Accumulator Issue
 

Hi all,

Long time lurker, first time poster. Made this handle because I don't feel I can handle this problem on my own.

Some backstory: I purchased a 1992 Range Rover Classic in October, 2010. I bought it in Las Vegas, and moved the car to my home in Death Valley, CA. The car and I reside at -190 ft below sea level. Love the car to death, but she's got problems. I took it in to British Eurotech in Los Angeles, CA, (5 hours away) a mostly reputable Land Rover Specialist in December to pass CA Smog, where they discovered my accumulator "was bad" and insisted they replace it right away. An exorbitant $900 later, I drove home with a tripped brake switch and a seemingly fine accumulator. I wasn't happy with the service, the price, the way they treated my Classic, and the way they treated me, but they said my car was safer so I was pleased. I fixed the brake switch and got back on the road.

About 2 weeks ago an obnoxious high pitched buzzing noise started coming from under my hood. Checking it out, I narrowed it down to my new accumulator. At first the buzzing was intermittent, but it has increased and now constantly runs. I am also experiencing brake problems, often having to pump my brakes several times to get them to engage properly. Scary stuff, and a little over my head at this point.

Why is this happening? What should I do? I do not want to bring my Classic back to British Eurotech if I do not absolutely have to. Is there an at-home fix I can apply on my own? The accumulator is NEW and should not need replacing.

The noise you are hearing is most likely air in the system. The accumulator might be bad, but I would doubt it. Chances are they did not bleed the system properly when putting the new one on.

There are several other reasons why it would make the noise. The pump itself could be bad, or even the pressure switch. Here is a little site I did for the brake pump in the P38a http://yourwebdesigns.com/abpmp/. The P38 braking system is different than the classic, but not that different. Personally I would not take the rover back to the prior place. $900 for an accumulator is ridiculous. I paid $175 for mine and installed it in 10min.

Where did you source it for the $175?

There are plenty on ebay for less than $200

Nice write up on that website LRScott. Bookmarked that sucker.

I'm going to have to move it to a different server. So don't be surprised if your link stops working ;) . I'll make a post when it changes.

Cool - thanks. Maybe you could get it linked up on RR.net main page?