There's a coincidence, I'm also 68 so was starting the feel the affects of two days heaving on breaker bars and wielding sledgehammers this morning but got out there and finished it off. With all the heavy stuff done, that was pretty straightforward so now it is ready for the MoT test. Just needs a damn good clean and a tank of LPG. Cleaning is scheduled for Sunday as Dina wants to make a start on the interior of the new (to us) red one, so while she is getting stuck in with the leather and carpet cleaner, I'll get the pressure washer out.

Then decided to have a bit of further tinkering on the red one. As it was running a bit rough by the time I got it home, figured that I could well have been dragging rubbish up from the bottom of the tank so started with the fuel filter. What came out was black, and I mean really black. I'd picked up a new filter a couple of days ago so fitted that. Next job will be to disconnect it at the fuel rail and pump some fresh fuel through but that can wait until tomorrow. I have a feeling that at some point I'll be taking the injectors off and cleaning them but I'll see how it runs on clean fuel first.

Mine shouldn't leak as both sides were damp from the axle oil seals so I ordered those too and changed that, Got the first side finished yesterday with a slight delay while I went to get a replacement rubber gaiter for the steering tie rod end (taking it apart didn't split it, it was already perished), Finished putting it together then started on the other side. Much the same, one of the dust shield bolts had to be knocked round with a small chisel to get that out and the hub also needed the sledgehammer to get it out but other than that, all went smoothly. Got the old joints out and new ones in. As well as leaving them in the freezer, I coated them in oil before pressing them in which helped them slide in smoothly and also showed when they were fully home as a ring of oil appeared around them.

Just got to finish it off now on the LH side. Axle oil seal to change, then clean up the hub mating surface, put that back in, ABS sensor to go in, dust shield to go on (I've got some stainless Allen bolts to use on that), disc on, calliper carrier, pads, calliper and wheel and that will be both sides finished. There's probably only an hours work left but I was knackered last night when I decided to call it a day. There is no way the adjustment nut was going to turn, that is well and truly seized in place. Probably the difference in climate between where you are and where I am.

It'll be ready for MoT test then but before selling it I need to sort out an intermittent book on the HEVAC caused by one blend motor and give it a damn good clean as it has been living under a tree and the local pigeons have left their mark on it.....

There won't be any air in the accumulator as the high pressure Nitrogen above the diaphragm causes it to take up the entire space. The diaphragm will be hard up against the opening so you may get a tiny amount of air in there when you change it. You won't need to fully bleed the brakes after changing, just bleed any air out at the first bleed nipple on the brake modulator (the first step in the bleeding process). The most important thing is to de-pressurise the system before unscrewing the accumulator unless you want a brake fluid shower.

Started on a job I have been very wary of for years. One P38 I bought a number of years ago needed new front axle top and bottom ball joints on one side. Everything I read said it was a really difficult job, needed the proper tool at nearly £200 and it was January so working outside wasn't really a fun way of spending a day or two. So I went to a local LR independent and asked them about doing it. Reception guy went into the workshop, came back and told me that all the technicians had said it was a real bastard of a job but said they could do it for £420. So I booked it in. After a couple of days they called to tell me that they couldn't get the ABS sensor out so would have to drill it and add the cost of a new sensor to the job, go ahead I said. Two days later they call to say they had managed to do it but as the front end had been apart it needed the steering alignment doing and the drag link was seized so they couldn't adjust it. I pointed out that they are always seized but with a bit of heat and a big pair of Stilsons, I'd never not been able to shift one in the past. They insisted they had tried that but failed so would have to fit a replacement drag link but would be able to fit a used one to keep the cost down. OK, go ahead then. Two days later it is done and when I go to collect it, I'm presented with a bill for £1080, almost twice what I had paid for the car! Their explanation was that everything was seized solid so it took far longer than it should have done. At that point I vowed that never again would I pay someone else to work on my car, I would do it myself no matter what.

