I have been helping a good friend with some LR work so I drove the Eco up to his place. I discovered the Eco was literally 3wd aka 1wd literally due to the RR axle flange/hub having 5 broken off bolts (see pics)





I also discovered the CDL/4WD selector unit was completely trashed!! Had to grab a used unit from a junk yard (same place I got the replacement hub assembly).

 

Sometimes they keep their secrets until you find the clue.

 

5-23-26 Update:

Well I'm back home after a few weeks out of town helping a good friend with some LR Repair jobs. The Eco got some much needed TLC while I was up there and I also did some more work today.

Rear Drive Shaft Converted to U-Joint Style vs Rotoflex
Right Rear Hub Replaced & bearings greased
Rear Diff Serviced
Transfer Case Serviced
CDL & High/N/Low Shifter Assembly replaced (original was completely trashed)
Interlock Solenoid was locked INOP, removed and sealed
Drivers Side AC Vent Drain cleaned (OEM nipple was shoved up inside the drain and completely blocked/clogged)
Cranked Rear Radius Arms Installed with SuperPro Bushings
Replaced Right Roof Rail (original was drilled thru for the roof light wiring & the cause for all the A pillar rust..........) Sealed hole in roof as well
Replaced leaking F/R Proportioning Valve & bled the brakes

Mechanically it's solid now. I did 600 miles in it with zero issues and it ran 177-193F on the highway with the HVAC on. Highest was 202F sitting at a red light but once on the move it would cool back down. I've got a small exhaust leak on the drivers side so I'll look into that, and I'm still on the hunt/look for a set of front 3 degree radius arms. Once the arms are found/installed with Super Pro Bushings it should be ready for this years Hill Country Rover Rally.

 

I also repaired the Gauge Cluster this evening. The RPM gauge was 200RPM or so off mid range, I had a spare cluster laying around so I swapped over the Odometer, and installed some #74 LED/194 LED bulbs into it as well. RPM's are normal now (noticed it didn't compare anything close to the Ultragauge on the 600 mile trip), and now the cluster is fully illuminated (had the center 194 bulb out).

 

Today I was just messing around with little stuff and I was going to adjust the steering stop bolts as it rubs whenever I turn the wheel to the left. Well I crawl under it to find 1 bent steering stop bolt on the LH side & a missing steering stop bolt on the RH side! Quick run down to the hardware store and that's another annoyance off the list!

 

Next up on the Eco will be an ABS delete by either re-routing the brake lines to the OEM F/R proportioning valve and deleting the entire Wabco ABS Modulator, or adding the Wilwood F/R proportioning valve. I'm also going to modify a pair of spare D2 shock towers to 14mm bolts so I can install 4 identical shocks onto the Eco making it easier to swap shocks out later vs having to track down F/R shocks. I got 4 NOS NIB Pro Comp shocks to replace the OME shocks on the Eco which are simply to short for the lift installed on it. I've been trying to just find the darn shock sleeves in 12mm vs 14mm but no one seems to understand what I'm talking about. When 4Wheel Parts used to be around I'd simply just tell em what sleeves I needed and they'd go to the back and just hand me some.

 

why? you have to keep all the abs sensors and computer for GEMS to work right. Depending on which eprom cal you have it could throw a check engine if that communication is severed.

 

On the Eco the ABS is completely INOP. Sensor wiring is crumbling, the Wabco unit has all sorts of faults stored for it, and the brake pedal will mysteriously go mushy. 4 new calipers, SS Brake lines, new MC, replacement booster, replacement F/R proportioning valve, and it's been bled 4-5 times now. Eventually the pedal just goes soft to where you have zero pedal feel until the very bottom of the pedal stroke. I think the Wabco unit has something inside the valve assembly that's causing the pedal to go soft after a drive with zero leaks. On a D1 you can disable the ABS without bothering the GEMS ECU. The ABS has it's own ECU for the Wabco unit. I'm going to simply remove the Wabco unit from the system and configure it for the non ABS setup by re-routing the brake lines directly into the F/R proportioning valve deleting the Wabco unit. I'll leave the Wabco ECU behind the glove box, but the modulator = will be gone and the ABS light in the cluster will be removed.

 

you dont have to remove the bulb, there is a bulb relay on the drop down tray by the passenger footwell that will disable the bulb

p1317 is the code itll throw. My 5 speed 97 throws it if the abs fuse is removed, my 99 does not so its something in the gems eproms


check the pushrod length of your replacement booster. I went through the same hell on my 98 and the replacement OEM (not cheap) brake booster pushrod needed to be extended about .05 to .08. huge difference

 

Yeah I would have suspected the pushrod length as well had the pedal acted weird from the start (parts truck I pulled the booster from had an excellent brake pedal). If you bleed the MC, ABS modulator, then the wheels you have a great pedal. Drive it more than 1hr with the usual stop/starts from traffic or lights and then suddenly the pedal goes soft. I have verified like a crazy person I have no leaks at all. 4 new calipers, the F/R proportioning valve is dry, MC is dry with no fluid sneaking out the back seal into the booster and the level isn't dropping. I'm starting to think the brake pads are part of the problem. They all appear to be Delphi Ceramic brake pads which I'm not fond of on a RRC/D1/D90/D110. I've got a set on of semi metallic pads on order and will slap them in and see how that goes. If that doesn't change anything I do have another Wabco Modulator in my shop, but at that point I'd rather just delete it.