When putting bonnet into service mode, put the struts under the carpet bonnet lagging! Works perfectly

Ah, yes, I see!

I also managed to change out the broken oil filter mounts. I just chopped off the rubber with a knife, sprayed some PB Blaster on from underneath, then cut a slot in the top of the remaining "mushroom" top of the stud and pounded it round with a cold chisel until it let go and rotated. I tried an impact driver but that didn't seem to do much, although it could have loosened it up a bit.

Next job - handbrake switch cleaning, a sidelight bulb, then in for service and a check over on Thursday.

Was nice to meet you Ian, shame you chickened out bringing the FF with you..... you seem to be getting it cracked into shape...

I'd get the hi low motor sorted ASAP, if it fails anymore your stuffed, it won't go in high or low or it gets stuck in low....  Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Cheers Pete,

I was hoping that the better voltage from the new battery may help, since it doesn't seem to have a problem when restarted. I didn't get a chance to drive today, other than up and down the drive, but I can hear the motor working. I'm still wondering if the occasional hesitation and the reluctance to change range are related - maybe both down to low oil level. I'm out of time to get under it now, but will get my local specialist to do it on Thursday. If that doesn't do it I'll have the transfer box motor off at the weekend and have a crack at the potentiometer. I may drop you a note if you're around and just make sure I'm opening it at the right place...

I did sign up for a recovery service as soon as I bought it

Ian

Tuesday night I used the FF with no errors at all! I actually started to enjoy it. I finished off painting the cup holder (pics soon) which looks pretty decent. I have to work out how to remove the surround for the entertainment system at some point and paint all the other foundry trim.

Off to the specialist this morning, and BONG transfer box neutral all the way to drop my daughter. Switched off and restarted with no errors. It's probably the motor but could be low oil? Anyway, the list for Aylmer as it stands is:

Oil/filter change
Transfer box oil change
Look at condition of diffs oil
Look at condition and level of gearbox oil
Pressure test cooling system to see if there are more leaks than just the rad, and order a rad in to replace it, the trans rad and the expansion tank I already bought
Check over brake pipes/pads etc
Check over suspension bushes

That should sort a lot of the faults out...

Getting those little pieces from either side of the display is easy... remove both dash ends, then the top of the dash, then the whole display and it all comes apart with a few screws....!!!

More details here...

http://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic29219.html Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Ah, I see - not too hard then. I'll see if I can do it at the same time as the pixel fix (at some point...).

The doom-monger in me is expecting a call with much sucking of teeth from the specialist - we'll see.

Yesterday, I picked up the car (truck?) from Aylmer, who did an oil and filter change, transfer box drain/fill and checked over everything. Brakes and bushes are in good order, which is good. They also supplied a rad and coolant as they didn't have time to change them, but having not ordered the trans cooler I thought I may as well do it myself this weekend. It's booked in for a week's time to drop and weld the exhaust.

So to today's "fun". First order of business was the transfer box motor. I'd left the FF in full height last night, but after I'd moved it the front right corner dropped with a loud hissing. Oh crap, air bag? Oh well, later. Jacked up one side a bit (which turned out not to be necessary), got the motor off without too much hassle, and onto the bench. Of course, although taking the cover off is easy, the potentiometer itself is secured with T8 heads. I have T7 and T10. Great. Off to Halfords for a T8, the suspension coming up to height OK and the predictable "trans failsafe" message (no motor on it!), back home with a "air suspension inactive" warning and no lights on the height controller.

Pot removed, it seemed a bit stiff but resistance was OK. So, I just rotated it a few times until it felt a little freer, then back on. No messages so far, so that may represent at least a temporary victory. However, it only did it when cold so I'll try again in the morning and open the pot if need be.

Now to change the rad. But I've been driving, so it's too hot. More later - now to fix the toaster!

Getting there....
Did the Trans failsafe without the motor, lock it in 3rd or was it changing OK?? Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

I'm done for the day now

Pete, the trans threw a "failsafe" error but otherwise behaved just fine. I'm now wondering if simply taking the thing off (or disconnecting the connector) would be a decent "get you home" option. One thing I did notice was oil leaking from the transfer box where the motor was. I'm not sure if this is an intentional route to lube the motor, or if I have a leak It does suggest that driving for any time without the motor may not be too clever.

Lessons learned from the rad change:

* Taking the plastic pan off under the rad is more of a pest than it looks, as some of the chin piece needs to come off, or at least be undone and bent away.
* To get the trans cooler screw back in, move the lower hose out of the way and start it by hand from above. It's easier to remove from below I think.
* Bleeding these things is fairly easy. No need to start the engine, just fill the rad, fill the top hose, fill the expansion tank (I changed mine), open the bleed screw, put the ignition on with the heater fan turned off and all the air comes to the top hose which can then be burped by squeezing.

Oh ****. Front wheels have locking nuts. No key and my local BMW and RR dealers are closed tomorrow. I was hoping to finish the service items (remove/grease wheel mating surfaces) tomorrow and start getting some penetrating spray on the knackered front strut. Bah.

EAS fault may or may not be a hard fault, a battery disconnect may sort it, worth a try....

The airbags at the front come with the complete strut including the shock so it is best to change both, and if one has failed the other won't be far behind... (you can just get the bag but it's not really worth it, the shocks will be worn anyway)

Island 4x4 are usually the cheapest, don't get Dunlop bags, buy Delphi (OEM) they are far superior...

http://www.island-4x4.co.uk/spring-strut-f...-1253.html

http://www.island-4x4.co.uk/spring-strut-f...-1254.html Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Well, I ordered the iCarsoft code reader thing for £90, since I can't afford an IIDtool at the moment. I'm a little concerned about removing the bottom strut bolt as I seem to have little luck when it comes to shearing bolts. Today will be mainly washing it and starting on some more of the interior cosmetics.

A good wash and brush up showed up lots of swirly paint, a poorly repainted rear O/S door, poorly repainted drivers' door shut, missing rear door lower arch seal and a rotting foglight reflector. Oh and one tyre looks really low, despite being up to pressure. Which is odd.

Also I have locking nuts on all 4 wheels, the rears are under plastic caps.

And to cap it all, trans failsafe and I'm stuck in low.

It's too hot to get back under it now, so I'll order parts and probably stop until next weekend. I may just change one strut now as this thing is emptying my wallet too quickly for my liking.

Getting frustrated now. Took off the transfer motor, opened the pot to find the expected wear under the contacts, so I bent them across a little. All looked good, put it back together, back in the car. For some reason the "fat spline" was 180 out on the box. As far as I could see the gear must have been rotated somehow - I don't know how - and when I rotated it back in it was 180 degrees out. So I rotated the motor, refitted, got a couple of OK shifts to high/low then got a grinding noise, trans failsafe, and packed it in. I think when the thing failed last time the transfer box wasn't quite in gear.

I tried the recalibration, but it won't respond to the fuse 37. Just trans failsafe.

I suspect I need to manually put it in low/high, rotate the motor to suit and put it back together. Any other ideas?

I'm just too fed up with the stupid thing to do more today. Again, I have no car for a week at least.