Work on my RRC

1st month of ownership of my RRC 3.9 and 1st part of major work I need to do, and quite looking forward to it!

I have noticed a crack in the exhaust manifold on the O/S, have found a replacement part on ebay for £15 and also a new set of gaskets, studs and bolts etc too

Going to attempt in next few days... only worry i have is getting the thing out and hopefully no bolts snap

Only over problems I need to tackle are... rear wiper in not working, it is almost like it wants to go but is restricted, may try and source a new motor as the relay and fuse are fine... only other thing could be a bad earth connection

And also when I turn the steering to the left when travelling slowly or stationary then is a groaning noise, pump and fluids seem fine, i think something may need greasing...?

Hi , what year classic is it?

more on here the better mate so welcome.

if you pull down (very gently) the headling at the back you can check if the mechanism has siezed up on your rear wiper. it may just be a knackered motor though, or a bad earth.

I get that groaning on my 3.9 classic too, people have mention it on here as the steering damper before, it could be the pump too but to be honest its been doing it for 2 years now and still works no bother lol , I got a spare pump sat on my self I got cheap just in case

Hiya Fett

Its a 1992 J reg Vogue SE in Ardennes Green

To be fair the steering is spot on apart from the noise, its just annoying, I may jack the front up over the weekend and have a look whats happening there

The headlining is coming away at the rear (getting a replacement soon) so should be easy enough.. I will report back my findings!

good man, and thats the best 4 door model year to have 91-92 as you get lots of extras like heated door locks but no cats to worry about

mines ardennes green too like two others in my road lol

fett said:

thats the best 4 door model year to have 91-92 as you get lots of extras

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For what I paid I couldnt believe how many goodies are included!

I had to buy a new lower tailgate and couldnt find one in Ardennes Green, I found one with no rust at all in an older green, it doesnt look too bad bad I am going to have in re sprayed in the correct colour code

good man, it will be good for the snow too!

If you take the rear wiper motor out and open it up you'll probably find it full of rust hence the malfunction. Replace it and away you go.
Just remember when testing the new one in situ the motor only works with the tailgate closed - ask me how I know!

dkl1971 said:

If you take the rear wiper motor out and open it up you'll probably find it full of rust hence the malfunction. Replace it and away you go.
Just remember when testing the new one in situ the motor only works with the tailgate closed - ask me how I know!

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Cheers for that, I will be looking at it very soon

I think I remember seeing a button inside the upper tailgate so I assume that senses the tailgate is open then?

Last night I managed to get the exhaust manifold off after lots of hard work, seized nuts and bolts and very limited access!

As this was the O/S manifold I couldnt get clear access to the downpipe with the diff in the way, and i didnt feel confident even attempting to remove this, eventually managed to get the socket up and in with a big extension and all done

The manifold had a HUGE crack all the way around and one the the bolts was loose and the gaskets was really black

New one to be put in soon!

You did well to get the manifold off without snapping any bolts/studs! My drivers side manifold went on my old RRC V8 (also a 1991 model) and it was a right pig. Most of the bolts eventually came off bar the last one towards the back of the engine bay, which snapped off flush with the block - had to be drilled out at the most awkward angle imaginable! With mine, the manifold was fine, just the gasket had gone - so all that effort to fit a poxy 80p gasket!!

MikeV8SE said:

You did well to get the manifold off without snapping any bolts/studs! My drivers side manifold went on my old RRC V8 (also a 1991 model) and it was a right pig. Most of the bolts eventually came off bar the last one towards the back of the engine bay, which snapped off flush with the block - had to be drilled out at the most awkward angle imaginable! With mine, the manifold was fine, just the gasket had gone - so all that effort to fit a poxy 80p gasket!!

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It was very scary trying to get them off, I used some Plus-Gas and I am assuming this helped or maybe just purely my wicked technique lol

One bolt I though I had rounded the head off but I managed to get a grip on it with the socket and using sheer brute strength it squeaked and grinded before coming loose

The worst part was the downpipe studs though, just had so little access.. What I ended up doing was taking all the bolts from the head off so the manifold was loose so I could kind of move it into posistion to go up round the diff with the socket

Looking forward to fitting the replacement now and hopefully having a car that doesnt sound like a tank and drink all my petrol!

chrismyatt82 said:

Looking forward to fitting the replacement now and hopefully having a car that doesnt sound like a tank and drink all my petrol!

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I don't know how to break this to you but.....it's still gonna drink lots of petrol, no matter what you do!!

Fortunately it was just the manifold gasket on mine so didn't have to touch the downpipes...

MikeV8SE said:

I don't know how to break this to you but.....it's still gonna drink lots of petrol, no matter what you do!!

Fortunately it was just the manifold gasket on mine so didn't have to touch the downpipes...

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Lol, aware of that!

But 10 MPG is pretty bad even for this car, I am 99% sure this will improve with the new gaskets and manifold as the o2 sensor will surely get better readings as use less fuel

wait untill you get it back together run it for a while and have a look at the plugs to see how its running. they seem to be the only true indicators of long term running condtion!

fett said:

wait untill you get it back together run it for a while and have a look at the plugs to see how its running. they seem to be the only true indicators of long term running condtion!

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Will do, I will tell you my finding soon!

The oil isnt looking the healthiest so another bit of work on my list is to get a camshaft kit and do a bit of a rebuild inside as well as some fresh oil!

unless its noisy do the oil first and see how it runs.

beware of cheaper top end rebuild kits, especially the followers and rocker arms- I have heard very bad things. avoid britpart bits at all costs!

I normally go oem for my bits.

good luck with it , dont spend too much on stuff that doesnt need doing yet as plenty of stuff that does will soon rear its ugly head :doh:

This is the one I was looking at...

Camshaft Kit 2 - Standard at www.rimmerbros.co.uk

It isnt listed as aftermarket or genuine landrover so would that make it OEM?

not sure , its always better to ring or email and ask. rimmers are quite good at responding to emails. looks like its out of stock anyway.

I wouldnt take any chances on this job, there have been lots of horror stories with people having to do it 2 or 3 times due to faulty bits. also dont for get you zdp rich cam lube and run in procedure!

I will try the oil and see what happens there

The engine has been noisy anyway due to the crack in the exhaust manifold so hopefully will get a better look into soon

yeah it will be like a sewing machine hopefully

New Exhaust Manifold was fitted on Saturday... So little access to use the torque wrench on the bolts but managed to get there in the end! The engine sounds MUCH better (not like a tank) and can appreciate the V8 now, also MPG seems to be a little better too

The motor on the rear wiper has seized, we got it working then it stopped again so on the lookout for another soon... a previous owner done a bit of a bodge job with the rear wiper as it wasnt the right one, they cut open the hole that attaches the arm to the motor and glued some metal in to make it wider, strange stuff!