Recharged accumulator fitted.
Three amigos have run for the hills.
I can now creep along without abs faults.
Pedal no longer creeks.
Brake motor only runs every three presses (not every time I touch the pedal).

The pedal was pumped over 50 times to depressurise before I removed the old accumulator. When I did this on the donor car, the acc came off dry (diaphragm was intact on that one).

When removing the acc from the running car, the kitchen roll was overcome when the old acc dumped ~50ml of fluid. This fluid was NOT under pressure. The diaphragm was totally split and the acc was carrying a lot of brake fluid.

Clive/Gilbert- thanks for the bleeding advice. I haven't done the full bleed yet, but looking at the colour of the fluid - this is well overdue.

Hi Clive, thanks for the great explanation.

There is no shortage of tools at my place 😉. Favorite phrase 'all the gear and no idea". Pipe spanners, hex sockets etc. I've had many years of snapping screws, stripping threads and chiselling delicate castings when filth is covering that last bolt.

I'm sure to make many more mistakes, if I ever feel I can't learn, that's when I'll stop.

I had a contract at a print shop and they kindly printed the manual for me. I do have garage laptops (running rave and other 'pro' software as VMs).

Before starting the full bleed, I will 'crack' all the nipples and retighten. I understand a full bleed is an excellent idea, especially given mileage and unknown history. There is a little job to be done for a ball joint boot (hoping the boots I have will fit) and a lightly corroded hose that wants checking.

This is one of those cars where I thought I knew enough to identify the usual problems. I was wrong. Lots to do, careful prioritising required.

One thing for sure, without guidance from real people who have actually done the jobs (like Gilbertd and yourself), I wouldn't even attempt this sort of thing. RAVE is great, but I need to use it in conjunction with access to a forum like this with patient people.

Thanks again, hopefully the acc will arrive this weekend and the car will remain driveable.

Diaphram taking up whole space makes sense (now you've explained it).

The old one seemed to have a void that could hold air, but the recharging guy is happy.....

Get all the pressure out of the system (ignition off, loads of pedal presses...

New oring, RAVE bleed step1 and see if the 3 amigos run for the hills. Hopefully the motor doesn't run every time the pedal is touched and ABS faults are not reported when crawling with foot on brake. Of course, this could just be the first of the worms from a freshly opened can...

Thanks again

A recharged accumulator is on its way.
Reading RAVE, I can see the guide for bleeding brakes.

Reading another forum (a long time ago) I think it talked about new acc being prefilled with brakefluid??

The one sent away for recharging was dry. There was a tiny amount of fluid in the hole that i unthreaded the acc from.

Am I missing something in RAVE?
Should the acc be full of air below the diaphragm? (Nitrogen above the diaphragm when fitted).
RAVE warns about catching fluid in a rag when removing acc.

Compressing the air under the diaphragm sounds OK but what stops brake fluid bouncing up displacing air into the pump? (not that I offroad it).

The scrap car I removed the acc from braked OK with the dry acc. That car managed two brake pedal pushes before the noisey pump ran. Current car, brake pump runs as soon as you touch pedal (this pump is very quiet, hard to hear in car).

Many thanks

Edit to remove bearing numbers. I still have one left over, so not sure what I fitted (but it was a standard bearing).

Now fitted and charging nicely, with a used spare in the boot (give it a couple of weeks before I trust it)

leolito wrote:

I have a related question for a friend, how do you actually extract the cable from the firewall? There is some grommet but it seem very stuck...

I tried to buy a used one. The breakers phoned me asking how to extract it. That failed.

Another breakers had one. I paid £50. They sent it with the plastic Bush snapped and a kinked inner. This would have helped someone who had a snapped cable.
But was no better than my current one (returned for refund).

I have used classic cable makers for another old (not classic) car. They preferred me to source a similar cable for modification.

It's going to be a while before I get round to looking at this - probably just going to keep pushing oil down the old cable and put up with it snagging

Brush size 5.8mm x 3.8mm.
Guessing length to be (not more than) 22mm.
This brush holder has 10mm of brush exposed when slack.
ERR5834 150A BOSCH 4.6 Thor

Gilbertd wrote:

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.

Thanks, I didn't even know of 2wTC RR. Didnt realise my 98 had TC. it doesn't have a TC dash light (or it has been blanked 😀)

Many thanks Clive.
I've never messed with auto gearboxes.
Understanding that I'm only changing part (probably just over half) the oil took a while to sink in.

After an oil and filter change, let's see how much debris there is (and if the current issue resolves).

Seller made a few unsubstantiated claims about changing oil. Will post back here. Especially if I get some really nasty stuff out.

It's a WA VIN

Mirror function restored, thanks.
Good job I had the nano handy, whilst the memory buttons work, the buttons to move the seat do not. Both stored positions were for people who would have needed a ladder to get in. Accidentally touching one button nearly cured my knee problems permanently.

Thanks. Accumulator and abs sensors were the only parts i was going to keep (from the braking system). If the pump can be removed without totally loosing brakes, I will keep that and the relay.

