Daily drivers in Peru - Mazda 3 and Discovery 3 (LR3)

Okay then...  That transmission oil order? Nope, customs grabbed it, allegedly "returned to sender, but without notifying me, the sender was Rockauto, so that's gone.  Ordered another batch in SWMBOs name which came in, got it changed, what came out was disgusting, Landy was returned to service, but as what came out was so bad, I ordered another gallon to do another change.  All done and transmission all buttery smooth again. 

Both Mazda strut mounts were ordered and came (all in SWMBOs name), and changed, old ones after only 2 yrs / 20k kms were pretty bad and loose..it's reduced some of the noises, but I'm pretty sure what is left is coming from the rack.  It may be (a lack of) preload on the rack, or it may be the pinion housing.   Various Russians have solved it with adjusting the pre-load, whereas others have needed a new rack (pinion housing not available separately).. There's still no play anywhere yet, so it's not top of the list!  It's more of an annoyance for if I put it up for sale.  There's 2 negatives for potential buyers, that and the paintwork.

Basic service on Mazda also done, oil and filter. 

This week Immigrations had some sort of epiphany and sorted out their database, allowing me to apply again for a business registration, which was granted, and start the process to release the thermostat/cooling hoses and brake hoses from customs greedy paws.  It's probably going to cost me another $150 to get them released, but still less than the nearly-$300 for another order (it was actually just over 200 GBP having checked), plus import duties still.

So, why all this lot?  There were rumblings for a while, but last week the president kicked out the entire ministerial cabinet, most of whom were allied to the radical left.   The new cabinet is moderate, mostly centre left, the exchange rate has recovered from being around S/4.25 to $1, to around S/3.98 to $1, in just 1 week (these are the real exchange rates in the banks).  The investigation for corruption and money laundering against the radical left is gaining momentum, and so the economy is returning to pre-election conditions.. 

To make up for the lack of photos and general fun stuff, here's a couple of videos I stumbled across back when I actually used to compete, first up in my MX5 (noting that back then UK Autosolos didn't require a lid and let you run with top down... )

Then the following one with a random splattering of cars, and me being overly exuberant in my 200k mile blue AW11 (skip to about 2:58 for yours truly)

So, a couple of weeks back we were visiting my inlaws, the Landy was left outside on the street.  Came back when it was dark, and the following morning got up to check the cars over and found the left front on the Landy was down to 20psi, the morning before it was at it's normal 37psi.  Start looking to try and find the expected nail/screw, but instead found a slashed sidewall.   Very peculiar, very clean and shallow cut, looks more like it was knifed than road damage.  These Continentals are about 70% worn and all cut up from the rocks on the way to SWMBOs work.   I put the spare on and get to looking for tyres.  There are VERY few options for A/Ts in the 255/60 R18 standard size, couple of chinese ones and BFGs for S/1500 each (but there are only 2!).  Go up to 265/60 R18 and more crap, plus Maxxis AT811.  Seem to get very good reviews in South Africa and Australia (climate and terrain not too dissimilar to here), it's a 10 ply l/t tyre, supposedly very strong, half the price of the BFGs.   So out comes the card and my good friends at the tyre place greet me like a long lost friend, "Ah Sr Paul, so good to hear from you again"

4 new tyres, and a mini-me:

These things area HEAVY.  Carrying them up 5 flights of stairs and that was my exercise for the day done.   Had a good chat with the guy at a new tyre fitters around the corner, got a new valve fitted on one of the Mazda's ECS' (it snapped off, the valve had turned to powder..) a few weeks back, he only charged me S/10 (about $2.50), so I gave him the chance with the Landy tyres.   Seems to have done a decent job, and listened when I suggested he jack one corner at a time to prevent the air suspension going bonkers, so he'll get more of my business.

I'm changing my mind about the Mazda noises - some of it may be rack, but I also reckon there's some from the subframe bushes.  There was a recall for the 2nd gen for these bushes, and the symptoms/noises are identical.   Febi list the bushes, but have no stock currently, I think I'll give them a try when they've got stock again.

The other day with the kids in the car on the way to lunch, my son starts playing with his window, up-down-up-down-up-down-crack  "Daaaad the window is stuck".  The other side broke 2 years ago, so I knew what it was, missing a few teeth in the gearbox...

