch this space?.

Originally Posted by snowbound

The owner declares that he will have my car fixed by the new, new mechanic by today (9/1/2015) 10 weeks from the day it went in with the minor coolant issue

Just when it looked like you were finally in the clear... very unlucky my friend.

I would be through your legal people to request/demand that the workshop supply (ex-UK) a new Steel expansion tank,and a FULL set of locks and keys all at their expense, as they (workshop) lost the originals,and did not diagnose the original split steel expansion tank,as the plastic one is the Discovery type and much larger.

I have a 1985 RRC with the steel tank, failing that somebody on here may have one in their shed,then just get it pressure tested.the cap is a "Unipart" and is a BRO-9132, 15LBS(pounds) 110kPa my vehicle's temp gauge runs between 1/4 and 1/2 on the dash scale, the viscous fan working well.

cheers