It’s my fear - that aftermarket may be a bit ‘iffy’ but the price differential to OEM is massive.. I suppose I could procure three each of the aftermarket ones, which a) would still be a lot cheaper than a set of four OEM; and b) provide a spare for each in case any of them proves to be a dud.

I just wondered if anyone had had good or bad experience with any of the aftermarket ones.

Quick question - are any of the aftermarket suspension height sensors 'any good'? Recommendations?

Check earthing between engine and chassis and back to battery.

Get yourself a small 1/4” ratcheting ring spanner and the shortest cross head screwdriver bit you can find (the type that fits in hex drive handles). Lever lid out and you can just (and I mean ‘just’) get the combined spanner and bit in and on the screws. Ask me how I know!

My renewal this year was with Aviva in May. Fully comp and includes Mrs Garvin. £136. I was surprised and pleased in equal measure.

Suspension issue solved. Disassembly of the suspect solenoid revealed that the idiot refurbisher had omitted the small but important centre o ring on the base. Easy fix.

Fluid changes also now completed so good for another 5 years . . . I hope!

This week has been reserved for the long term preventative maintenance of Rangie which I do every 5 years or so although it started a couple of weeks ago with a trip to a 4x4 establishment in Bury St Edmunds who had the wherewithal to perform a complete auto box flush and refill.

Monday involved a complete drain, flush, and refill of the coolant system - quite pleased that the old coolant still looked like new which I took as a good sign and that flushing and back flushing with fresh deionised water didn’t result in anything but perfectly clear water. All hoses checked and looked to be in good condition. The system even refilled without drama! Aircon system inspected and still working fine and check on the running of both condenser/overheat fans showed them both to be fully functional even though they are rarely called into action. Air distribution system working with all flaps working properly.

Tuesday was main annual servicing tasks so oil/oil filter, air filter, pollen filters all replaced - although I noticed that the air and pollen filters were a lot more dirty than usual and only after some £3.5k miles since servicing last year and more detritus than ever in the air filter box! All screen and headlamp washers & wipers fully functional as were sunroof and door windows and rear view mirrors.

Wednesday involved the swap over of the refurbished EAS valve block and compressor including a refill of the EAS dryer unit with new dessicant and ‘o’ ring seals. Testing of airlines with soapy water showed no signs of leaks and leaving overnight at standard height saw no reduction in ride height. Compressor filled tank OK and shut off as normal and suspension went up and down through the full gamut of heights OK. However, when I first started up after being depressurised it tried to achieve access height which it did but the offside front airbag continued to fill and rise with no fault signal generated. It did respond to being told to get back down but seemed strange behaviour and this morning seemed to behave itself on start up. More strange behaviour as I took it out for a short test run everything seemed OK at standard ride height but on returning home I requested ‘off road’ (not extended) and the suspension didn’t seem to rise but the dash indicator immediately confirmed ‘off road’ level. It went back down through standard and access heights OK. Anyone explain this - solenoid issue or EAS control? Never had it happen before and not sure where to start looking!

Today is power steering fluid replacement - any tips on how to drain and refill the system efficiently gratefully received. Also it’s brake fluid replacement time - again any tips on how to perform this easily and efficiently gratefully received as the formal/official LR workshop manual procedure is a real ball ache!

Tomorrow will be drain and refill of the transfer box fluid and also partial drain of auto box to replace the strainer (filter is too strong a word for it!). I’ll save and reuse the drained (new) fluid to refill.

Then, hopefully, another five or so years of pain free motoring (if there is ever any such thing) with Rangie.

Do not use Vaseline on rubber seals. It eventually degrades the rubber resulting in leaks. Use specific brake rubber grease - designed for the purpose. I always have a ready use spare rebuilt valve block ‘on the shelf’ (together with a spare pump) and swap the valve blocks and pumps over every three years as a maintenance activity. I have not had a leak between services since using rubber grease.

I have always had water ingress into the spare wheel well. First investigations (20 years ago now) showed the tell tale marks of seepage from the rear tailgate seal. After many attempts to implement the tried and trusted remedies of cutting drainage slots in the seal, removing and relocating the seal and ‘adjusting’ the bodywork where the seal fits onto I managed to reduce the ‘leak’ but never eradicate it completely. I then decided to drill a small hole in the metal bung at the bottom of the spare wheel well to drain the persistent leak.

A few years ago I noticed that the tell tale runs from the top of the wheel well were completely dried out and so cleaned them off. Leakage still remained but the tell tale runs marks did not reappear. I assumed that a small amount of water was getting in through the small drainage hole I had drilled during wet weather and draining the same way weather permitted. Not a huge problem but the rear screens still fogged up particularly if the sun came out after a bit of wet weather. I purchased a couple of small moisture soaking up cushions which, when placed on the luggage space cover, did an admirable job of reducing the problem even though they did require regular ‘recovery’ in the microwave!

Six months ago I heaved the spare wheel out of the well to clean it up a bit and for the first time noticed that where the lifting straps are fixed in the wheel well the paintwork was beginning to bubble a bit. On removing the strap mounting brackets some corrosion and holes became apparent. It appears that water was getting in, thrown up from the road surface whilst driving.

The holes were patched/filled and two largish fibreglass mats resined in place before the whole area was repainted and the straps and mounting brackets refitted. Underneath the vehicle the areas of the holes was filled and then well undersealed. Since then I have inspected the wheel well regularly particularly after any rain and it has remained dry and the internal fogging up issue has completely disappeared.

So today I have inserted a plug into the small drainage hole I drilled all those years ago!