Here's what $300 of LR3 hoses and thermostat look like (still not fitted..).. poodle not included:

We also said stuff it, the kids need out of the house, and splurged on a trip somewhere famous, kids loved it, and not bad for the grown-ups either:

That lot of hoses and thermostat got thrown onto the Landy last weekend, I foolishly told the wife I'd be an hour or two.. Every hose was stuck fast and most of the hose clamps were orientated so as to be impossible to access In the end it took the best part of 4 hours, over 3 of which were getting the old ones out.  I also had a nasty surprise, it needs a water pump - the outlet is turning to powder, it'll be porous soon.  I've also seen an oil leak has worsened down there on the passenger side towards the front, but couldn't see where from.  Engine oil level hasn't moved, which makes me worry it could be front diff, maybe the oil seal in the extension housing.  Tried to shine torches up and under and take photos, but it was all just grungy, difficult to see.  I'll have to take the guards etc off and see at some point.

I've also got a bunch of stuff pending on the Mazda, now I'm back to driving it 4 days a week on the pot-holed, rock-strewn things that pass for roads here.  It definitely needs a passenger side front wheel bearing (no play but getting audible), I'll do both fronts at the same time I reckon.  I also twigged the other day that the passenger motor mount had collapsed (Dorman one I changed in 2018), and that was likely the source of the drone I'm getting under load (gradually increased so I didn't really notice it, until a passenger asked why my car was a lot louder than before..) .  I've just gone out at lunchtime and swapped that out, an Anchor one this time.  Apparently I can eat a salad, a big plate of burger/potatoes/veg and change an engine mount quicker than mini-me can eat one small burger...  I will get an OE at some point, but it was $120 for an OE vs $12 for the Anchor that I could pop in an incoming Rockauto order.

Shiny new mount in muddy engine bay:

That incoming Rockauto order ?  New rear springs.   I've decided to go back to a lower rear spring rate for the moment as the Mazda is kids transport for school, and there's just too much rear rate for the weight when it's me plus 1 mini-me, and I'm getting old and it's annoying me.   So they'll be going in and to compensate a Whiteline rear sway bar is also inbound.  Plan is to start this evening then finish after work tomorrow doing the springs / bar (assuming the bar arrives, it's scheduled for today), and also some wirebrushing and rust prevention on the back, and possibly rear hub/bearing if there's time.  The high-rate springs will be kept for if I get to do some autox next year or we do another family trip fully loaded.

Then the following Saturday I'll need to pop down to the workshop and do the front wheel bearings (in case I need the shop press).   I've also got rear pads and a suspension air compressor rebuild pending on the Landy, not to mention the crumbly water pump...

Coming soon, watch Paul find out how bad a cheap flux-core welder can splatter bits of rusty Mazda back together....

..although it'll probably have to wait until we're in the new house.  Roof of the 2nd floor/floor of the 3rd floor is being done as I type, we're reckoning we should be in by March whilst bits are still being finished, so once Xmas/New Year is done we're going to start some packing here and a temporary move to the in-laws to let us sort out the apartment.

Yesterday I got down to the workshop and got the rumbly front wheel bearing changed.  Old one didn't seem that bad off the car, however the new one had noticeably less....uhmm, stiction.  I also realised I'd never had the caliper carriers off this car- two different bolts top to bottom, I need to order up some bolts.

I also got the passenger side sill covers off to investigate the crumbleness - thankfully that was the only bit.  That all got wire-wheeled then treated with a high-zinc rust inhibiting primer then an an anti-rust top coat, best combination I can find locally, until I can actually get around to cutting the grot out and welding in new.

Next up really needs to be the suspension compressor rebuild on the Landy, starting to get repeated warnings for it in the last week, the problem is SWMBO needs it everyday.. I wonder how quickly I can get the compressor off, rebuilt, and reinstalled..  Water pump for it should arrive today, but that'll be a job for down at the workshop as it's going to be messy, I might bring forward it's next oil/filter change and bash it all out at once, although it's also likely to have to wait until the next year.

Now, the question is should my Xmas present to myself be a shop press or the welder?  Hmm, I have need for both at the moment!  I'm leaning towards the press as I'm constantly changing bushes/ball joints/bearings, and it'll save the trip to the workshop.   The welder is about 100% of my tool budget, whereas the press about 70%.. It's likely to be at least 2-3 months before I'll be ready for any welding anyway, whereas I've got still got bearings to do on the Mazda, plus at least 2 bushes on the Landy (actually more, the rear arms I replaced back in 2014 are pretty much shot again, this time I'll rebush the OE arms)..

