I used to own a Rovah, maybe you've read my build thread.......I will include you in my prayers tonight having only read the last page of your build.
Honestly.....they don't want to be built or repaired, they just want to be left alone.....
They're nice to look at though.....

I've only seen it on the street once since breaking off the relationship.

 

Well, don’t believe much of anything I say for diagnosis of stuff, because I’m apparently an idiot.

My vibration in the front end? Drive shaft. I’m so dumb sometimes.

A Rover buddy local who went huge on his lift had a full serviceable driveshaft for normal height machines and gave it to me for a 24 pack. Sorted everything out and it’s perfect now.

I did a tranny service too. I was holding my breath as I thought it could be the issue and although the fluid was a little burned and there was some gunk on the magnet, nothing to get riled up about.

So current status is, it’s ready for mild DD duty. And since the boss’ L320 is being stupid, she’ll be driving it for a bit as the dealer tries to figure out how stupid they are. This is good because she is quite picky as I’ve polluted her into being terrified of any noise or anything strange, which she’ll report back. Next up is sort the amigos, which I know what it is, and then brakes within the next 1k miles. After that will be to get the AC sorted.

Once I get all that little stuff done, it’s going to be back to finishing up cosmetic stuff, and then before winter will be the lift and tires. Last step will be to save for the rack and we’ll be to fully functional status. I’m kind of excited as today was a good Rover day.

Oh yeah, why this is all taking so long. Life in the mountains. After that storm where we got 18” a couple weeks ago, we got another few inches a few days later. Hopefully we’ll be done with snow for a bit- or at least until we get the barn done.



Anyway, the tranny didn’t look end of the world- no chunks.





Oh yeah, lastly on the good news front, I finally registered it too. So it’s more or less oh fish eey’all now to be used.

 

Well, it looks like the Disco will be pressed into DD status sooner than I wanted. My poor nice car…



Damn suicidal deer. Yet another negative of life in the mountains. But when you have views like this, it’s hard to complain.



That’s from the back deck and you can see a bit of the new driveway that has been cut (still to be “paved”) heading to the barn we’re having built.

Oh well. Some may have seen a couple threads as of recent where I was messing with the AC system. Well, it works! I cleaned the temp sensor and installed a new (used) solar sensor and both front and rear AC units seem to be working great. The foam around the vents I suspect is wasted as the passenger side isn’t quite as good, but as I’ve driven it more seems now to be getting plenty cool. The rear I measured at 41F!!!! And that’s with it being 90F ambient! So at least I’ll be comfy commuting. However, $95 to fill it up with tractor gas just now kinda sucks (part of the reason I’ll be missing the S4 as it gets 30+ mpg at 80 mph).



I ordered a couple cheapo thermometers to see what the actual temp coming out is, but just now in 90F with no tinted windows, it was plenty comfy in the cab.

I also found an unused plug that is probably for self leveling headlights or folding mirrors or the like when I went in to clean the temp sensor.



But now that it is going to be used more regularly, I ordered the WSS I know tanked and a new MAF to kill a couple codes I’m getting (P1413, P0171).

Brakes will be next as I’m probably 1k miles or so from the existing ones being roached. I’ve got most of the cosmetic stuff save the dash to put in the interior and a new windshield cowl, but I’m not doing that until I get a new heated windshield (and possibly just order new A Pilar trim too). About that time I’ll hook up the heated seats- assuming all the research is correct and the elements are in the seats and harness is just there. I’ve got the parts, just need to do it. I also hate that faux wood- drives me nuts.

I like my music and changing CDs is getting old, so I’ll be getting a new head unit soon as well.

After all that will be suspension and tires (and paint the wheels- even have new center caps to go on) and I’m calling it until the rack.

 

Good Disco days and annoying ones…. I just keep telling myself that.

I had a good day in swapping out the ash and coin tray to the one that has cup holders in it and changed all the HVAC light bulbs. YAY!

Well, due to the S4 being down for a bit, I’m trying to step up getting stuff done with the Disco so I can comfortably drive it, thus the above. Today I tried to do the motor fix on the driver’s door lock actuator. Nope, I would have destroyed the part, so I said hell with it, what’s another $200…. <shaking head>. Of course I goofed something up when I put it back in and it won’t even lock by the key. Whatever. I never lock it at the house and the odds of someone breaking into my car at the office are slim to none so I’ll just wait a few days for the new one to come in. It just annoyed the heck out of me.