Which brings me to the present day. Having just bought the Rioja red 4.0SE, the Ascot is going to be put up for sale but that needs top and bottom ball joints doing on both sides, both for the MoT and to ensure it goes where you point it rather than wandering all over the road. Marty kindly donated the tool kit for changing them so I ordered the joints which arrived yesterday so I got stuck in. I checked a couple of Youtube videos and it looked like I was in for a bit of a battle. With one side on an axle stand, it was wheel off, brake calliper off, calliper carrier off, brake disc off, dust shield off (Irwin tapered socket needed on the bolts but they all came out rather than shearing the heads off), ABS sensor was tight but came out after a bit of Plusgas and a twist from side to side, hub bolts out and fit an old brake disc on backwards. My trusty club hammer wouldn't shift it but a few clouts with a sledge hammer and the hub, complete with half shaft came out. Now I could see what was in store.

With a clamp type ball joint splitter, disconnected the steering tie rod. A clamp type doesn't damage the rubber boot so it can go back on without having to be replaced. Top ball joint nut came undone easily enough, only to break the taper when it was partway undone so out came the angle grinder to cut the nut off. Bottom ball joint nut came off but the clamp ball joint splitter was too narrow to fit in so resorted to the wedge type and that soon shifted that too. Then it was time to use the tool to get the ball joints out. I cleaned off the rust around the top of the top joint with a small chisel, 80 grit emery cloth and more Plusgas. Fitted the tool and with a long breaker bar started heaving on it. It went tight then suddenly went a lot easier as the balljoint was pushed out, no problem at all. Then to the bottom one and that was much the same, it just came out.

As per a thread on Landyzone and also the Youtube video, the new ball joints have been in the freezer overnight and the holes where they fit have been cleaned up with the 80 grit and I will be putting the new ones in shortly and will report on how that goes, before starting on the other side. The new ball joints came from Island 4x4 and the pictures show them without any nuts but the nuts are available separately, so I'd ordered new nuts too. Only to find the ball joints come with nuts so they are surplus......

leolito wrote:

I think the installer of that system was lazy, or a bit of an animal.

A bit of both I think looking at the rest of the system.....

Both my other cars have got the filler on the space in the rear bumper for a second towing socket, so on one side of the towbar there is the electrical socket and the LPG filler on the other side. It also means I can fill up from either side of the pump. You can't fit a UK/Dutch style bayonet fill nozzle behind the petrol filler flap, it is too big. Some people fit the continental style 10mm threaded nozzle that need an adapter screwed in to fill. They don't meet the UKLPG code of practice so you will have problems getting it certified if your insurance company insisted it was. I also worry about the weight of a fill gun hanging on a tiny little 10mm brass thread after seeing one break off and spray Propane all over the filling station forecourt.

It is a dual ball bearing so there isn't any adjustment like there would be with a pair of taper roller bearings.

If it is, that would be excellent as it will almost certainly be the correct one. From what I can find it seems only base models didn't have it. I was intending waiting until I'm changing the steering column anyway. A day laying in the footwell should be fun.....

Found another bit of the previous owners bodgery today. Set all the windows except the front passengers which just made a clunking noise inside the door and wouldn't set. In the boot was a replacement (used) window regulator so pulled the door panel off to investigate and change it. Regulator was bent and not attached to the window but the glass didn't drop. Channel it runs in had been crushed so it wouldn't drop open.....

Not all have it, see my post above and check the part number on the brake modulator. ANR2239 has traction control on the rear wheels only, ANR2238 doesn't have it.

Getting somewhere on my new one. I can now explain why it is giving a Traction failure and faults relating to traction control, it doesn't have it. The brake modulator is an ANR2238 while the one on my white car is an ANR2239. 2239 has 2 wheel traction control while 2238 doesn't have traction control and unlikely to have been fitted to an SE spec car so it looks like that has been changed. Not dropped the glovebox to check the number on the ECU yet, but I suspect there's traction control equipped ECU in there....

That means it is a 98 model year car so will have the Wabco C ABS system with 2 wheel traction control, your 2001 will have Wabco D with 4 wheel traction control.

There was at least 3 complete ones when I was there last week, I suspect having just been removed complete from cars being stripped. Unless his resident rats have nibbled on them, they should be fine.