Wow, nearly a month since the last update.

Well, I got the standard rear springs and Whiteline 27mm rear bar on the Mazda.  Certainly noticeably more comfortable, ride height unladen is identical to with the cut Mazda 5 rears. 

I'm still uncertain though, handling isn't quite where I'd like it, although that said I'm chasing something in the front end at the moment.  Something feels 'off' in cornering, and just recently going from forwards to reverse I'm getting an occasional clunk/crack.  I thought is was something from the front right after doing the front right wheel bearing, but I've checked everything and all is tight there.  I threw on the left track rod / TRE I had in stock just in case (but more to use up an hour at the in-laws), with no difference.  All the engine mounts are new, driver's side is an OE mount with about 2 years on it, bottom is an E Focus one, only about 6 months old (but not OE), and the passenger mount is only 2 months old (but was an Anchor mount).  I reckon at lunch today I'll pop down and try to check the mounts just in case.  Other than that the only bits that haven't been replaced are subframe bushings and the front bushes in the wishbones (I've got them, but need time to do them), and the driveshafts/CV joints.  It feels like drivetrain as it's only going forwards to reverse (or vice versa) whilst taking up drive.  Bumps/corners don't provoke the noise.  

I also managed to get the Landy down to the workshop the other day to get a oil change done, change the dripping sump plug seal, and change front diff oil to check.

Then it was onto the rear upper arms, the front bushes were shot..

Muddy:

Cleaner and with functioning bushes

New rear pads went in, then tidy up this mess

...and off to the in-laws to get the family and pop in to see how our house is getting on..

Scary stairs:

The pool full of rubbish, they need to start clearing that lot out soon...

Then help our eldest with her Birthday present (she loves Lego, and has recently gotten into Star Wars):

...and then collapse like the dog

Well the transmission mount still looks like new, so it doesn't appear to be that.

Yesterday from here to the in-laws there were no noises.  Then, leaving the in-laws at 4 successive pull aways from stop (not going reverse to forwards) I got the horrible crack, it felt like it was around the drivers footwell, there we've got the subframe mount (rear bushing), the rear bush for the LCA, and the rack.

I hope this weekend I can find a few minutes to loosen the subframe bolts and have a good look at the bushings, as that seems most likely.  Febi say they'll have stock of the bushings around Feb / March...

The driver's side switch for the passenger window failed the other day too, had to strip it down and clean the contacts, same thing happened in the red 3 too, so at least I knew what the likely problem was!

That said, all this faffing has got me looking at Marketplace again... (the stuff for S/20,000-S/30,000 is really in soles (about S/3.9 to $1), the rest are actually USD)

My, how time flies.   The *crack* noise was the inner CV, so I got that changed with a Febi unit.  All good so far.  Whilst changing it I found the transmission fluid was nasty, it's been in there around 3 years / 10k kms, so I've just had a Rockauto order come in with more.

That new passenger side motor mount that I fitted in December ?  That's collapsed already.  DEA brand for reference.  I reckon I'll try to get an OE Mazda mount this time, although no stock currently.

The front bushes in the LCAs are shot, but I've no time at the moment, and half my press is in the new house, half in the old apartment..  Speaking of which, that's why I've no time, we've finally moved into the new place.   It's still incomplete, I'm slowly fitting lights/switches/sockets, there's still doors to be fitted, 3rd floor need pretty much everything still, but yeah, we're finally here.  Before we started the main bit of the move, we escaped to the beach for a day/night for the end of the summer, digging holes in the sand is a good way to unwind with the kids!:

Here's what those scary stairs look like now (well about a week or so ago):

Unfortunately SWMBO had a run in (literally) with a truck on Monday.   One truck cut off another one, somehow the truck in front of SWMBO stopped, but she didn't....I've mentioned to her before about braking distances, especially on poor surfaces (gravel on the road).  Good news is the bonnet and bumper were all missed.  The bad news is the only supplier for LR3 BiXenon headlights is Landrover, cost would be over $1000 delivered, and it's due it's inspection in June.. I've just found a UK supplier who does the plastic lens, still expensive (will be around $300 delivered for the pair), but not as bad.....

Congrats on getting moved in. The transformation between the before and after pics is hard to fathom! 