I gotta get the suspension done though as the thing rides like total crap. I took it up toe Dumbver to pick up the boss and child of corn #2 today and it was flawless, but the windshield, cowl, and A Pilar trim need done soon too as it sounded like a tornado inside with the heavy winds. At least this one can keep freeway speed and the cruise works very well.

EDIT: And now I’m back to hating it. I thought I’d go out and see if I could lock it from the inside just to check. Now the door won’t open. At all. Either from the inside or the outside handles. What was going to be a pretty easy fix now is of course a total PITA. Why can’t ANYTHING be straight forward on these damn things.

Edit to the EDIT: I got it, but jeez this thing is dumb. I was able to pull up the window trim and put a steel rod down and unlock it somehow, so it works. But jeez I hate this damn thing some times. Obviously I put something back together incorrectly, and obviously I’m going to test everything thoroughly when the new actuator comes in. POS.

 

Have a beer and just keep grinding

 

Ah Disco life. (How many times have I said that in this thread?)

So a new vibration started recently. More of a slow wobble at low speeds that gets to be bad enough when at freeway speed, it needs to be diagnosed. Obviously speed related things like this lead me to tires or wheels.

A little background: I think I mentioned on the blue one that the tires were dry rotted and in pretty bad shape, but I still rolled the dice and drove it home (thankfully with no issues). Well, I didn’t really check the tires on the Alveston prior to setting out, but realized after I got home they are mismatched (in brand, not size). Sure enough the rears have a date stamp for production in 2007.

While trying to see if a wheel was wonky or whatever on my way home from a MTB ride, I stuck my head out the window, and of course my very expensive prescription sunglasses flew off. I was able to recover them and they weren’t too bad, but of course this just added insult to injury.

So the Disco is once again in time out- but to be fair, not to any fault to the machine. It’s so funny, we paid a good premium for this one as it was to be a good driver out of the hole and just fix some of the typical Disco stuff along the way. Well, in some ways this one is worse than the blue one and will continue to take a decent bit of effort before it is to a place I want it.

I’m over being angry at it and have just realized that I’m much more particular than many folks, and when you couple that to an older vehicle that may have not been maintained to my standards, there ends up being a lot of work to get the thing correct. Timing at this point is what really sucks as the snowball continues to grow for things I was hoping to not have to address in the immediate. With the S4 down for a bit to get fixed and toy $$$ extremely tight with the barn being built, it just sucks.

Back to the point of the post, I think I’m going to go with the ubiquitous K02s in 265/65. I think they’ll fit without a lift as I simply don’t want to afford the suspension right now.

Oh yeah, the driver’s side airbag is starting to dump much more often now, so I need to do that too. So much for it being a good driver…. HA!

 

Well, I had a good Disco day. As toy money is tight, $1500 for new tires was a bit tough to swallow, so I thought maybe someone would have a set with stop gap tires until I can swing something. Sure enough, @whowa004 gave me a smokin deal on some wheels and tires he had. The tires are on the edge, but just good enough for some simple commuting and such until I decide what I want to do long term.

Anyway, I swapped those today and decided since I had the wheel off, I might as well do the WSS. No more amigos!!!! I did the wire all the way into the dash version and all is well. It also was very nice to have a glass smooth ride again FINALLY.

I dunno, the boss says she actually likes the 16s better. What do you guys think? I go back and forth, but I will say this: tires are WAY cheaper for the 16s than the 18s, so I might just use these for a bit and take my time refinishing the Comets.

 

FWIW, my 97 Disco on 16's has a much more comfortable and cushy ride than my P38 on 18's. I would swap to 16's if it were practical.

 

looking good. Wheels sure cleaned up nice! I'm a fan of 16s but it's also nice to literally be on clouds when airing down with that extra sidewall..

 

With how nice it’s riding, I’m thinking I’ll do tires on the 16s. That will give me more time to get the Comets finished nicely. Again, I can’t thank you enough for basically giving those to me.