During a regular test of the HEVAC system and running the blowers/distribution/blend motors through their paces I just felt a barely perceptible dampness down by the lower blower output an the drivers side and, yes, it's hardly anything but definitely the start of the O ring problem! Been replaced once before in 2009. I'm not going to do the 'replace the matrix job' but what are the best replacement O rings to get (and what to avoid), what size and where from? I'd like to get some that will last another nearly 13 years like the last ones (which I can't find the detail of!).
I replaced mine when I first got the car in 2010 with genuine Land Rover ones. Whenever I've replaced them on other cars since I've also only ever used genuine ones them and never had any problems. Considering they are only 3 quid each, it isn't worth saving a few pence and having to do them again in a short time. Best bet is to get them from an LR main dealer otherwise postage will be more than the parts. Part number is STC3262.
Thanks Richard. Slight problem is that with the Rangie running a bit rich - see other thread - the cost of fuel to go and collect them (nearest LR dealer is 20 miles away so 40 mile round trip) will probably dwarf postage cost!
LPG! :D
+1.....
I drove to Strasbourg and back this weekend just gone and went via Belgium and Luxembourg rather than using the A26 in France. About 10 miles further and 10 minutes longer but LPG on the French motorways is 0.99-1.04 Euros a litre (plus motorway tolls) compared with 0.75 in Belgium and 0.72 in Luxembourg (and no motorway tolls). Cost almost as much in bloody Covid tests as it did in fuel!
Genuine LR O rings on order with free delivery so ha to your LPG . . . . . although that is together with a couple of Bosch O2 sensors on the order!
Genuine LR O rings have turned up. Before I get working on replacing them does anyone have any additional tips, over and above the how to’s, on the procedure. I have done it before but it was so long ago I can’t remember everything I did - I don’t remember cutting/removing the duct just a vague recollection of disconnecting and manoeuvring it out of the way. I do still have the hole cut in the centre console panel - I see it every time I remove the outer trim panel!!
Gilbertd wrote:
+1.....
I drove to Strasbourg and back this weekend just gone and went via Belgium and Luxembourg rather than using the A26 in France. About 10 miles further and 10 minutes longer but LPG on the French motorways is 0.99-1.04 Euros a litre (plus motorway tolls) compared with 0.75 in Belgium and 0.72 in Luxembourg (and no motorway tolls). Cost almost as much in bloody Covid tests as it did in fuel!
You don't need LPG if you have E85. I live half the time in France where we have E85 (85% bioethanol) at about 69c/L versus E10 at €1.55/L. Due to the lower calorific value fuel consumption is higher at about 14mpg versus 18mpg but I can live with that as it is less than half the price of petrol. It's more climate friendly too.
A couple of days ago I mopped up the (very) few drips of coolant and then inserted an old towel together with kitchen paper underneath the joint to at least soak up any leakage until I get round to tackling the job. Had Rangie out for family trip yesterday so a few miles put under its belt. This morning I remove the towel/paper and . . . nothing!!!! Dry as a bone.
I really hate these intermittent on/off faults. I can only conclude that the higher ambient temperature over the past few days together with a good heating from the coolant has sealed things up. However! I think I’ll change them anyway but it doesn’t appear to be the emergency job I was anticipating.
Be careful you could be miles away from home and then it lets go ---- ask how I know 🙄🙄
How cold are we talking? I had some leaks on mine a few years ago only in the cold at a couple of hose to plastic coupling joints. I tightened the clamps a bit more and the leaks stopped. Plastic expands and contracts with temperature a lot more than most materials, so I’m sure the plastic couplings shrunk enough in the cold to allow leaks.
Not spectacularly cold but the ambient temperatures here in the UK move around quite a bit from day to day with >10C movements quite common. We recently moved from +17C day temperatures (way above normal for this time of year) to low single figures in a couple of days and then warmed up again. I suspect the O rings are getting past their best after 12 years and the temperature fluctuations are testing them out and they are beginning to struggle a bit.
nigelbb wrote:
Gilbertd wrote:
+1.....