Thanks!  It's a big relief to finally get moved, even though there's still more to do..   Yep, there's quite a difference from the 'in-progress' pics! We only got water/sewage hooked up last week, which was the last big delay.  Of course that then showed up some more issues, various connection which weren't water tight, a few missing o rings, one on the main incoming was completely loose   We've still got one toilet u/s as the sewage seal is leaking.  Something I could fix but as we paid for the installation of the bathrooms (due to time constraints) I can't touch it..

Of course what I really want to get on with is sorting out my "workshop" (small room on the 3rd floor), at the moment it's just a dumping ground for tools/materials, but I've promised to at least get the lighting on the first 2 floors done, and a select few bits on the 3rd floor, plus painting the doors that are hung, and hanging 2 more doors on the 3rd floor (when they arrive)..

Thankfully I managed to get those lenses from the UK, about $150 for the pair of lenses, then aroun $150 again to get 'em shipped.

Then I spent a fun Saturday afternoon heating and prying

Then I popped the PAS fluid reservoir out and emptied it and refilled with new CHF11.  Unfortunately the filter in the reservoir is disgusting and I can't see a way to get to it without destroying the reservoir.  I'll keep an eye out for offers on reservoirs!

I then got the transmission fluid changed on the Mazda, no photos of smelly oily sorry.. but here's a photo of the 2 of 'em in their new garage/parking

The sister-in-law's Montero/Pajero needs some new rad hoses, here you can't get them, nor in Rockauto (Peruvian market special, with the old 2.8 TD lump in the 'modern' 2008 Pajero), so I put an order in to Partsouq to get some OE Mitsubishi hoses, plus an OE Mazda motor mount.  Slotted that in the other day and what a lovely difference in NVH and general "smoothness" compared to Anchor etc.   Annoyingly however, the other day (prior to changing the mount) that 'crack' has come back, only loading from forward to reverse/ viceversa, or for example, stop start traffic if you get a bit lumpy on the throttle, get out of it again quickly then tip back in, it can crack too.  It's something related to loading the drivetrain/suspension forwards/backwards, so CV joints, wishbone bushes, subframe, strut top mounts.  Bumps and cornering don't provoke it.  Feels like it's front left, and if I lift that side up, if I grab the spring and attempt to rotate it, I do get a slight crack, which I don't get with the other side.  Top mounts again?  I don't know, I'm getting a bit fed up.  Strange thing is, it's definitely the same noise as before, and after changing the inner CV it went away for about 6 weeks, then from one day to the next appeared again (no work was done to the car on those days).  I can't see the new CV failing so quickly and in exactly the same way/with the same sound as the old one.   Doing the CV I had apart the hub nut, bottom balljoint, and that's it.  I've retorqued both of those just in case, and no change.  I'd be tempted to drive it until it breaks, but I can't afford the car to be down for a week / 10 days waiting for parts.  FFS.

I know, a nice manual box E34 is the solution!

paul_s0 said:

I know, a nice manual box E34 is the solution!

You are correct!

Don't encourage me...or do!

(But don't let SWMBO see)

That E34 is an odd spec, the only manual box E34s here are the 520i, nearly all I've seen have been the most basic spec, wind up windows etc.  That one has 4 electric windows, but no OBC, only an analogue clock.. price is $1500-$2000 less than the Mazda is worth.  I know that the b20 lump isn't going to set the world on fire, but I've driven (much) slower things and enjoyed them, and I'd love to get back in something RWD on these slippery tracks which pass for roads here...

https://neoauto.com/auto/usado/bmw-520-i-1994-1648133

The noise appears to be that strut top mount, took that corner apart and there is play in the top mount, whilst simultaneously being more difficult to turn once past the play...Think that's lasted about 8 months and around 5000 kms..

 Uhm, so I may have found a slight issue which could be causing some noises and undesirable traits... That would be the forward bush in the front left LCA...

Uhm, so I may have found a slight issue which could be causing some noises and undesirable traits... That would be the forward bush in the front left LCA...

Yep, that bush was indeed the nasty cracking noise.  I'd bought some new Delphi ones a while ago from Rockauto (Delphi was the only option), so they went in.   Took it for a drive and the nasty noises are gone, sadly it's still FWD and I keep looking at old german stuff as I'm daft and want to get back in RWD...

A quick half hour on Wednesday, and another 40 mins today, and....we have most of a workbench for my 'workshop'.   Still need to add the lower shelf and some bracing, but a good chunk done.  Once that lot's there, I'll mount the vice.  Before that though I really need to sort some storage to get stuff off the floor...

