Wet morning with a lot of freezing fog. We set off on some trails to mixed success. We got stopped by slick mud, an overfull river ford, and a couple locked gates. Also picked up a TON of new pinstripes, but that is part of it, so I'm told.
Tomorrow we head back to our respective homes and call the trip complete.
Hopefully I'll get to the write up this week after I get media from the other two.
After a long battle replacing the power steering suction hose in temperatures well below freezing with a major winter storm on the horizon, for the first time since owning it the Land Rover failed me. The problem was not the suction hose (though it wasn't far from being bad too) it was, indeed the pump.
As the temperatures plummeted into the negatives (freedom units) and Oklahoma began to become covered in snow and ice, the Discovery sat in my driveway as a testament to my hubris. Finally my love affair with unreliable cars had created a problem that could not be readily solved with time, money, or both. The extreme weather meant even if I wanted to pay to have the pump replaced, no shop was open and presumably tow services were occupied helping people out of ditches and accidents. With the part unavailable locally I was forced to order it, but the major shippers were, at best, hit of miss in this weather. Understandable, but frustrating. Ultimately I ordered a pump off Amazon, even though the price ($110) was a little too cheap for it to be a quality part (most are $150 + core, OE is ~ $240) of the carriers, I figured Amazon or USPS were the most likely to be able to get me the part.
Now I should say as far as thing to worry about go, this wasn't huge. We still had my partner's Jeep to get around, all of my other cars either being unreliable or in storage, and with the city being hammered with crazy winter weather it isn't like we had anywhere to go anyway. Also complaining about a broken Land Rover when millions are without power, water, gas, heat, and food is... well, I am aware of the optics. That doesn't mean I can't be bummed about it, it was just another thing to add to the pile of dread.
Luckily by Friday Tulsa had endured worst of the weather. Our rolling blackouts here were limited and our house never lost utilities, despite threats. Furthermore, the part arrived only one day late, which was both comfortably within tolerance and impressive, considering. With the forecast showing a balmy high of 45F (7C), I made plans to start work the next day.
I was fortunate in that after discovering the sucktion hose was not the problem, I never reassembled the engine bay. As a result, most of the work to get access to the pump was already done. All that remained was to re-remove the fan, serpentine belt, idler (jockey) pulley, and power steering pulley, then remove the AC compressor and the odd bracket that houses the pump.
Of course, this didn't go smoothly.
I started by removing the fan, belt, and then the AC compressor. The latter sounds scary but isn't actually. It is held in by four bolts on on the top and you don't need to break the pressure lines to get it out of the way, so no needing to discharge/charge the system. (Compressor can be seen sitting on the throttle body in the picture below.)
Next I removed the idler pulley, and then got to work on the power steering pulley.
Attentive readers might have noticed that I donked up here. Without the belt in place, there is nothing to encourage the pulley to stay put while I remove the three bolts holding it on. I have made this mistake literally every time I've had this thing off. Ordinarily I'd go and grab a strap wrench and make it work, but mine dry rotted and I haven't bought a replacement yet. Unwilling to go to the hardware store for such a trivial item, and still lacking an actually functioning vehicle, after confirming my electric impact wouldn't fit but my air impact cleared by almost a whole centimeter, I fired up the air compressor and drug 75 feet of air hose through the melting snow. A few zips with that and the pulley was off, revealing the treacherous power steering pump.
Well... sort of. The power steering pump is buried in what Rover calls the "auxiliary housing," a big hunk of aluminum to which the AC compressor, power steering pump, and, if equipped, active roll bar (ACE) pump attach. Either way, after removing the bolts that hold that to the engine block, then I got to see the treasonous power steering pump.
And you know what? That bugger is tiny! I'm really shocked how small it is. Realistically about the size of a medium grapefruit maybe?
Anyway, a few love taps with a dead blow and the pump was free of the housing.
As with these things, installation is the reverse of removal, and everything went back together pretty quickly. I did get the chance to repair something I broke the last time I had this all apart though. The auxiliary housing is speared by this locating rod for reasons I don't fully understand and when reassembling the Disco last time I over-torqued the nut and sheared the shaft. Being a very odd part, replacements were weeks away, so with a deadline looming and not fully understanding the purpose of the part, at the time I reassembled without. But, I did order the part, so this time I had a chance to make amends and install the new one. I also threw a new bleed screw in the steering box, because why not?
