That is a SWEET ride! She's going to love it.

New car day, or as you and I remember, new bike day, is always cool. I’ve had to reconfigure some stuff, get the garage door opener programmed, show her a bit about CarPlay, and the infotainment in general, but she is pretty giddy. The only option it doesn’t have surprisingly is adaptive cruise, which I am totally addicted to in the S4. It has a neat “Limiter” function, though, that won’t let you past a set speed, no matter how hard you hit the go button.

We tested low range and the off road cruise control on the property, which was kinda neat, but that is most likely the closest to off roading she will use it for. All in all a pretty neat machine.

In Disco news, while the girls went out shopping today, I took the Disco up on top of a mountain to work for a while. I’ve not done that for a good bit, but it was nice to pack some snacks and a chair and just sit in the peace of the mountain (I was probably over 10k feet) and push buttons on the laptop for a bit. Sadly, reception wasn’t good enough on my phone to tether, but I enjoyed a couple hours of offline stuff I needed to get done in prep for Monday fun and games.

The place I went is where I’ve taken the Disco a couple times and the ruts to cross up the suspension were significantly worse this time forcing me to raise the rear end (again, why I love the airbags) and I did probably the biggest wheel stands I’ve ever done in a Disco and a number of 2 wheel teeter totter wobbling. The K02s did very well (I did air down) and the CDL and TC did very well in keeping wheel spin to a minimum. I don’t use Hill Descent Control as I think it lets the machine go too fast, and I was probably a little close to rolling a couple times, but it’s easy to control the throttle and brakes to keep things under control. I suspect when I get brakes done, it will do even better.

No pics or video as I was 100% solo and kinda more focused on working than playing, but it was fun to see what the Disco can do. It’s actually more fun in some ways than the Jeep because it has to work so much harder. The Jeep just flexes so well I very rarely do wheel stands and when you add the full lockers, it’s just point and shoot. You have to pay more attention and when you take the hard lines understand the dynamics and balance of the vehicle, it’s a bigger challenge in the Disco.

Cruise control buttons will control speed somewhat with hill descent but I agree generally too fast. Pull sway bars and the disco will flex quite nicely, that front bar is so beefy it doesn't allow for much. Actually I put LR3 rear links (I think it was rear, either way significantly longer than stock disco ones which should allow some more flex) in the front of my white one and put the sway bar back on to help with the highway manners now that I'm hauling kiddos around.

Nothing too flashy, but I finally got around to replacing the brake booster connection at the intake side that I’ve been getting by with a cheesy slathering of RTV for the last few years. Thanks to @Brandon318 I found this thread to help:

https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...anifold-97502/

His write up made it stupid quick and easy.







The purpose of the exercise is I’m trying to track down a stutter I have at idle. I posted these videos to another thread or so, but it looked like Cyl 1 was unhappy for whatever reason with all the missfire. No check engine light from them, but probably should address. I ordered a set of new plugs while ago and was going to start there.



https://longtallsallygs.smugmug.com/...ry/i-6MctTpw/A

Since I was already under the hood an I can get to Cyl 1 without disassembling the upper half of the engine (thanks, SAI) I went ahead and just replaced that one. I’ve debated just ordering coils as a matter of course so I wouldn’t have to pull the intake again, but after I replaced that plug with a new one, I was still getting misfires on Cyl 1 when I put it in gear.



I reset the adaptive values and would sometimes get a missfire on Cyl 1 but then stopped getting them.

I was thinking this was the coil and needing to be replaced. However, I’m not getting misfires at all now and the stutter is still there. So now I think I have a vacuum leak.

Should I bother with coils or start chasing the vacuum leak?

You already have the smoke machine so I'd start there. Why throw good money after bad?

Yeah I don’t disagree, but I think the seller mentioned they did replace one of the coils prior to my purchase, and I’m wondering if I should just do them as a matter of course- it’s not expensive and although I was planning on doing a coil relocation of some form, I’ve decided not to whenever I do them as they last plenty long.

Also, I’ve gone nuts in tracing things down on all the hoses over time looking for leaks, and I suspect it might be the upper intake gasket. But I’m not sure as the stutter only happens when in gear (reverse or drive).

I’ve cleaned the IACV a good long while ago, and the symptoms are still the same. The only other thing I could think of would be a bad seal on one of the injectors?