Crikey, I've let this slip a bit..

Right, back in July, I decided to hurry up and get a move on and finally change the water pump on the Disco.  Not too bad a job, the recently-imported fan clutch spanners (dual size, one end Land Rover sized, the other BMW sized, just in case...) made short work of the fan clutch, then it was just a case of dumping the coolant and working methodically through it...

Shiney:

Dirty:

Horrible, and with a heck of a lot of radial play in the bearing:

...and shiny new one in:

That was all fairly uneventful, then a few weeks later I got some time to address a slight coolant weep it's had.   This thing has LPG fitted, and they've tee'd into the heater hoses (LPG gas pressure regulator needs heating) using some cheapo plastic tee pieces which had started to weep... between the passenger cylinder head and the firewall.. Impossible to access as is.  So I set aside a day to get the inlet manifold off to give access.  That was an absolute pig of a job (this is the Ford 4.0 SOHC lump), made worse with the LPG installation.  The two rear bolts are totally blind with access obstructed by the cowl (not removable), which necessitated feeding socket and extension in, then adding extension, then swivel, then ratchet in situ and feeding it all in.. 

On getting it off, I found the LPG installers just used silicon instead of changing the gaskets, and had routed half the cabling (including the main power cable) under the inlet manifold such that it chafed on the manifold - half the wires had rubbed through their insulation and how it was still working I've no idea.  I tidied that lot up as best I could, and got on and changed the tee.  On putting it all back together, just going to tighten up that b*stard back bolt, and the socket and extensions drop into the valley. They're still there -I've no spare gaskets to take it all off again and I was getting short of time - thankfully I had one other socket (T20) and enough other extensions to finish tightening it up.  Unfortunately all the manouvering saw a casualty - the vacuum hose for the EGR valve (special moulded LR only part) was brittle and fractured one of the lines (it's a 2 line setup), so that's capped at the moment.  That lot at least saw the coolant weep addressed, but the damn thing is dumping a lot of oil from somewhere, seems to be top end at the back on driver's side, so I'm guessing cam cover gasket, possibly caused by PCV valve.  Sigh, it never stops.

The Mazda decided to demand some attention too - I noticed LTFT was getting progressively more negative at idle, until the last few days saw it sitting at -15%.  I started jumping to conclusions of leaky injectors etc until I remembered the propensity for the purge valves to cause trouble, whipped it off and found it wasn't sealing, thankfully there's an internal screw to adjust the seat, a quick tweak on that and it's now sealing, and a short test showed trims at -5% ;  we'll see how that pans out later today when I pick mini-me up from school..

In other news, sadly it's still FWD and I keep looking at old german stuff as I'm still daft and still want to get back in RWD.  A manual box E39 528 has cropped up for $6200, the ONLY manual box 528 I've seen in 9 years here.  Also there's an 'honest' looking E36 328i that has been intermittently up for sale since before COVID, the seller has just dumped the price on it down to $5500 (everything here is expensive).  It's just really rather tricky to get the Mazda sold and at the same time find a suitable replacement - other cars I've sold here have taken 1 -4 months to sell, and if there's no suitable replacement when it goes then I've got a problem as I do the school run every day.  Sensible thing would be to wait for the school holidays, but at that time of year the market goes flat because a good chunk of families go away..

Carrying on, and nothing car related - The last weekend of August is also a bank holiday here, so we arranged with several other families from school to take a trip up North and into the jungle..

The view from the hotel wasn't bad, shame the hotel itself was a bit unloved;

The first day we went to visit one of the nearby waterfalls which was cool:

The next day was a loooong trip to the "Laguna Azul", several hours crammed in a minibus, crossing a river on big steel raft.  For some reason folk realized I wasn't local..:

Big metal raft:

The final day was a bit of jungle trekking, with the aim of getting to a much bigger waterfall.  We were making steady progress, having completed 5 of the 6 river crossings, although made somewhat more complicated being with kids....