Anyway, once I got the pullies and belt back on, I filled the reservoir with fresh power steering fluid, leaving the cap off to aid in burping, and turned the key.
... and was treated to a shockingly quiet power steering pump!
Followed by a very loud one.
I shut off the car and resisted attempting to set fire to it. Instead I went and checked the fluid level. It had dropped a little, and there were little bubbles in the fluid as a result, but it was far from frothy as it was before. After giving the system a second to settle, I tried again.
And it stayed quiet.
I followed the usual purging procedure (move the wheels left to right a bunch with the cap off) and the pump stayed happy. Without any major evidence to the contrary, after taking measurements for the possible forthcoming eFan conversion, I reassembled the rest of the engine.
Only time will tell if this fix will hold, but I am cautiously optimistic.
To my mind the elephant in the room here is: what would you do if this had happened on the trail. I'll admit, complete failure of my power steering system is not an eventuality I even thought would happen. Presumably after frothing all of its fluid out of the reservoir the pump would eventually run dry enough that the system would be stable... until the pump seized, eventually breaking the serpentine belt, at which point the water pump and alternator would cease their critical functions.
It would not be ideal.
However, this failure was not without warning. I think I'm right in saying the power steering pump has been groaning on startup for at least a year, but looking into it has always been on the "I'll get to it eventually" list. Until this failure I never considered power steering to be an essential function of the vehicle, but hot damn apparently it can really mess things up with the right failure, depending on how it is set up.
I am fortunate that while I didn't have the Land Rover to drive in the snow and ice, the pump was kind enough to die in the driveway rather than the multitude of horrible places it could have.
Overall I don't see this as affecting our (the Landy and I) trust relationship. It tried to tell me something was about to go bang and I didn't heed the warning. In the future, I'll be more proactive in hunting down unusual noises. Ultimately, this thing will fail me on the trail one day, and I've accepted that. My only hope is it will fail in such a way I can at least, one way or the other, get back to the road.
Either way, I still love it and don't hold this "fun" against it.
It is much more terrifying the 2nd time because I didn't know it'd happened the 1st time until way later.
First post that got shared was the 2nd installment of the 1st cheap car challenge. I was wondering why that one had so many more views than the others (14k) and I guess now I know. Badges and shares both send DMs, which I didn't realize, so I didn't catch the "shared to the main page" DM until much later.
Today the Project Dumpster Fire post got shared to the front page for the US and I think is scheduled to be on the UK one too? Unclear but I think I remember seeing a message about that.
Thing is, this amount of exposure scares me. I like my stuff getting read, but also acknowledge my writing and wrenching skills. Which is to say I am happy with my skills at both, but by no means a professional at either. Also I have this (perfectly rational) fear that one day this is all going to blow up in my face...
Anyway... hooray they like me, they really like me.
Most of my extended family knows I am into cars and tools, so occasionally I get tools as gifts. Sometimes they're useful, oftentimes they're not. Some time ago (5+ years?) I was gifted one of those universal sockets. You know the ones, with all the little pins and are supposed to be great at... stuff? Basically they're the type thing that gets trotted out as a "great gift for dad!" that seems like it is almost certain to make any problem worse.
Anyway, it has been sitting in my tool box all this time, waiting for its moment to shine, and that moment was, apparently, yesterday.
I installed the Disco's new power steering pump with the plugs intact, not wanting to risk contamination. When I went to remove the plastic plug from the high pressure output, it said no. I figured the thing would be hand tight, but no amount of leverage was going to shift it.
Ok... how about a screwdriver? Not enough room.
Sometimes these have hex on the outside for this very reason? Nope.
Umm... on maybe stick a ruler in there? Nope too thick.
Uhh... well I've got that dumb universal thing. I guess I could try that? Worked amazing.
So good job weird universal socket thing, apparently you have a use after all.
Luckily I was also the person who broke it.
I ran an errand today. Because Oklahoma, the temperature has gone from "unbearably cold" to "exceptionally pleasant" in less than a week's time. As a result, the Land Rover's automatic climate control kicked on the AC.
