Running again - no leaks so far

**PaulP38a** · 4th October 2009, 11:58 PM

I'm glad it's a long weekend...

Replaced the stuffed screw on the heater o-ring bracket with a Allen head bolt and lock nut

Put most of the dash back together and discovered I couldn't find the wiring connector for the fuel flap release... it was stuck under the dash fascia. Only had to remove a couple of screws so I could slowly work it back out without breaking anything.

Then I put the window switch pack back in but forgot to connect the wiring loom... doh!

Reinstalled the glove box release catch, put the veneer strip on and reassembled the glove box with catch/release, screwed it all together, shut the glove box and now it won't open

Note to self: if I do this again, don't put the veneer strip on until last and check that the glovebox catch works before screwing it all together. I'm at a bit of a loss on this at the moment. Not sure how I can open it without breaking something.

Thought I had most things done when I looked under the car and found an air duct... oops! Pretty sure the LHS was all good so it must be the RHS. Out with the instrument panel again only to find it was the large bottom pipe from the blower, but couldn't get it to go back on... cut it in half, placed it and taped up with "100 mph tape"... no worries.

So now the car runs again... here's proof

Other than the expected "window not set" messages, no other alerts

I let the engine run for a while and have been topping up the coolant as needed. I'm keeping a close eye on the o-rings to make sure they are not leaking.

Lifted the carpet in the RHS footwell and it was soaking wet with old coolant. I mean really bad too. There is even fluid down in the gutter. I'll be on to that with rags and a hair dryer tomorrow.

All that's left to do now is:

replace the bonnect cables with new ones so I can shut the bonnet again
find a suitable location for the TV aerial that came with the "eBay special" stereo I've installed
install Russell's BMR kit
install the rear lamp guards
take it for a run

Then I can try to get to Andy's for the fun stuff.

cheers
Paul.

**p38arover** · 5th October 2009, 12:03 AM

Paul, as I think I found, using the allen head cap screw can lead to over-torquing and can crack the heater and cause it to leak. I hope you just nipped it up.

This is my old heater core (and I've examined another [jsp's] which cracked in exactly the same place):

**PaulP38a** · 5th October 2009, 12:10 AM

Originally Posted by p38arover

Paul, as I think I found, using the allen head cap screw can lead to over-torquing and can crack the heater and cause it to leak. I hope you just nipped it up.

Thanks for the info Ron. I don't think I've over-tightened it but I guess I'll find out soon enough.
I don't fancy replacing the whole heater core. Looks like the steering column will need to come out to do that job.

**adm333** · 5th October 2009, 12:34 PM

Also I hope the moisture from your spilt coolant has not affected your BeCM.

I had the same issue some months ago, and I suspect that some BeCM issues that occurred at around the same time were related.

Dave

**PaulP38a** · 5th October 2009, 12:40 PM

Originally Posted by adm333

Also I hope the moisture from your spilt coolant has not affected your BeCM.

I had the same issue some months ago, and I suspect that some BeCM issues that occurred at around the same time were related.

Dave

Had a close look at that. Seems that the soaking hasn't reached the BeCM thankfully.

Just got back from a short drive - feels ok

. Taking it gently for a while.

Steering feels light and the steering wheel is slightly out of centre...

Bit of an odd air-type noise when reversing... not sure if it is suspension (air noise), belt (slip) or transmission (??)... will check it later.

**PaulP38a** · 6th October 2009, 12:30 AM

Took it for another short run this afternoon - just a few Km's... before the small hailstorm hit our region about 5pm or so.

It does feel a touch underpowered - or perhaps it is me not wanting to give it much at the moment? Maybe even a little bit lumpy - I'll make sure those spark plugs and HT leads are connected properly.

Are there any recommendations around max speed/revs after changing over head gaskets etc? I guess common sense dictates that you keep an eye on fluids, check tension on those bolts that are accessible etc. Should I be so paranoid that I dismantle bits to re-check the head bolts after a couple of weeks?