If you have a set of height adjustment blocks does a sloping driveway matter? Raise the body/suspension up, insert required height block, lower body/suspension until the body is resting on the adjustment block at each corner and then read the four height sensor readings - the difference twixt axle and body, and the height sensor reading, will be no different if you did it on completely level ground surely!

Both O2 sensors were replaced two and a half years ago and I did suspect them but they seem to be doing the job properly. I’m not worried, just intrigued.

Rangie has a new MoT - yay - and no advisories - double yay.

However, over the past year or so the insides of the tail pipes have become a bit black, not sooty as such but definitely blacker than usual. NanoCom tells me the O2 sensors are working and all the fuel trims are ‘bang on’. The MoT report shows the emissions are also ‘bang on’. No smell of fuel at all from the exhaust. Engine runs beautifully.

So why are the tail pipes black? Could this possibly be the swap over to E10 fuel in some way?

Note: use specific rubber grease or washing up liquid. Never use ordinary petroleum based grease as that ‘rots’ rubber.

The other method is to lower the suspension to access height, position the bump stop carefully twixt mount and axle then evacuate the suspension air completely preferably with suitable EAS software/Nanocom but can be done ‘brutally’ by pulling the air lines from the valve block. The bump stop will surrender and afix itself on the mount!

Jug of really hot (near boiling) water. Immerse bump stop and soak for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile put a smear of rubber grease on the centre dowel of the mount. Retrieve (now much more pliable) bump stop from jug and fit into place. Also use this method to put recalcitrant exhaust rubbers on as well..

For some time now I have had (endured) a very annoying rattle on the passenger side at the front. I initially thought it was in the dash and as the glove box damper had failed I thought it might be that. Replaced the damper but the rattle persisted. Recently I asked my son, who I was giving a lift to at the time, to see if he could locate the source of the rattle. It took him some time but it turned out to be the internal door lock button/rod rattling in the door - proven by ‘wedging’ the button whilst on the move.

Removed the door card and found the problem - me! Last time I had the card off and the internal sealing film peeled back I had obviously not replaced it properly around the door lock rod and it was resting against the rod which was then, in turn, resting against the internal metal door frame and rattling when on the run. Folded the door seal around the rod properly and also ‘insulated’ the rod with some foam rubber for belt & braces approach and after reassembly - blissful silence.

I’ve just been running quotes for mine (2001 P38 4.6 Vogue) and cheapest is Aviva at £155.90 with lots more up to where it tails off at £250.00! So, no, not seeing huge increase.

Warm day today so time to test out the ac before summer proper arrives. Jumpered relays 13, 14 and 18 in turn to test out the condenser fans and they both spun up nicely individually and both together. With 20C showing as outside temperature the ac was switched to ‘Lo’ and blew hard and cold. I will have to wait until the temperature gets well into the 20’s to test it fully but it bodes well after its light duties over winter.

The drivers door has had a bit of wind noise at the top rear ever since an air bag was used to force an entry when the door lock and key operating lever failed and wouldn’t let me in via either the remote or the key. Judicious amounts of door ‘fettling’ via BF&I seem to have cured that.

No coolant or oil leaks anywhere . . . for now!

Finally, broke out the NanoCom and ran through absolutely everything - no fault codes at all and everything responding to manual inputs correctly and/or running within specified parameters. Unfortunately it means that there is only one way things can go from here! However, for now, Rangie is ready for the, hopefully, better weather.

I have had many wheel sensors go AWOL and some of them exhibited initial intermittent failure before finally giving up the ghost permanently. When the fault is present NanoCom will report/assign it accurately as it just takes the fault directly from the Wabco ABS ECU. However, NanoCom reports/assigns three of the four wheel sensor voltages incorrectly as follows:

Nano Front Right = Vehicle Front Right (the only correct reading)
Nano Front Left = Vehicle Rear Left
Nano Rear Right = Vehicle Front Left
Nano Rear Left = Vehicle Rear Right

This has been reported to Blckbox but AFAIK they have never corrected the software so be careful using the volyage readings to identify the failing sensor.

Rimmer show the OC261 filter as OEM and only £5.10 inc VAT!

Back in August, when changing the rear diff oil, I noticed considerable sludge build up on the drain plug so investigated an Ashcroft replacement. The diff also whines on the over-run and during the recent brake dust/mud shield replacement when I had to withdraw the half shaft I noticed the off side half shaft splines had a build up of sludge on them. Better get that diff changed!

Standard 4 pin replacement diff ordered from Ashcroft and arrived a few days later. Just finished swapping it over and having removed all the brake, hub and drive shaft bolts recently disassembly was pretty straight forward, even the diff bolts came out easily after a good wire brushing to remove 23 years of corrosion and crud.

With a good ‘wiggle’ the RTV sealant let go and it was fairly easy to pull the diff out and onto a waiting trolley jack. Balancing the diff on the jack was easier than I anticipated. With the diff withdrawn to the end of the studs the head of the jack could be positioned below the diff locating ring, weight taken and then just rolled the jack back. I found with one hand on the top of the diff with fingers inside the diff grasping the locating ring the whole assembly was easy to balance and once completely free the jack could be lowered and the diff rolled carefully off the jack.

Reassembly was a reverse of disassembly the most difficult job was rolling the replacement diff up onto the trolley jack head. Once, there it could be rotated easily to get it into the correct(ish) orientation balanced, raised up, jack rolled forward and the diff entered the axle housing easily and when the locating ring was butted against the studs a slight jack adjustment for height, diff rotation to fully line up the holes, push and wiggle and she slid home off the jack head.

The most time consuming activity in all this was removing all the old RTV sealant off the axle housing!

Test drive revealed all good and diff whine eradicated.