Afternoon all.

Just thought I'd post that my mainly trouble free old girl has had enough of her present water pump so she squealed a little and then shredded the fan belt. I wasn't sure what it was but the alternator light came on and the power steering went so I pulled into a small residential street, called for recovery and cracked open my emergency flask of tea whilst listening to Radio 4 for an hour... (03 4.4 v8 BMW lump)

She's gone to LRR in London (they take care of the old girl twice a year for servicing and anything she needs) and they tell me it's the water pump. They're going to change the thermostat as well.

Prior to this she was using about a litre a week but couldn't see where it was going, having read through here and now realising where the water under the car was coming from (I thought it was the air con condensate...) I now see she's been on her way out for a while. (I drive at least 500 miles a week in her.)

That said and we all now they get a bad press but my old girl is 14 next year and she's not let me down massively yet. All I do is take her to the garage twice a year and whatever she needs she gets. I've had the front air suspension done but she's got 115k on her. Other than that and expected servicing / running costs she's a lovely bus.

spud101 said:

Afternoon all.

Just thought I'd post that my mainly trouble free old girl has had enough of her present water pump so she squealed a little and then shredded the fan belt. I wasn't sure what it was but the alternator light came on and the power steering went so I pulled into a small residential street, called for recovery and cracked open my emergency flask of tea whilst listening to Radio 4 for an hour... (03 4.4 v8 BMW lump)

She's gone to LRR in London (they take care of the old girl twice a year for servicing and anything she needs) and they tell me it's the water pump. They're going to change the thermostat as well.

Prior to this she was using about a litre a week but couldn't see where it was going, having read through here and now realising where the water under the car was coming from (I thought it was the air con condensate...) I now see she's been on her way out for a while. (I drive at least 500 miles a week in her.)

That said and we all now they get a bad press but my old girl is 14 next year and she's not let me down massively yet. All I do is take her to the garage twice a year and whatever she needs she gets. I've had the front air suspension done but she's got 115k on her. Other than that and expected servicing / running costs she's a lovely bus.
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That's a nice looking vehicle, really like the colour, bad luck about the water pump, but that is not too bad for the mileage. Tell me, have you had any issues with the air suspension? Talking to a mate here last w/e that got fed up with all the eas foibles on his L322and just did away with all the auto stuff, onboard compressor and all, and just inflated the bags front and rear with tyre inflator via some fittings he made up to set the vehicle for the task required, he's totally happy with the result, no more eas headaches.
Not sure how he'll get on if a bag blows while he's out of town a bit, but he said he'd been using it that way for some time, still no problems and the vehicle is not used for hard core off roading.

Thanks for that. I did have the front air springs replaced earlier in the year but that's expected with the age / mileage of the old girl. Other than that I've not had any eas foilbles whatsoever. (I had the compressor reconditioned last year actually)

I'm not sure that what your friend has said they've done is possible or safe to be honest. I know people dump the air and have it replaced with springs but I've never heard of pumping the bags with a tyre compressor. Again, they were a very expensive car new, people should be aware that they're not cheap to keep on the road. Usually because the bits are bigger and it takes time to get the job done but I don't believe my old girl has taken any more mollycoddling than any other of my cars.

spud101 said:

Thanks for that. I did have the front air springs replaced earlier in the year but that's expected with the age / mileage of the old girl. Other than that I've not had any eas foilbles whatsoever. (I had the compressor reconditioned last year actually)

I'm not sure that what your friend has said they've done is possible or safe to be honest. I know people dump the air and have it replaced with springs but
I've never heard of pumping the bags with a tyre compressor. Again, they were a very expensive car new, people should be aware that they're not cheap to keep on the road. Usually because the bits are bigger and it takes time to get the job done but I don't believe my old girl has taken any more mollycoddling than any other of my cars.

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Certainly it is possible, he has done it, and I don't really see that safety is compromised, they are either inflated of not, I think the reason he did his mod was because of spurious ups and downs of the eas, and sick of throwing money at it, his has been operating in it's current mode for more than two years at the moment and he is happy to be without the "refinements".
Yes indeed they were an expensive car when new but like a lot of luxury cars they become worth relatively nothing on the used market, at least that's the case over here, that is essentially why he owns such a car, he is in the "insolvency business", (winding up bankrupt businesses), and it's good for his image to have such a car as his daily driver, plus a love for all things range Rover to boot.