Hooray! Disco's back on the road after rebuilding the heads after head gasket failure. Running perfectly now but thought I could amuse you with two big bad luck stories while test driving....

Friday, rebuilt... everything ready for test drive... Driving in heavy rain and get about 1 kilometre from home then BANG! Ohhhh crap.... Thinking I've done a big end or something wrong engine wise I quickly pull over and kill the donk..... Expletives were said while watching rain outside get torrential. Light smoke and have a think about everything, Curiousity got the better of me and I toiled with the idea of keying the starter to see what would happen (yes I know risky). The engine starts immediately and settles into a perfect idle........ Transmision??? Oh, I know, Bloody uni joint! I jumped out (still raining) and confirmed that the uni joint that I knew was buggered 6 months ago had finally parted with the transfer case. Yes I am a tool for neglecting this but how's the timing!

Saturday, New uni sorted and fit on side of road (yes in the rain). Drive home double check fluids, engine bay etc. Righto, off to the servo for the rest of the test drive I had set out to do yesterday... Half way up a hill Disco cuts out, then goes, then cuts out (repeat this cycle until I can find a spot to pull over)... Grrrrrr what now? (yes its raining hard again)

I tamper with coil leads etc, kick the old girl in the guts and get going without a drama... Leave servo and the bugger starts playing up again. I keep driving to confirm that it seems throttle related. idle and first 1/4 of throttle is no drama. between 1/4 throttle and near full nothing then full throttle works fine.. I hit the net to confirm my suspicions that the TPS has given up and am rewarded with a favourable result after purchasing a second handy from Linnrover.

The great news is Stumpy is now running perfectly. I guess I deserved the uni joint failure but I gather Throttle position sensors don't like being removed and refitted while rebuilds are underway..

Hope you enjoyed my bad luck test drive story! (By the way, its now stopped raining now that the car is running perfectly haha)

Stumpy