Agreed, I'd start with fluid and filter first and make sure you fill it fully as on a 2001 you don't have the dipstick tube like on the earlier cars. I came across the same problem on an Audi years ago and that was because it had been serviced and the mechanic that did it had put the wrong fluid in it.

Yeah well, just occasionally there's something that I've never come across and figured out before but this is a completely new one on me. Just hoping someone else has had it and figured it out but I strongly suspect someone has been playing and got it wrong.

Is your scapper a 98 or 99 model year (WA or XA VIN number)? If it is a 98 model year car, it will have the Wabco C system so the only things that will be of any use on a 2001 will be the ABS pump, accumulator and wheel sensors, the ECU is different as the Wabco D unit was fitted to 99 model year onwards. Without the ECU, pump and accumulator, the brakes will still work, not very well and will need a lot of pressure on the pedal. At least it is a big pedal so there's room for you to put both feet on it.....

The 4.0SE I've just bought is giving an ABS Fault, Traction Failure on the message centre as soon as it is started and before it has moved. Read the codes with the Nanocom and there were lots of them so cleared those hoping I would just be left with the relevant ones. There's not as many as there were but still a lot and not the usual wheel sensor errors. It's a '98 GEMS so has the Wabco C system and the faults are as follows:

Open circuit to normally open ETC valve
Short between valves on outlet demanual valve
Short between valves on normally closed ETC valve
No inductive load on normally closed ETC valve

Anyone got a clue what these are telling me? It looks like I've got to start looking at the ABS system wiring but with the other half or incorrectly done modifications that the car has been subjected to, it wouldn't surprise me if someone has tried fitting a 4 wheel TC modulator without changing the ECU for a Wabco D, so checking that might give a clue as to what is going on.

Harv wrote:

I’m waiting for the 500,000 signature.

So am I but when I try to update it, it won't let me......

So here it is, with the Ascot and the Merc it may replace behind it.

and from the other side.....

Spent today fitting a new centre silencer box to the Ascot as it won't go through an MoT with one that has split along the seam, then did a bit on the new one. It needed a rear height sensor but found I had 5 spare fronts but no rears, so swapped over the arm from a dead rear and fitted it to a front. Fitted that, after having to use the angle grinder on the bolts holding the old one on, and the EAS is now working as it should. It probably needs a full calibration but it actually looks like the heights are about right. It had a side step (non-standard alloy thing) on one side and two lumps of steel sticking out the side on the other. Of the 8 bolts, two came out, on 2 the rivnuts started to turn in the chassis so the grinder came out again and I just cut the heads off the remaining 6 bolts. Then, I broke the habit of a lifetime and gave it a wash. It has a scratch along the drivers door, a couple of small marks here and there and the LPG filler in the rear wing, probably because it has twin electric towing sockets so there isn't a spare space to fit it there as it is on both the others. Not really much that can be done about that but it is a shame.

So now it no longer has an EAS fault on the dash, it still has a LH front window not set message as the window appears to have been jammed shut and the motor can be heard doing something but not moving the window. There is also a LH window regulator in the boot too but I'm just hoping someone hasn't welded the window runners to keep it closed like they have the steering column. It also has an ABS fault but that one deserves a thread of its own so that will be appearing shortly.....

nigelbb wrote:

Apart from just putting the nozzle of a vacuum cleaner over the aperture below the clock how else can I clean it? I can't find how to remove it.

Centre console side panels off, knee panel off, switch panel off and it is screwed to the inside of the switch panel with two tiny but long pozi 1 screws. Once it is out, the best way of cleaning it is with a soft paintbrush as the fins of the fan get covered in dust as well as the thermistor.

Sorry, just checked. I've got a headlight switch, a few other dash switches, a couple of blend motors but no sign of an aspirator so hopefully cleaning the fluff out will get it reading correctly.

I always use genuine LR ones and haven't had a leak yet. If you look at the way the connection is designed, the O rings aren't crushed into the joint but the clamp stops them from being bolted up tight which allows some movement which is taken up by the 'squashiness' of the O rings, so you don't want them glueing in place as they are more likely to leak than less.

Other way round. It is the front that is expensive probably because there is more to it.