...when we got caught in thunder storm, there were a couple of distant rumbles, then several very close, and someone turned the taps on in the sky.  We quickly decided to abort, principally because if the rain went more than 5 minutes we would struggle to get back.   As it was, the 2/3 minutes to decide and start back to the previous crossing was enough to see the level rise considerably, up to my waist height.  I had to carry our kids through, leave them on the other side with one of the others then go back and help the others as the current was starting to flow a bit.  We then really had to get on with to get across the others as it became obvious the rain wasn't letting up, all the small tributaries started to open up then, and most of the kids were rather scared (understatement).  I slung mini me over my shoulder and got on with it, various times dropping him somewhere high and going back to help the others.  Half way back we met some of the local villagers coming out to help us, as they knew a big group had gone in and it wasn't time to hang around, big props to them   We all got back safe and sound, and the kids had a good story to tell.  Scariest bit of the whole thing for me was the damn Mototaxi trip back to the hotel, 20kms in the dark, in the rain, through twisting lanes with big drops, and as we were 5 mototaxis together, the buggers all try to race each other..

(This is a Mototaxi, random Google image, I didn't get a photo of ours):

So on Saturday we were due to go about an hour South of Lima to a birthday do of one of SWMBOs workmates, and she'd offered a lift to another couple too, so I was told "we're not going in your car".   Jump in the Landy to fire it up 5 minutes before departure and...*boing* C1A27 red suspension fault "Compressor circuit General electrical failure".  Errrr.  Had a looksee an find the main fusible link (60A) for the air compressor is blown.  Of course there's no hope of getting one here, I'll have to import one.  I still need to see why it's failed, but normally it's when the compressor is working overtime, but a) the most common bits to fail I've replaced and b) there are no air leaks (currently).  Apparently the relays can go bad too, allowing too much current draw, so I've got 2 fusible links and a relay on the way (plus inlet manifold gaskets, PCV valve and valve cover gaskets as the driver's side bank is leaking profusely).  To get SWMBO to work I'm jumping it until the reservoir is full, plenty to get her to work and back (I hope).  I've also found on the of the original coolant hoses under the inlet manifold started weeping last week (it developed a coolant drinking habit).  I can't find the hose available anywhere (or even a part number), and it seems the leak is from not having seated properly, so when the manifold comes off I need to look at that.  

So, once again we piled into the good 'ole Mazda.  Granted, it's not ideal for 4 fully grown adults, thankfully the other couple aren't that tall!

I've been meaning to get around to changing the passenger side rear wheel bearing for a while, but the disc is well and truly stuck on the hub, and I don't want to get too brutal with it without having a spare.   Whilst there is barely any visible lip, I thought I'd put the verniers on the discs and see what they measured - 9mm rear and 21mm front.  I then go to the workshop manual:

Ok, they've been skimmed - rears are on minimum thickness, fronts well below.  Here no one replaces discs, they just turn down the lip if it gets too big

Sooo...a very quick update on this..

First of all, I managed to get an hour on the back of the Mazda, and with the help of my small gas torch, got the disc off the hub, and the new bearing/hub on.  Just like with the fronts, not any play but the new one was quieter and less stiction..

Crusty old hub:

Shiny new one:

Those Moog trailing arm bushes I fitted a while back seem to be getting tired rather quickly..

I also managed to refurbish a little bit the check straps for the rear doors - they kept on closing on me and the kids, and it was really becoming a hazard, not much to show, have a picture of a checkstrap being crimped back together...

I also grabbed a minute to check the flux core MIG actually functions..

A wobbly weld down an old suspension arm, whilst using the cheapo mask, but it works and that penetrated fully to the other side .  I've since sourced a proper mask so I can actually see what I'm doing.

Then, around 2 weeks back, I'd washed the Landy, and on putting it back in the garage after mopping the floor, was greeted by a waterfall from the headlining..  Sunroof drain was quickly unblocked, which then lead to another problem - the front footwell was wet.  Took out the grill over the air intake, where the sunroof drain hose *should* come out, and was greeted by an empty hole with some rotten rubber on the inside:

This is what should be poking out of that hole:

So that needed another order, then 1.5 hrs to dismantle the main junction box under the dash to get access to change it all over:

After that a quick check and yep, all water tight again..   I still have the cam cover gaskets on my to-do list however, and also weld up the driver's side downpipe (where someone previously chopped out the cat) as it's rusting/cracking/developing a lot of holes..

...and finally, the other day I saw this, and wondered if Hungary Bill had decided to visit our shores.