Except it didn't.
All I got was tepid air out of the vents.
Well... not surprising. To do the power steering pump I had to remove the AC compressor. I guess jostling it while it was that cold out finally made one of the 20 y/o lines and/or compressor give up the ghost and lost its charge over the next couple of days.
As I pulled in to get gas (not playing the range game after running out last year!) and trying to decide if I was going to try doing the repair myself or paying to have it done, I remembered there was one other component of the AC system I touched: the clutch connector.
While filling up I popped the hood and... despair! I had remembered to plug it in.
Well maybe it wasn't making good contact? I pressed on it and it moved about 3/8". Yeah... guess I didn't do a great job there.
Finish gassing up, during which the guy driving a tow truck at the next pump asked if these were reliable and I just laughed, I was treated to ice cold AC.
Hooray!
@essextee I put that exact one on my Saab and can assure you it is twice as jankity as it looks.
Dog: I want to sit in your lap.
Me: You're too big and I'm about to go to bed anyway, we can cuddle there.
Me: :head pat:
Dog: I'm taking that as permission to just crawl on up here...
Me: ugh
Dog: Comfy now.
Me. 
It was cold as balls today (famously not a cold part, but just go with it) so we opted for no hikes and much overlanding.
Overall we had some good success. Mostly just well maintained dirt roads but the occasional washout and creek to keep us on our toes.
We ended the day at the Lake Ouachita Overlook, having taken the "hard" way, which involved about a mile of what felt like vertical driving in low range.
Lots of gunshots in the distance, which felt very Arkansas. Ended with pasta with vodka sauce and meatballs and shots of soju. Now time for some more photo editing, TV binging, and sleep.
Tomorrow we head out to the next cabin in Mark Twain National Forest.
You'd think by now when starting a wrenching job for which I have no specific directions provided by the FSM, I should default to "remove everything". Hell just pull the damn engine, in the long run it'll save time and effort.
And yet.
Today I set out to replace the low pressure power steering hose on my 2001 Land Rover Discovery. On Tuesday, after braving the beginnings of a winter storm in my Volvo C30 to pick up the Land Rover from storage, the hose decided to unceremoniously break. This failure, in truth, was not without warning. For about a year the power steering pump would groan for the first few seconds on startup, and then be fine. I now know this sound was the pump expelling air due to a slow leak, but hindsight is bullshit.
With a modest coating of ice on the roads and 6+ inches of snow looming in the forecast and the Land Rover being my only functional on-site vehicle, I needed to get it fixed. After confirming the leak was most likely, as suspected, from the low pressure return hose, I ordered the part next day delivery from O'Reilly Auto and waited.
But, of course, the weather had other ideas and they part was, you guessed it, delayed due to weather. Luckily, it was only delayed a day and came in in the early afternoon today. However, while the temperature yesterday, the day the part was supposed to be delivered, was a balmy 25F (-4C). Today, the high was 19F (-7C) and I wasn't able to start until 5PM.
But it is just one hose and less than 2 feet long at that. How hard could it be?
Well...
Quickly I identified the end attached to the power steering pump was going to be a pain to remove. It still had the factory snap in hose clamp, or whatever you want to call it, and the hose was so covered in dirt, fluid, and grime that I couldn't actually identify where the clamp was. Access on all sides was thwarted by the exhaust manifold, a splash shield, the fan assembly, the engine, and the intake ducting. As removing the intake and air box is fairly straightforward, I started there. While this gave me enough room to touch the hose clamp, I couldn't quite get the reach to remove it so I proceeded to remove the splash shield underneath. This opened thing up dramatically, and I could begin to spray all manner of chemicals on the hose to clean off the dirt and grime, and eventually found the clasp was facing the driver's side fender, partially occluded by the high pressure outlet piping.
After trying a multitude of random tools and bits of metal, I eventually got the clasp off. VICTORY!
And yet..
No amount of tugging, pulling, shouting, crying, or hitting seemed to want to make this mothe- hose budge off its mooring. For a failed hose, it sure had a strange desire to remain on the car!
After removing the radiator shroud in an attempt to gain better access, I eventually got decent enough purchase with a knife to cut the old hose loose and was treated to a golden shower of old power steering fluid.