I had the car idling for approx 30mins today while I blasted the underside and engine with the Karcher. Was very pleased to see to temp guage stay below half way and no more drops in the coolant expansion tank

I'll drive it gently to and from work this week and see how it goes... fire extinguisher and toolkit at the ready.

Unfortunately, the to-do list didn't shrink much today as other things popped up like replacing the intercooler hoses on my Wife's Freelander and rewiring the stereo on my Son's Ford.

... but I did connect up the TV aerial for the "eBay special" combo in-dash radio/CD/DVD/iPod/USB/SD/Rev Camera/TV/GPS/bluetooth unit. Picture is still crappy though.

... and I did replace the black boot release button with a shiny chrome one from Andy

So, the revised to-do list is:

replace the bonnect cables with new ones (multi-grips do at the moment)
install the Thomas heavy duty EAS compressor
install Russell's BMR kit
install the rear lamp guards
replace the perished foam in the plenum duct
do an oil change
find out why the EAS is still losing 10-20psi overnight

I'm sure there is more, excluding the stuff Andy is going to do to it when I eventually get up there for a weekend of welding/bolting and responsible consumption of alcohol

Cheers, Paul.

**Hoges** · 6th October 2009, 11:18 PM

Hi Paul
well done on the head replacement! These days with modern materials it is rare that heads need to be retensioned. Am sure you would have done the torquing carefully the first time... so, unless the gasket supplier specifically says otherwise, I'd leave it alone.
cheers
A.

**PaulP38a** · 7th October 2009, 12:09 AM

Thanks Hoges - it's been an adventure

I started to drive it to work this morning but turned around at the end of the street... it was feeling too "lumpy" and I knew I had a lot of running around to do so didn't want to risk it.

Intention was to check the spark plugs and HT leads tonight... but ended up helping my son transplant a BA airbox in to his EF Fairmont instead.

So, I'll drive the Astra again tomorrow and hope to check the Rangie out tomorrow night.

It seems to idle just fine - only when it's under load and the revs are up above 2k does it feel "lumpy" and without grunt.

Cheers, Paul.

**Remy** · 8th October 2009, 03:13 PM

Have you moved from IT to mechanical

Where do you find the time.

I am avoiding my dash replacement but it is good to know that there is an excellent write up for me to follow.

Thanks!

**PaulP38a** · 8th October 2009, 08:31 PM

Drove the Rangie to and from work today. It's been well over a month since I've actually driven it "normally". A few observations:

while the power "feels" down a bit, the speedo indicates otherwise
for some random reason, a thought popped in to my head while driving "I wonder if I've got High Compression Heads on a LowComp Engine" dunno why, still wondering...
steering feels very light and wanders by comparison to the Astra and Freelander I've been driving recently. I'll re-centre the steering wheel on the weekend but I'm still curious why it is feeling so light... all I did was clean up the intermediate shaft while it was out.
Ride height feels too high, even on Highway mode. Again, probably due to driving lesser/lower vehicles for a few weeks.
follow-on from ride height probably... front tail-shaft vibration is pretty bad. Think I want/need one of those double-cardan thingyamobobs.

Originally Posted by Remy

Have you moved from IT to mechanical

Where do you find the time.

I am avoiding my dash replacement but it is good to know that there is an excellent write up for me to follow.

Thanks!

Thanks Remy... my aches and pains are telling me to stick with my "other" job. Fortunately my better half is quite understanding and has been working a lot of weekends lately, so it's given me the opportunity to spend "quality time" with the Rangie.

I'll get around to writing up the dash removal process at some stage with a few of the specifics for mine, but in the meantime:

my pics are up at Heater O-Rings
there is a good write up already at Dash Removal and Replacement (Range Rover 4.0/4.6/p38)

Removing the dash isn't so bad... fiddly and time consuming though, and it pays to have a "map" of the dash with a cross-reference to where specific screw/bolts/fixings go. I didn't do it on this occassion but know I should have done. Only a couple of screws left over so far.

One last word of warning - beware the glove box catch... I still can't re-open my glovebox since re-installing it.

cheers
Paul.

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