Uffff.  Go out this morning to warm up the Landy before SWMBO leaves and get greeted with a great big F on the dash, transmission wont move out of park, utter and total failure.  It's a ZF 6HP26 in this.  Dig out the diagnostics and I get a P0964, Transmission Solenoid B failure   Talking to SWMBO, she says a couple of times last week it really struggled to pull away (obviously it couldn't change gear).  Thankfully it happened here in the driveway, as it's totally immobile..  Now trying to get ordered from Rockauto a set of solenoids, transmission sump / filter, and a few gaskets, plus the Unicorn tears they use as fluid.  Solenoids are more than the import limit, so on top of all that we're gonna get hit with at least anothert $100 in duties it's going to be around $700 all up.. I think any hopes I had of changing my car have just been postponed..  Once again it makes me thankful that my car is simple and reliable... 

So, my last post jumped a step.   The week prior to the total transmission failure on the Discovery, I got some spacec in the family schedule to change the cam cover gasket(s).  Not much to say, the jump was a bugger to due access, and using long studs with 7mm and 8mm nuts (I've only a 1/4" drive 7mm, and it's not a deep), the old gasket was completely hard and brittle, PCV valve seemed ok as far as I could see, but changed it anyway whilst it was all apart.  That has now allowed to me identify that the gasket for the lower sump is also leaking, and possibly the rear main.  Sump gasket will go on the next order, rear main....yeah no, I'm not interested.   If the engine or box has to come out for some other catastrophic reason then it'll get looked at..

The starting point (more or less):

First time I've gotten a view inside this engine, thankfully not all sludgy (it is due for an oil change again though):

Then we had a whole 7 days grace before... the dreaded transmission failure.  The Landy ended being down for 9 days in the end, thanks to DHL.   Transmission failed at 06:45 Monday morning.  By 10:30 I'd managed to get the part numbers for the solenoid valves and identify most of what I needed to change (the 7 solenoid valves, some more Unicorn tears for transmission fluid, pan/filter, pan gasket, various seals between the valve body and the box, and the "Mechatronic" seal), and got 2 orders placed with Rockauto (one for the solenoid valves, being over $200 they were subject to the 30% duties, so the rest came in a seperate order in someone else's name).  The 1st order with the solenoid valves was in Lima by Weds, and delivered on Thursday (after paying the 30% ).  The 2nd parcel's tracking went dead on Tuesday.... On Friday I got an email from Rockauto advising that DHL had made a whoopsie and had returned it all to Rockauto I went ahead and ordered it all again, and in the meantime got on with stripping it all.   Passenger side downpipe has to come off, transmission cross member, passenger engine mount and lift the engine 1.5" (I assume written for the V8 not the V6, as the V6 has less than 1.5" between the inlet manifold and the cowl...), to enable the pan with integral filter inlet to clear the rear of the front suspension crossmember.. 

Undid all the pan bolts, and there wasn't enough clearance to drop the pan.  I've seen a few folk say they had to just tweak the plastic pipe (picture for reference):

As I'm trying to manouevre the pan, the inlet pipe snaps clean off, and I wasn't forcing it - it was just so brittle.  When I got the pan off I found the pan was made in August 2000 - it was 8 years old when it was fitted!? Then subjected to 14 years / 240,000kms of use.. Yeah ok, I can see why it would be brittle.

Then it was valve body off, and slap the new solenoid valves in (please ignore the emergency exhaust repair, I need to order in some exhaust pipe, I can't get anything decent here):

The oil wasn't this dark in real life..

Shiny new valves waiting to go in..

Once they were in, I sealed it up in a bag and waited until the following week, when it all went back together "Assembly is the reverse of removal" as they say.  No pics sadly as I was suffering from the Flu and really struggling physically to get it all back together, normally I'd have waiting to get better, but I'd coordinated a day off with work to get it back together, SWMBO really wanted her transport back, and so I just dosed myself up with whatever I could and got on with it.  Finished getting it together by just after lunchtime, then spent around 2 hours refilling the box (I've got an agricultural sprayer for this job, works well but it is sloooow) and tidying up.  I then took a loooong shower to get all the Unicorn tears/mud/engine oil/gawd knows what else out of my hair before taking it for a (successful) test drive.

What will it throw up next.....?  Actually I know, the sump gasket and the water pump bypass hose that wasn't included in Land Rover's set and I couldn't find anywhere - it's weeping.  Thankfully I finally found the part number (it's listed as only being fitted on the Japanese model) and found one of my old supplier's had one in stock, so that is currently on it's way over here - assuming all the protests don't throw a spanner in the works.

Unfortunately that little lot ate up the (small) pot we'd set aside to add to the sale value of the Mazda to get something different for me, so once again the Mazda is staying for the time being... I really ought to order the new front brake discs then!