No pics, but a reality as the kids get older. I might be in a “I don’t want to live in CO any longer” phase, but it is nice in our little enclave to basically have no traffic and a lot of space.

So then, as I have mentioned before, one of the Discos will be going to the boy most likely as his first car. He is rapidly approaching 14, so I’ve done a few little driving lessons here and there. Prior to leaving for Euroville, he went around “the block” and it was a bit sketch- probably too much too fast on my part- so I was a bit more cautious as I’ve started this summer.

A couple weeks ago, we did the pasture and in 4 low in the Disco just so he could get a feel for things. This was a better approach as he learns how to center the wheel, understand how much steering input to give, and certainly throttle control.

Yesterday we did a significantly longer drive where I started to focus more on some of the other variables required while driving like mirrors, turn signals, surroundings, and more steering practice. He went all around the “subdivision” and after he felt like he could keep the car on his side of the road started throwing other variables at him like checking his mirrors and speed (never got over 25 mph).

Our son is significantly more calculating and analytical in trying something new (in this case a good thing) unlike his lunatic father and was very scared. But as I’ve taught him in riding motorcycles, he needs to leverage that fear to additional focus on the task at hand, and he did just that. What really helped was just seat time and learning to not hang on the steering wheel like a crutch (like a lot of the idiots in CO do- a new phenomena for me to see) and actually get in a proper seating position and adjusting the mirrors so he didn’t have to move around to use them all before we set off. We worked on reversing as well (of course the parking sensors have been acting up lately, so it forced him to use his mirrors and really understand rate of closure and such).

He really is doing well and I think I have him hooked. We’ll do a few more of these sessions and then I might start to teach him how to drive a manual with the Jeep. He loves the Disco, but truth be told, he would like the Jeep, just because it’s a bit more tough guy teenager or whatever and we have a huge number of family memories in it. Mom has put her foot down and said absolutely not as the Jeep has a lot more going on and it is kinda a special family machine (not just an off road toy) as it was in all seriousness our first family car when I ordered it.

Really a proud dad day as I see him start the transformation from my baby boy to young man. Friggin kid needs an IV of cheeseburger, though, as his 9 year old sister is taller than he is! Granted I’m 6’7” and mom is 6’1”, but he needs to start to catch up as he looks tiny in the drivers seat, but definitely comfy.

I’ve not updated for a minute and not a heckfire of a lot going on in my Disco world, but I thought I’d do a quick update.

The Disco has performed flawlessly and has been used primarily as a MTB transport machine. I continue to pollute the children of the corn and they come with me at times. I’m doling out harder and harder single track for them, and have them set up on a couple of older bikes I have that were high end back in the day and they are enjoying having suspension and really good brakes and all that.



The Alveston is now at just about 186k miles and continues to run incredibly. I recently got a code for the rear O2 sensors, so that will be done soon. A bummer for me is I ruptured a biceps tendon (says the Ortho, but I think it’s more of a bad muscle tear since I don’t need surgery) so I’m a couple weeks out from any appreciable work, but I’m finally getting to where I want the windshield washers to work, so I need to pull the bumper and see why the reservoir is leaking.

With some help from the boy (I’m starting to get him to understand if he is getting this as his car, he will need to do the work just with my help) we got the oil changed. It’s kinda hard with one arm- the degree I needed a breaker bar to get even the drain plug pulled while he held the ratchet in place, but a good lesson in safety in teaching him not to be under or in the line of fire of tools and such while working.

I am just amazed at how well that thing runs. It is quiet and smooth and basically runs like it’s brand new. It did use a couple quarts of oil (the dipsticks in these things is pretty useles until you get super low), but it’s really not leaking much at all. I do a quart of the Lucas treatment and 15w40 Rotella, which is probably helping.

As I heal up, I’m going to try to get a few things done before the snow flies (probably only a few weeks out before we get the first big storm of the year) and I’ll try to get some more fun content in here. We are to a steady state with the Disco and just kinda driving it when I feel like it.

This is funny. So I’m just doing some simple prep work to pull the bumper and diagnose the windshield washer fluid leak. I’ve always said how funny it is how the Brits use 1,000,000,000 fasteners where 3 will do. This picture just struck me funny with how many screws have to be removed to get the bumper off. Adding to how silly it is, it says there are 18 screws for innocuous stuff like the splash guards, but only 3 holding the bumper on.

That chair in the MTB picture...surely doesn't look appropriate for a 6'7" frame.