Last week: Changed left hub and the grease-soaked brakes. Went to change brakes on the right side, discovered some oily stuff on the caliper bolt, felt behind the rotor and discovered the notorious build-up from a slowly leaking hub.

So...next week: hub and brakes on that right side.

Yesterday, I changed a long-overdue leaky radiator. See the other posts on here about diverging from the Rave manual and not disconnecting the trans fluid cooler lines and the fan. It'll save you hours. Since the new radiator was building pressure a leak sprouted at the t-pipe thru the bleed screw port. I tried another quarter turn (it was barely hand tightened before because I was still checking the system) and the screw broke. New screw = same leak thru screw port. So, next week I'll be changing out the upper hose unit as well.

Also, the return pipe from the radiator to the reservoir was brittle as heck, and broke just moving it around. I thought about replacing it with a hose but decided to keep things stock. New pipe = 49 bucks. The new one is nowhere near as brittle.

The quote from the dealership to fix these problems was nearly 3k dollars. I've gotten them all done for around 1.6k with my own labor.

I sprang for OEM hubs. Coulda saved 400 bucks on the set, but I really didn't want to go aftermarket or salvage on the hubs.

 

Figured out the radio issue. The factory harness and aftermarket harness need a little adjustment. On the after market harness yellow is power as is it on the Disco but the yellow is not constant power the red 12 V accessory is so the red from the Disco goes to the yellow on the AM that solved the turner not storing my presets. Now to fix the lack of sound on CD/DVD and Bluetooth it again was a wire issue. I had the blue disco wire connecting to the blue AM harness wire. Again it was wrong because we have premium sound systems in our trucks so that means it already has an amp. So by me running blue to blue I was only getting power to the tuner and nothing to the speakers for the others. When I took the the blue wire from the disco and connected it with the amp turn on on the Am harness which is blue and white I then turned off the disco amp and am just using the AM amp. I then connected the other amps turn on wire (for the sub) to the other blue and blue and white wire and it works perfectly. Built in Bluetooth pauses music when I have a call and plays when it ends and the built in mic is awesome. I am now trying to figure out how to bypass the ebrake switch so I can play DVDs on it while in drive. I tried to bypass it by using a toggle switch with one end connected to the ebrake switch and the other to the green wire from the head to try and fake like it was engaged but, it did not work. Tomorrow I plan to try connecting both the toggle and the head to the ebrake switch and the other end of the toggle to a ground. I thing that should work. I thing all I did today with the toggle was create a pass through with a cut off. Like having 2 light switches control the same light. I thing if I attach and ground the switch that I should be able to to make the head unit think the break is engaged so the DVD player will show video. Anyone have any advice? That was my day with my Disco...

 

Put Terrafirma rock sliders with tree bars on!

 

Looks good ZG may I ask where and what you paid? I have factory running boards and they are a pain in my ***. Im taking offers!!!

 

Rock sliders look awesome!

Not today, but over the weekend, after a couple of weeks of working on the basics, I finally got to take the Disco off-road! Nothing crazy - just a shakedown on some dirt trails on the way to a couple of abandoned SoCal gold mines - heck of a good time.

A few strange things along the way to investigate - I didn't lose any coolant according to the reservoir, but there was a little smell - I think it was either some previous spillage that burned off from the plastic skid plate, or a little that overflowed from the reservoir (it was really full). And there was a strange high-pitched noise that would show up on deceleration sometimes...maybe a tensioner or really small IMG leak?

It was a confidence-inspiring run, though. The Disco performed well, did great in some soft sand on street tires, and made it back fine, although the suspension was a little stiff. I figure, with a little more maintenance, I should be looking good for some more fun adventures!

 

i found some mud and went a little over bored

 

Ordered a door actuator so my daughters can open the door without ripping the handle off...: )

 

Ditto the request from user above: where did you get them and how much were they? They look awesome.

 

Sorry I just saw these requests. I paid around $700 for them(because I bought them at Rovers North and since I'm in state I get taxed)but paid no shipping. Lucky8 has them for $11 less but with shipping I saved money.

Rovers North - The Source for Classic Land Rover Parts - TERRAFIRMA ROCK SLIDER SET WITH TREE BARS DISCOVERY II

They are solid, and held up to a drop on a stump on Saturday night.

 

Here's another photo of them.