Success?
Hardly.
I grabbed the new pipe and quickly ran into my first problem: it wouldn't go onto the hose barb. While my leverage wasn't ideal, it was far from terrible and yet I could not get it to fit around the barb. Then I had a brain wave: the current ambient temperature is 13F (-11C) and rubber isn't known for being particularly compliant at 70F (21C), let alone below freezing. I needed a heater.
I guess now is as good of a time as any to talk about warmth. I know there are a lot of Oppos that wrench in the cold regularly. I am not one of those. As a result, I came to this party prepared. On my lower half I had: long johns, thermal running pants, scrubs, socks, and sheepskin slippers. On my upper half I had an undershirt, long sleeve shirt, polo, hoodie, two catalytic hand warmers, scarf, hat, and a winter coat. On top of all that I had the dual burner propane heater blasting away to the tune of 20,000 BTUs.
Surprisingly I was not cold! Only my hands needed occasional attention, but otherwise I was able to zip/unzip the first two layers to effectively manage my temperature depending on activity level.
I should also point out that while the above work took only paragraphs to draw out like a high school English paper, we're talking hours of work here. By the time 8PM rolled around, three hours after I'd started, I'd only managed to seat the tip of the hose.
Eventually a small electric heater got everything mailable enough to effectively seat, and finally I had a hose on.
Sort of.
Next up I needed to tighten the hose clamp. However, given that I barely had enough room to get a small pry bar in to remove the OE clamp, finding the correct angle to tighten the hose clamp proved... challenging.
And by "challenging" I mean "impossible."
Turns out my hours wasted procrastinating disassembling the vehicle further were, indeed wasted. More was going to have to come off.
Namely, I needed to remove the power steering pully, at a minimum. This meant removing the fan clutch and serpentine belt. I'd already given removing the former a go, but ultimately met with failure and moved on. However, which a renewed sense of inevitability, after further disassembling the air box I found a way to wedge a pry bar in the water pump so I could effectively remove the fan clutch.
After much faffing around with that, I finally was able to remove the serpentine belt, then put it back on, loosen the power steering pump idler and pully, and then re-remove the belt, and finally remove the pullies.
With all that crap out of the way, I was finally able to get adequate access to the new hose clamp to get it fully secured.
Victory?
Well... no, of course not.
After putting the pullies and belt back on, it was time to attach the other end of the hose to the power steering reservoir. Allegedly an easy job, right? Of course not! Remember how it is still crazy cold out?! Yeah... the rubber didn't forget! After applying more heat, I eventually got the hose to an acceptable temperature and it reluctantly seated.
After filling the reservoir to the brim and checking, reseating, re-checking, and re-reseating the serpentine belt, I finally had a functional enough vehicle to check my work. Replacing the fan, fan clutch, and intake could wait. Or at least I suspected it could... I've heard of cars running without a MAF but I've never tried it.
Anyway, I started the car, the battery very unhappy with the current temperature outside and...
It started! And the power steering sounded OK!
For a time...
Then the groaning intensified and the system stopped working.
Air in the system? No, turning the wheel confirmed the power steering was dead again.
Looking at the reservoir, it was beginning to fill will foam again, the symptom I was trying to fix!
But... there was also very little fluid?
I stopped the car, let the fluid settle, and then REALLY filled it up. Could it be that it just sucked all the fluid in, then grabbed a gulp of air, and produced the same symptoms as before. No way I could be that lucky...
And yet.
After some initial groaning and carrying on, the sound reduced, the bubbles started falling out, and the steering started to feel... normal?
Now, don't get me wrong, the pump was still the loudest component in the engine, but I seem to recall that is always the case when it is super cold out?
At this point, it was 11PM and well and truly cocktail time. While the engine bay, driveway, and everything else was a total mess, I didn't have enough confidence in the fix or my continued longevity to button the car back up and finish the job properly.
So this is where I leave you, between hope and despair.
Cheers. 
I haven't done a complete project round up and there are quite a few I don't really talk about these days so... here we go!
First time I've included the Volvo in the "project" listing, but as it has a bunch of small things that need doing, I guess it it time.
