Alright so - new range rover owner. got into an accident about a month ago, cashed out and went for a low budget buy! a RUNNING range rover for 1500$, I couldn't say no.

fast foward 2 weeks later - serpentine belt breaks going 60mph (doh!) luckily it didn't break anything else, but after further examination I've concluded the problem (probably also an old belt aswell)





AC compressor pulley is complete garbage, loose as crap and just not good. Also the previous owner said the AC didn't work anyway (not sure if the pulley the reason why) after looking it up online, AC bypassing with a shorter serpentine belt is my best bet.

So my journey begins. I'm sure this will help a lot of people because I haven't been able to pinpoint an accurate belt solution for the i think 1993-2002 4.6 HSE range rover models as there as so many different variations of the land rover engines

anyway, I've done about 4 hours of digging on the internet and this is my best bet - Dayco 5070750
apparently a toyota/ford belt? 7 ridges and 75" long

I'm going to test it and post my results, with pictures as well.

also first vehicle forum post ever! swagg

 

Wow it worked holy crap.... in the most unconventional way. bypassed the tensioner and removed one pully to get this belt to work, didn't feel like going through the hassle of finding one that fits perfectly for whatever the heck my setup is... spent hours trying to find my exact fit for just bypass AC alone on the internet earlier this week, but cannot find the exact one. 2 hours of choking this 5070750 belt in there and I swear NO ONE should do this... i'll post pics tomorrow, its bonkers

although after driving for 5 minutes the temp guage ran to red, pulled over immediately before it went full blast red zone. noticed the block (or headers? I'm noob to mechanics) is SLIGHTLY leaking radiator fluid where a gasket meets the block I guess?. but i'm wondering where the hell all the fluid went to begin with, the reservoir was almost empty when i pulled over. filled it back up (the reservoir) and drove it home (about 5 minutes of driving very slowly) it didn't get past half way on the temp guage

I'm wondering maybe somehow coincidentally my radiator is empty or maybe i busted a water pump and don't realized but when i parked the car when i got home there was no leaking which is just strange to me...

 

Heres the pics, its wild. I took a screw driver on the left idle pully and wedged it on there with what seems to be all my strength. one of the hardest things I've ever done in life ugh -_-







The over heating problem is still an issue, after talking to some people i've come to the conclusion the radiator fluid is just pouring into my engines oil area. I checked the dip stick and it WAY over full, like 2x past the full bar... gotta replace the headgaskets and maybe other things.

Would greatly appreciate some insight from anyone. going to defiantly replace the head gaskets myself but what else should I replace while i'm at it? Do i need to replace the whole entire aluminium housing? or just gaskets?

 

Probably needs the head gaskets done.

 

I finally ended up fixing it. (kind of) right after Christmas 2019

the car was so old most of the crap didn't go back right, I broke two exhaust manifold bolts and when i went to put the manifold back on (at this point I was like screw those two bolts, i'll figure out a way!) I had to use washers in between the head of the nut to get the manifold to connect (kind of like a spacer, but only because the bolts wouldn't go back in all the way. I suggest no one going through the hassle of what I did and sell it. It took me months and over 100 hours to do this work. I highly suggest not even bothering with it, mainly because so many things are going to break ALONG the way.... i had many hoses, bolts and other things i had to order.

also don't even get me started on the back bolts of the headers, I had to use a rocket socket to get the last one out. also one i had to put a 2ft cheater bar JUST TO GET THE BOLT OFF - sounded like i broke something but it was just SO TIGHT it made a loud popping sound. wouldn't doubt it if it cracked something microscopically.

also as for the exhaust manifold nothing going back on all the way, i put my hand under the tail pipe and I felt very little flow.... the manifolds aren't tight against the headers/block at all...

I sold the truck though for 600$ more then what I paid for it, which was like 3-4 months ago and the guy called me recently said it still runs good. It running good is not the point, the point is FAR too much time was spent into fixing this just to get it running correctly. I don't regret anything only because what i've learned along the way is far past 10,000$ in knowledge.