Good morning everyone,
Joined up last week, but not a stranger to this forum. I have peered on here time and again for advice on certain repairs. I posted a thread last week in reference to my transmission shift solenoid not letting me shift out of park without removing the shifter cover and manually pushing in the plunger and shifting. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I got my 03 Disco SE7 from a friend of mine at Platinum Motor Sports in LaGrange, KY. They specialize in Rovers/offroading, etc, and I get a lot of advice from him and his mechanic, as well. I have been a diesel mechanic in the Army for over 19 years,... so I always do what ever repairs myself (to the best of my ability). I have already changed the front driveshaft, Xmsn, transfer case, and most recently my engine. I also replaced the exhaust Y-pipe, because I was getting a "catalyst" code last year. Currently live in Brandenburg, KY, where I plan to retire from the Army within the year. Then I can dedicate more time to my family, my home, and my Rover!!! I put in a 4.0 when my 4.6 blew this past January. Had to modify the heads and add the secondary air injection ports to them, because my original heads were warped beyond all recognition. Used a couple pieces of regular pipe, cut off the tips and had them welded to the tips of the SAI adapters. This saved over $100.00 because the thread on those adapters is a really oddball thread. So instead of ordering a $100.00+ tap, we used those pipes with a more common thread. Also used a Felpro aluminum/composite head gasket set with ARP (automotive racing products) fasteners for the head bolts. The heads' surfaces were remachined for a nice clean and flat surface and I used Permatex copper spray-a-gasket to coat both sides of the head gaskets to fill in any invisible impurities. Replaced the thermostat with an OE LR one, but still have a problem overheating from time to time. I have seen some aftermarket mods to the thermostat, because a "plastic" housing doesn't seem very logical,...especially when you are adding "heat" to the equation!!! Not to mention the "hard plastic" cooling lines that cross over the engine and in front of the radiator. I used The appropriate sized braided fuel line for those and for the one in front of the radiator, I cut some steel brake line to fit in the grooves and married up each side to the fuel line with hose clamps. I also had to make a steel pipe "T" fitting because the plastic one with the bleeder screw decided to melt. One of the 1st things I put on was a Bottorf steel bumper, although I would like a nice ARB bumper in the future. I think that about sums it up for now. Dan