A lesson I learned first-hand. "What do you call a Land Rover that doesn't require regular attention?"

A Toyota.



Second lesson. It requires attention not because it's a bad truck, it's just a tedious, tough, (British) truck that was designed to be worked on.

I second the opinion of finding an indy repair shop and/or start learning. It's not a hard truck to work on, once you begin to understand it.

 

LOL

I think I'm both of those guys

 

Trust me....there are none except the Rover dealership and a European car repair shop both of which would charge wayyyy too much just to look at it. There are a couple shops I can go to, though, that have mechanics that are experienced in dealing with Rover . I only went where I did for a quick oil change...

 

Heyyy, I'm a COUNTRY girl, not a regular girl! I am going to most DEFINITELY do the minor stuff myself...I was pressed for time and my husband is a city boy (New Yorker) thats why I didnt do the oil change myseld...so I will be downloading that RAVE manual! Further kicking myself for taking drafting instead of auto repair in high school!

 

Well another thing to always remember....

"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten"

So if you have no indy Rover shops near you, and your option is dealer or walmart....well. I think you know the rest.

and welcome to the board!

 

From one woman to another:

I understand your frustration. If you own a Land Rover you will become intimately involved with your coolant system. It happens to all of us. Today I was at the gas station checking my tire pressure and as I crouched down by the front passenger tire I noticed coolant leaking down over the suspension and producing a nice puddle on the pavement. 'What now?' I asked myself. I opened the hood and a pinhole stream of coolant was spraying out of the coolant reservoir, hitting the fuse box and steaming a little sizzle. I replaced my coolant reservoir a year and a half ago (not as daunting as it may seem..really.. we tend to build things up in our mind more than the actually are). Last time it was the nipple on the bottom of the reservoir that broke off after becoming brittle. I went to a local salvage yard and picked up a used reservoir which appeared to be in good condition but now I have a pinhole leak or a hairline fracture in the plastic. SOoooo.. I have to figure out how to patch the latest catastrophe up soon.

I've had a head gasket leak in the past which produced an environmental superfund site on my driveway - that was when I still had red coolant.

My throttle body heater had issues and I spewed coolant all over at a busy intersection during rush hour traffic. Steam was coming out from underneath my hood from the coolant hitting the hot engine.

I cry a lot when my Rover is giving me grief. I know it sounds wimpy but I hate stress and when my Rover is down it brings me down. Car issues really eat into your self confidence because it's hard to trust someone when you know that they have the upper hand (ie; when we don't know the proper terminology and something goes wrong). I've found that once you tackle and successfully accomplish what you don't think you are capable of doing, you have a slightly new outlook on it all. I joined this forum 4 and a half years ago and I have to tell you, I was fairly clueless as to what part was what when I first started. After being part of this community for a few years, my self confidence in some areas have soared but I still have untapped potential in others. Like, how do I change my own brake pads? Apparently the Land Rover is one of the easiest brake pads to tackle, and there are even videos on it online but I have visions of doing something wrong and killing myself in the process. Pitiful but true

I'm on a roll this week.. I have crunching brakes after 2 years, a leaking coolant reservoir and I'm pretty convinced my bushings are going.. at least in my mind they are - haha..

So I wish you luck and if you have any questions that I can answer, please feel free to PM me.

Oh..and PS.. I'm married to a city boy too (London) and he laughed at me when I changed my own oil. It's definitely doable

 

Could not have said it any better myself. My sentiments exactly! My wife says that I am "in a relationship" with her Rover. I am definitely in far deeper than I ever expected, and it's bittersweet. I love the fact that I could now replace _________, at the same time it sucked that I had to replace _______. Sometimes we get lucky and replace _________ before it actually breaks and saves us the grief, but still the cut knuckles.

 

That nipple thing under the recovery tank breaks a lot. I replaced mine 4 times already. Make sure that the hose have enough slack once you return it. If the hose is stretched, the engine vibrates and cracks the hose fitting.
I had to repair myself and its been there for over 5 years. What I did was purchased a hose nipple from home depot, cut the old plastic one and drilled a newer hole to fit a brass nipple tightly. Placed high heat epoxy around the repair. Still same reservoir since repaired.
Well, I still have a backup in my roof rack and some gallons of Peak. 4 times on the road for the same part problem was just too much.

 

well...I found out that the service tech was NOT the culprit of my coolant leak...It is coming from the expansion tank and I put a sealing powder in ($2 quick fix until I can find a tank) and it has not leaked one drop since and i drove it a LOT longer than my normal ten miles and my expansion tank is still full! I know otc sealants are typically a no-no, but dag on it, Im in the process of moving, working ot (Im a nurse) because we have inspections coming up, and its hard to find salvaged Rovers here...now, I am trying to find the right rear wiper blade because THAT is needing to be replaced! Nonetheless, I was on-call last week during a serious snowfall and my Rover was one of few vehicles moving!!! I dont regret my truck at all, and because my husband has one and had his for 3 years before I got mine, I knew what to expect. I hope the saying is true that they will never leave ya stranded!

 

A Man/Woman's gotta do what ya gotta do. By the way, Great profession, Nurse, a very overworked and under appreciated line of work.
Good on ya, Mate.