Drove our second Disco to work today- Thanks LRF!
#1
Drove our second Disco to work today- Thanks LRF!
A couple of weeks ago, my partner's 99 D2 blew a head gasket. We were at a loss on what do with it. Her biological father had just moved in with us. He has MS & has taken up way more of our time and finances than we had originally planned. A huge Rover repair bill was not something that we could afford or something we wanted to deal with & being without a second vehicle was going to be real hard to say the least. While I have fixed minor things on cars before, most of my experience was simply unbolt an accessory and replace with a new part. The extent of my engine repair knowledge was right around zero. I had a Mercedes 500E once in college that blew a head gasket & that was the end of that car. I was told over and over I couldn't fix it myself & I should sell it & I sadly did. I miss that car even today!
This time around I was not going to let that happen. I was convinced with a Rave manual in hand and this forum at my disposal I was going to tear into it and fix it myself.
And I did just that. And it runs and drives like new again!
I made about four unexpected trips to the local auto parts/ supplies place but got it done myself. Well, almost myself... I'm a chick and only about 5'3" at that, so needless to say the head bolts were a bit tighter that I had planned. I put an ad on Craigslist & enlisted the help of a strong guy for a few minutes to crack them loose. BEST $20 EVER SPENT. The guy was super nice & even offered to stop back by to re-torque them for me.
Doing a job like this gave me an amazing sense of accomplishment & I look at our 2 Discos in a completely different way now. I am convinced that I can do the work myself & keep these on the road for many more years.
I just wanted to thank all of you here for making the information so available when I needed it.
Also, a special thank you to DiscoMike for taking a couple of random phone calls from me even if nothing more but to reassure me that I had a good game plan & had bought the correct parts. Your time & willingness to help is more than appreciated. if you ever find yourself in Jersey, Let me know. I owe you a drink.
This time around I was not going to let that happen. I was convinced with a Rave manual in hand and this forum at my disposal I was going to tear into it and fix it myself.
And I did just that. And it runs and drives like new again!
I made about four unexpected trips to the local auto parts/ supplies place but got it done myself. Well, almost myself... I'm a chick and only about 5'3" at that, so needless to say the head bolts were a bit tighter that I had planned. I put an ad on Craigslist & enlisted the help of a strong guy for a few minutes to crack them loose. BEST $20 EVER SPENT. The guy was super nice & even offered to stop back by to re-torque them for me.
Doing a job like this gave me an amazing sense of accomplishment & I look at our 2 Discos in a completely different way now. I am convinced that I can do the work myself & keep these on the road for many more years.
I just wanted to thank all of you here for making the information so available when I needed it.
Also, a special thank you to DiscoMike for taking a couple of random phone calls from me even if nothing more but to reassure me that I had a good game plan & had bought the correct parts. Your time & willingness to help is more than appreciated. if you ever find yourself in Jersey, Let me know. I owe you a drink.
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Massrover (12-24-2020)
#3
A couple of weeks ago, my partner's 99 D2 blew a head gasket. We were at a loss on what do with it. Her biological father had just moved in with us. He has MS & has taken up way more of our time and finances than we had originally planned. A huge Rover repair bill was not something that we could afford or something we wanted to deal with & being without a second vehicle was going to be real hard to say the least. While I have fixed minor things on cars before, most of my experience was simply unbolt an accessory and replace with a new part. The extent of my engine repair knowledge was right around zero. I had a Mercedes 500E once in college that blew a head gasket & that was the end of that car. I was told over and over I couldn't fix it myself & I should sell it & I sadly did. I miss that car even today!
This time around I was not going to let that happen. I was convinced with a Rave manual in hand and this forum at my disposal I was going to tear into it and fix it myself.
And I did just that. And it runs and drives like new again!
I made about four unexpected trips to the local auto parts/ supplies place but got it done myself. Well, almost myself... I'm a chick and only about 5'3" at that, so needless to say the head bolts were a bit tighter that I had planned. I put an ad on Craigslist & enlisted the help of a strong guy for a few minutes to crack them loose. BEST $20 EVER SPENT. The guy was super nice & even offered to stop back by to re-torque them for me.
Doing a job like this gave me an amazing sense of accomplishment & I look at our 2 Discos in a completely different way now. I am convinced that I can do the work myself & keep these on the road for many more years.
I just wanted to thank all of you here for making the information so available when I needed it.
Also, a special thank you to DiscoMike for taking a couple of random phone calls from me even if nothing more but to reassure me that I had a good game plan & had bought the correct parts. Your time & willingness to help is more than appreciated. if you ever find yourself in Jersey, Let me know. I owe you a drink.
This time around I was not going to let that happen. I was convinced with a Rave manual in hand and this forum at my disposal I was going to tear into it and fix it myself.
And I did just that. And it runs and drives like new again!
I made about four unexpected trips to the local auto parts/ supplies place but got it done myself. Well, almost myself... I'm a chick and only about 5'3" at that, so needless to say the head bolts were a bit tighter that I had planned. I put an ad on Craigslist & enlisted the help of a strong guy for a few minutes to crack them loose. BEST $20 EVER SPENT. The guy was super nice & even offered to stop back by to re-torque them for me.
Doing a job like this gave me an amazing sense of accomplishment & I look at our 2 Discos in a completely different way now. I am convinced that I can do the work myself & keep these on the road for many more years.
I just wanted to thank all of you here for making the information so available when I needed it.
Also, a special thank you to DiscoMike for taking a couple of random phone calls from me even if nothing more but to reassure me that I had a good game plan & had bought the correct parts. Your time & willingness to help is more than appreciated. if you ever find yourself in Jersey, Let me know. I owe you a drink.
#6
#7
#9
Thanks everyone. My only regret is how long the job seemed to drag on. In hindsight, I really should have just taken a few days off to do it. I'm an engineer Monday-Friday & on the weekends, I help a friend detailing cars. My weekend schedule is pretty flexible but I still worked some in the mornings while working on the Disco in the afternoon. The Disco is just a hair too big to fit in the garage & still have room to work, so I was working in the driveway & could only work until sundown.
All in all I worked on it two full Saturdays & probably an hour to an hour & a half during the week in the evenings.
All in all I worked on it two full Saturdays & probably an hour to an hour & a half during the week in the evenings.
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