Still fine just fine overall, but has some issues. Both visors mirror surrounds have cracked and need to be replaced, the windshield bit the dust last year and needs replaced, one of the O2 sensors is cranky and, you guessed it, needs replaced, and the driver's seat need to be re-dyed in a small area.
Overall not bad for a 7+ y/o daily driver I haven't done much to.
Made it through my new years offroading trip just fine. The Landy always wants something, but only really needs the blower motor replaced. The original part I ordered was defective, but the new replacement just came in yesterday. I'll try and get that in next time there is decent weather.
On the "wants" list, the rear driveshaft is suspect and needs to be converted to a u-joint system vs the stock flex coupling, the center console is disintegrating and needs to be... somethinged. Reinforced or replaced, I guess? And I still need to address the hail damage and failing roof paint.
No major concerns... sort of haha.
The Jag is... fine. The auxiliary water pump failed a few months ago and needs to be replaced, but only runs the heater and only at idle, so it isn't a major concern. The EGR needs to be replaced soon so I can finally rid myself of the perpetual CEL. Lastly the valve cover gaskets need to be replaced. I had oil on two of the spark plugs when I replaced them and I'm getting an acrid burning smell on and off which I am choosing to attribute to that as well.
Other than that, the Jag seems to have stabilized... for now.
Still needs a head gasket, new carpets, a dash cap, and new seats. Against all odds still runs and drives great. I can see why people love these little Alfas. Like the Land Rover it always has minor issues, but still gets you there.
Hoping to start on the head... "soon". (Literally next in line but I haven't felt much motivation for wrenching lately)
The Dumpster Fire is... fine. I recently replaced the fuel distributor to no effect. It still runs fine, but occasionally goes super lean and takes a second to recover. First and foremost it needs gas, as after draining the tank I only gave it 3 gallons and when making a hard turn it cut out.
I should put some more gas in it and then pull it out as my "errand" car, but my trust in that car and my capacity for bullshit right now are both very low.
Still thinking that is going to happen this year, but we need to have a planning meeting and make some hard decisions. One of our group is looking at changing jobs in the near future so we need to get tentative dates hammered out so he can make having those days off a condition of employment. I know that sounds weird, but it is generally the best way to guarantee time off in a job transition and I've even used it to get extra vacation before.
Still leaning towards camper builds up in the norther states, but, again, we're going to need to hammer that out, likely next week.
Has been bigly neglected. It was a fun project, but the noise, unreliability, and general impracticality of it has led me to not using it. Current plan is to strip the engine off and sell the bike in the spring. Engine is locked up due to rust in the clutch and I'm not sure if I'll salvage it or not.
Bike 1 was sold a couple months ago. Bike 2 is seemingly fine, just waiting on me to swap in some flat bars. If it doesn't see use this spring/summer I'll go ahead and sell it too. Bike 3 is seeing good use every time the sun comes out, which is rare at the moment.
After failing to acquire land (over and over and over) to build a shop on, I decided to double down on my current place and convert my "workshop" into an area I could put a lift. I've got about 50% of the cash on hand and am working on the rest.
Unfortunately, I'm working against a lot of constraints. Basically nothing about my garage meets current city code (height, location, size, etc) and is grandfathered in on all of it, so I need to tread lightly on modifications. I can't raise the soffit height without a variance and as is the ceiling will be about 2' too short for a 2-post lift. That means either getting a shorter lift or working on clever ways to get the ceiling higher in that area. I have some ideas, but haven't really dug into them fully yet.
Painter finally finished and the house (exterior) looks great. Changed the color from hearing aid beige to a historically accurate brown and white. Looks great and probably easily added 10% to the value of the house (which is good because it cost about 8%).
At the same time I was getting some windows re-glazed and my handyman got COVID. This was in early November and he still hasn't recovered enough to come and work. Frustrating, but I went ahead and had the painter put the storm windows back on so... heh.
Really liking the new D750 and getting ready to ship the D7000 to its new home. Still craving new lenses, but I need to calm down a bit as I've spent a lot of dosh on kit this month and don't want things to get ugly.
Doing a 30 day photo challenge on Instagram right now that is going well enough.
Haven't used my M43 camera in a bit, but that is hardly surprising.
