In Modifications Forum I just bumpedup about my chip.
I like it due to the fact I most times travel a long ways before going
off roading.
Otherwise I would put in lower gears as this will give you more
off the line power but runs out on the Hwy to many rpm's.

 

If I'm not mistaken though, you have a 96? Which would be OBD2... I'm curious about resutls from any guys that have 95 or newer Rovers (OBD1).

 

Update:

OK... it looks like I didn't last long before my Rover needed repairs ...

Currently in shop for repairing the following:

1) Front Wheel Bearing Kits, King Pins
2) Brake Master Cylinder
3) Guibo
4) Serpentine Belt
5) Front and Rear Brake Pads

Good news is, the car should be safe to drive again (anyone who's ever had the master cylinder go out will know exactly what I'm talknig about)

Additionally:

I found out fromt the mechanic, that my Disco came with 20W50 from the factory (as a natural oil). I have been doing a lot of reading about oils lately and I'm not done yet, but it looks like I am going to change to a full synthetic, and the front runner is Motul, a formula 1 brand I saw at SEMA last week. They have a full synthetic that seems to be the real deal. Of particular note, it claims a very high heat capacity before it fails, which, now that I see how hot these babys run in the engine bay makes a lot of sense to me. In addition, as a full synthetic, it has a very low friction compared to natural oil, so I am hoping to see some better gas mileage and more power to boot, as the engine won't have to lose so much power to the oil and can put it to better use...

More on this later... I still have some more research to do and will get back to you guys... my bank account has to recover after this round of repairs.

-John Paul

 

Update:

OK... so after the repairs mentioned in the posting directly above this one, I had the truck back for about a week and it started dying on start...

This problem turned into the car dying at idle while on the road at stop lights, and eventually I figured out that either:

a) the alternator or
b) the battery

needed to be replaced.

Hoping to get lucky I went with the battery first and sure enough, the car drove GREAT and fired up with no issues, etc. with a new battery.

Since I bought the car used, only after I removed the existing battery and placed in the new one did I see that the battery in the truck was only bought in June of this year!

None-the-less, hey, at least I got back on the road again right?

So I've been driving it around for about 3 or 4 weeks now with the new battery, with the spare ("old battery") in the back, as sure enough the new one lasted about 20 starts and then started showing the same symptoms until it too started to fail to start at all, in which cases, the "old" battery has been used to "jump" the car... handy little trick by the way... I would have always thought another car would have been needed or one of those little charger deals, but the other battery hooked up to the one in the truck seems to do the trick for a about 4 or 5 days of starts for some reason....

Which seems to point out that the Alternator IS indeed the problem...

So now, after doing some research, I have determined that, I may be able to save myself some gas mileage, improve power and effieicnecy all-around in addition to not having to worry wether or not the truck will start each time with a new alternator, and esp. IF I can get my hands on a high-efficiency alternator, or if they don't make one of those for the Disco, I'd opt for a high-output performance alternator.

In addition, I want a truely NEW alternator and not a Reman unit.

Does any one have any suggestions or experience with:

1. high efficiency
2. high output / performance
3. brand new, NOT reman

Alternators for 95 Discos?

(PS - after having the truck now for about 6 weeks, I have to admit I LOVE it when it works, except for the gas mileage! I got about 12 miles to the gallon on my last tank, some of which may be due to the alternator issue?)

-John Paul[/align]

 

OK... I ordered a rebuilt alternator, the premium one with the heavy duty parts. It is on the way...
However, now I have a new problem.

I had been successfully buying myself a couple days of starting the car by jumping it with other cars, however today, we tried to Jump the car and NOTHING happened.

The battery was weak, and didn't even try to turn over.
Could this be:

1) the starter is bad?
2) the alarm system kill switch to the starter did not disengage for some reason and so the starter wasn't even engaged?

The strange thing is that even with the jump, the lights on the car did not light up to max like normal...

Could a bad alternator prevent the other electrical systems from functioning properly (ie. why was the dash lights, etc. barely lighting up even though we were jumping the car!)

help on this would be much appreciated!
-John Paul

 

Update 3/8/08 -

OK... so, I've only owned it since October, but I think I've learned a LOT about these things because of all the damn repairs!

Previously, I got rid of the no starting issue by flipping on the headlights when I got the strange electrical issues related to the alarm.

Maybe there was a lose current in the electrical system somewhere related to the alarm and the lighting system, but what did the trick (and I haven't had a single repeat of this issue again) was that when I would turn off the truck, if the dome light when I opened the truck did not come all the way on, then I knew I would have this issue with the alarm not working properly (remote wouldn't open the car, etc.) and the alarm function would leave the starter disengaged, so if I saw the dome lights dim and not full lit, then I would turn on the headlights, and the dome lights would shine full. This signaled me that the rest of the electrical system would work fine.

I had to do that maybe two or three times when I figured out that this would fix the mystery, and I haven't had to do it again not for probably 1-2 months.

the truck has however had more issues with starting up...

I had a timing issue that had to be fixed short of changing out the timing chain (probably will need that to happen within the next 4-6 months actually according to the mechanic... not a cheap job by the way... labor will be like 450$!), and a spark plug change, which really helped pep the car up and got me a little better gas mileage.

A week later the car just stopped starting at all and wouldn't even turn over at all.

I had my sales guys help me push it to the local mechanic and it turned out that the starter motor was done.

Picked up a lifetime warranty premuim rebuilt unit from my NAPA dealer at wholesale and gave it to the mechanic and we are back in business! YES!

I'm hoping that all these fixes will give me 70-100k out of the truck. I'd hate to fix it all up and not get the benefits out of it. I always feel bad for those guys that fix up a car, get sick of fixing it and sell it at a killer deal to the next guy who gets a fixed car, that lasts him for a long time with no headaches... I'm committed to reaping the benefits on my money damn it!

OK... here's another question for you guys:

I thought the fleted change holder in the dash would slide out for easier access and I snapped off half of it with my finger! ARG! the dash was PERFECT before this as the previous owner had had it replaced under warranty due to warping in the sun or something....

I'm guessing I can probably buy JUST that piece from my LR dealer at wholesale, but I am curious if anyone has a clue how to install it?

OR am I shafted and that whole thing is one piece... I hope not.

-John Paul

 

Unrelated to Discovery, a buddy of mine had some issues with his 1997 P38 Range Rover front Drive shaft with vibration. It was vibrating, etc.
He took it off to take it into the shop, and was driving around with the rear driveline only. He said he could definitely feel the difference, no vibration, etc....

However, he did mention that he was having some power issues going up hill.... and he says he can't accelerate, or drive fast....

Is there a CDL, or something in the transfer case that need to be locked out to get this to work?

 

Yes there is, at least on a DI and some DII's. And the P38 RR is the sister to the DII, same chassis/driveline.
He should only drive on one driveshaft for a short amount of time otherwise he will blow the rear diff. from to much stress.
I do NOT know how to lock the CDL on a P38.