Slowly stripping out switch panels, stereo, door locks, heater fans, window mechanism, seat switches, seat ecu, roof bars, sunroof, towbar&electrics, mirrors, wiper motor, Swapping wheels for tatty bald ones. Already had lights and the recent lpg parts. Will keep bottom tailgate but can't justify garage space for doors, seats etc.

The engine seems OK, one bad coil, I might have one last go at offing the remainder to someone after the 4.6 with running gear - but not very hopeful.

It's still possible I could move it to a friends then keep drive shafts, hubs, steering and calipers (for overhaul) - but there needs to be some delicate negotiation, probably not realistic.

I will check vin, but I think its 1998 registered in 99.

Many thanks. Will do and update.

Hi.
My 120k 2001 4.6 gearbox sometimes is slow to engage first gear when the car is taken from park to drive. It can be 4 or 5 seconds.

I have never had this problem from park to reverse (but the problem could be there, it doesn't happen every time).

The fault occurs both when the car is just started AND when it has been idling for a few minutes.

Once the problem has occurred, it won't happen again the same day.

When it engages drive (after the faulty pause), it makes a single knock noise. Usually, it engages silently.

When working, it works well (very smooth).

The only other issue is very rare. It displays "gearbox overheat" but only in really cold weather and only within 3 minutes of starting the car for the first time (useally, before I pull away).

I'm guessing the best diagnostic route would be to change the oil and filter first? Nothing useful for me to do with the Nanocom?

Many thanks again all.

Asking for help instead of helping us? What a topsy-turvy place this forum has become.

Obviously you're onto the issue and I'd be well out of my depth.

I'm replying because I'm preparing my 4.6 1998(99) for being driven on to the back of a scrappers tow truck.

The abs system was working. I plan on removing the wheel sensors (as spares for my 2001). I want to be able to drive the thing onto the scrappers truck (the car is down a narrow lane).

I'm guessing things like ABS ecu can be cut off without disabling brakes. If you might have a use for this, for connectors etc - just let me know.

I'm keeping all the obvious stuff that may be useful for my 2001 - but if there is anything else I can give you (without disabling the car), get in touch.

I've already removed the accumulator and blanked off the port with a VX sump plug (aluminum and very cheap).

The brakes still have pressure - but in case anyone from another forum is here "I won't be driving this thing on the road, I have labelled the speedo defective brakes, do not move"

Good luck.

I've not (yet) had a rangerover with this issue. I did have a passat with this problem, a narrow vacuum cleaner end was all it needed to revive that.

My favorite non-greasy spray can cleaner is "brake and clutch" cleaner. But, since trichloroethane fell foul of regs - I can only find alcohol/butane mix. Could be problematic spraying this stuff into an enclosed space (especially with abundant sources of ignition). Nov 5th could come early.

Would only expect a solvent to be necessary if there is tar/nicotine build up. Hopefully compressed air (dry) ŵill do the job if the vac cleaner fails.

Thanks Gilbertd. Agreed, we want the orings to move with expansion/contraction. A solid (expoy like) seal will fail sooner than nothing.

If you've had plenty of success with LR seals, I will use those.

I'm not going to try, but it would be interesting to see softer silicone orings inplace of the nitrile ones. I suspect silicone orings were rarely selected in those days. I think of nitrile orings as hard - great to grease and use to waterproof rotating switch shafts etc.
Cars etc from late 90s on, I think silicone orings and gaskets (thermostat covers etc) are common (softer, better temperature range, more forgiving providing there is very little movement)

Ordering LR today, wish me and my battered knuckles luck 😀

Thanks madas.
I can see a few genuine orings around £12 a pair.
If these are 10 or 20 years old, wouldn't it be better to use recently made ones (providing I use good quality)?

What's the reason for rejecting silicone? Is it because of diy abominations that you've had to unpick, or is there an engineering problem (other than getting silicone in the cooling system)?

I've pulled silicone blobs from oil ways on small engines I've bought, it is saddening. And nothing is as ugly as big pile of silicone sticking out both sides of the gasket 😀.

My first thought was a little wellseal (the sticky brown trichloroethane solvent stuff). This might be a bit too sticky, almost like trying to seal it with epoxy 😀. A small amount of good quality silicone (not hylomar or bath sealent) will allow the orings to move as the assembly expands and contracts.

I'm all for fitting original gaskets with out sealent, it is what the manufacturer designed. But I'm from a jap motorcycle background. Gaskets are extremely expensive, casting gasket faces are a little rough (makes for a good seal) and it's usually very difficult to remove your expensive cover gasket in one peice (even when just fitted) unless you first coat in a thin layer of sealant (like wellseal).

Many thanks

Hi.
Hoping to change heater matrix orings on RHD.
YouTube makes it look possible.

Reading about others attempts....
One user suggesting using larger rings. Standard 22x2.5mm? Using 22x3mm instead?

One user is adding much sealant around standard rings.

Lots of cheap nitrile rings listed, but VXs ive bodged use silicone not nitrile rings (on cooling hoses). Are the LR parts nitrile or silicone?

Should I just stick to the standard rings? Am I likely to get 5+ years from standard parts?

If I do add sealant, can I use my favorite wellseal or should this be silicone? (Don't want silicone in the heater water/matrix).

Thanks again