Working on migrating from Dropbox to... something else. Finalists are Sync(.com) and pCloud. Both have merits and downsides. Sync seems a little more primitive, but more or less works like Dropbox from 10 years ago. Additionally they have data allowances above 2TB, which I don't need now but you never know. pCloud is very different in both good and bad ways. Mostly I can't shake that they feel a little... shady? I think it is because they charge extra for everything. That said their desktop, web, and app interfaces all feel more polished and solid than Sync.
I think the final vote will come down to zero-knowledge encryption and if I think pCloud's different workflow would be better for me or not. (I think it will?)
Final decision is coming soon as my Dropbox renews on Feb 8th.
Secret annual project has stalled and I need to get it going again as we're running low on time. Also with COVID it looks like we're going to have to make 2 designs, which is going to suck but probably be worth it.
My home research lab is going fine but I haven't used it lately. Might be my project for today, actually.
Work is good but I am a little undertasked and undermotivated, which is always worrying. Need to jumpstart into some self-led learning... or something. Things will get crazy again here in a few months so I should probably just enjoy the time I have.
Just finished reading Mogworld and enjoyed the hell out of it. Started reading A Dead Djinn in Cairo and am not sure if I like it. Feels a little "try hard," even for me. I've been watching WAY too much TV lately, so I'm going to try mixing in books and music, if for no other reason than I am running out of stuff to re-watch.
@haveacarortwoorthree Jalopnik? Never heard of it. Is it some sort of Oppo spinoff?
@chariotoflove Funny enough I think it might be my... second or third most reliable car? Depending on how you measure it anyway. None of the current fleet (save the Saab) has had to be towed, but in terms of "can't/won't drive until fixed" I think I've got...
Volvo - 2 in 8 years (battery, ECU)
Land Rover - 1 in 4 years (PS pump)
Alfa - 2 in 5 years (rust, head gasket)
Jaaaaaag - 2 or 3 in 1 year (burning smell, transmission, infotainment failure)
Saab - NaN in NaN years (all the breakdowns)
@boredalways Did they find it at the bottom of a harbor!? That is an insane amount of rust
@davesaddiction Wow yeah I didn't realize how many comments were on that post! Makes me wonder if I should port it to DT for some hashtagcontent. Then again this was right before I got laid off (which I am totally not still bitter about not one bit) and right before my mom had brain surgery (she is fine) so... not a lot of happy memories there.
@davesaddiction (cc: @spacekraken ) Found it! That was an odd weekend where I had to make an emergency trip to visit my mom followed by a work trip. http://jimisaherb.com/uploader/new/2019/7/1836311700.html
Luckily I was also the person who broke it.
I ran an errand today. Because Oklahoma, the temperature has gone from "unbearably cold" to "exceptionally pleasant" in less than a week's time. As a result, the Land Rover's automatic climate control kicked on the AC.
Except it didn't.
All I got was tepid air out of the vents.
Well... not surprising. To do the power steering pump I had to remove the AC compressor. I guess jostling it while it was that cold out finally made one of the 20 y/o lines and/or compressor give up the ghost and lost its charge over the next couple of days.
As I pulled in to get gas (not playing the range game after running out last year!) and trying to decide if I was going to try doing the repair myself or paying to have it done, I remembered there was one other component of the AC system I touched: the clutch connector.
While filling up I popped the hood and... despair! I had remembered to plug it in.
Well maybe it wasn't making good contact? I pressed on it and it moved about 3/8". Yeah... guess I didn't do a great job there.
Finish gassing up, during which the guy driving a tow truck at the next pump asked if these were reliable and I just laughed, I was treated to ice cold AC.
Hooray!
@spacekraken To be fair I did not. Drove a (now previous gen) Soul and enjoyed it if that counts.
@davesaddiction I think I did one on old Oppo (RIP). The tl;dr was woeful in every way with driver assist features more likely to cause an accident than prevent one, not with more Toyota spyware "for safety."
@spacekraken said in HOW MANY cars are on C&D's Editors' Choice list?!:
the camry is the only one that doesn't make you hate driving after an hour or so.
Strongly disagree. Driving a rental Camry for ~500 miles made me hate not just it, but all modern cars.
@davesaddiction Wow yeah. This has to represent a large percentage of the cars on sale today...