I drove to Strasbourg and back this weekend just gone and went via Belgium and Luxembourg rather than using the A26 in France. About 10 miles further and 10 minutes longer but LPG on the French motorways is 0.99-1.04 Euros a litre (plus motorway tolls) compared with 0.75 in Belgium and 0.72 in Luxembourg (and no motorway tolls). Cost almost as much in bloody Covid tests as it did in fuel!
You don't need LPG if you have E85. I live half the time in France where we have E85 (85% bioethanol) at about 69c/L versus E10 at €1.55/L. Due to the lower calorific value fuel consumption is higher at about 14mpg versus 18mpg but I can live with that as it is less than half the price of petrol. It's more climate friendly too.
LPG gets your the Purple – Crit’Air 1 sticker though, which E85 doesn't?
I know, got one already as well as a green Class 4 German one. Cheapest I saw E85 on the Autoroutes was 0.85 a litre, more expensive than Nigel has found it but if you are prepared to get off the Autoroute and go to a hypermarket, LPG is around 0.85 so much the same. I would have given E85 a try the previous week when I did a 2,000 mile round trip but despite checking it I am getting a lambda sensor heater error on bank 2 so that lambda sensor sits at permanently lean. If I have to run on petrol I can smell that one bank is running rich so didn't want to risk E85 with no working feedback on one bank. May need to invest in a new lambda sensor but it hardly seems worth it when I only ever run on petrol for the first second or so of running.
Hell of a thread drift here.....
May drift even further! For the first time I can hear the blend motors struggling - they currently still do the business but are now making their presence clearly known. The front trim on the dash (twixt dash and windscreen) has also come adrift on the driver’s side. These together with the O ring leakage now has me considering complete dash removal to ‘cure’ all these ills. This may also escalate to a change of the heater matrix itself to remove the O ring problem once and for all.
It's just the cold, ignore it, it'll go away about March....
BrianH wrote:
nigelbb wrote:
Gilbertd wrote:
+1.....
I drove to Strasbourg and back this weekend just gone and went via Belgium and Luxembourg rather than using the A26 in France. About 10 miles further and 10 minutes longer but LPG on the French motorways is 0.99-1.04 Euros a litre (plus motorway tolls) compared with 0.75 in Belgium and 0.72 in Luxembourg (and no motorway tolls). Cost almost as much in bloody Covid tests as it did in fuel!
You don't need LPG if you have E85. I live half the time in France where we have E85 (85% bioethanol) at about 69c/L versus E10 at €1.55/L. Due to the lower calorific value fuel consumption is higher at about 14mpg versus 18mpg but I can live with that as it is less than half the price of petrol. It's more climate friendly too.
LPG gets your the Purple – Crit’Air 1 sticker though, which E85 doesn't?
Crit’Air stickers are basically a bit of greenwashing. Another advantage of using E85 is that I don't need to pay for an LPG conversion then have the hassle of getting through a CT with non-standard fuel system. It also means that I can use Eurotunnel.
Thread update - dash is out. I finally decided to remove it as there was water ingress on the driver side (onto the horizontal kick panel under the dash to the right of the steering column) and, from externally, it didn’t look like it was coming from the pollen filter housings. Good news is that it’s not the windscreen so must be pollen filter housings unless anyone else can suggest where it might be from?
All HEVAC motors and flaps are working well with none of the groaning I heard prior to dash removal. Any suggestions or was it just the onset of cold weather?
All duct sealing has completely disintegrated particularly the windscreen vents seal to the ducting underneath - just powder now and one bit of it was never positioned properly from factory build - it had been pushed into the main ducting on its rear edge!
The errant dash to screen rubber trim has been refitted into position - it’s clear from the way this needs to be rolled/folded round the dash from below that fixing it in-situ is impossible - well impossible with my fat fingers.
All wiring and connectors behind both the left and right kick panels are in very good condition so that’s a bonus.
Next job is to renew the heater matrix O rings now I have really good access. Question is I will want to test them out for any leakage before re-installing the dash by running the engine up to temperature. I know I will have to temporarily reconnect the instrument binnacle but are there any other units that should be reconnected before I switch on the ignition and fire the engine up.
Passenger airbag might not be a bad idea to stop an SRS fault although on a later car it should clear once everything is back together anyway.