| Author |
Message |
    
Dianne
| | Posted on Monday, May 13, 2002 - 12:58 pm: | 
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I am looking for recommendations for independent Land Rover mechanics in the Bay Area (I am in Sunnyvale, CA). I have a 96 Discovery. Any suggestions?
Thanks! |
derek (Vortrex)
| | Posted on Monday, May 13, 2002 - 02:22 pm: |
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I would go to roverland in SF and talk to philip, a french guy, he's the owner. he is land rover certified. I had very good experience with him. fair on the prices, good work, very friendly. even drove me to the bus stop and adjusted my parking brake for free. of course he is a little ways from you... |
joeylafever
| | Posted on Monday, May 13, 2002 - 04:31 pm: |
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I am also in sunnyvale with a 96 and I have not found a land rover mechanic, but depending on the
job your looking for I found a guy that is honest and very
knowledgeable at diagnosing and fixing just about anything. He has helped me out with great results a few times and for a great price. Any good mechanic can fix the truck land rover or not. if you want to get a hold of him e-mail me and let me know what you are looking to have done and I will give you his #...
Joe |
Rich Lee
| | Posted on Monday, May 13, 2002 - 06:45 pm: |
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While I had an extended warranty, I used John Lancaster and his mechanics at Exclusive British Europen in Campbell. Although the name is a little snooty, the Shop is not. The quality of his his mechanics and their work is better than the dealer, and his prices for parts and labor are lower. My only advice if you use him is that you make it very clear when you need the car back if you are doing major repairs. Sometimes he gets a little swamped. and big jobs will take a little longer than expected. Routine repairs are usually pretty speedy.
His web address is www.ebemotors.com
Another potentially good shop is Portola Valley Garage, in Portola Valley. (4170 Alpine Road
Portola Valley, CA 94028 Phone: 650 851-7442). It is in an expensive area, and the prices may reflect that.
Once you are out of warranty, I would suggest you do as much of the service and repairs as you are (increasingly) comfortable with. These vehicles are surprisingly easy to work on. The only specialty Rover tool I have purchased is a hub nut socket.
We have a 91 Range Rover and a 95 Discovery and I have fixed or replaced all the high-milage/abuse "wear" items on both vehicles with surprising ease and reliability (including 1 axle, viscous unit & seals in a transfer case, ABS Pump, fuel pump, water pump, various electrical items, shocks & springs and all major services). I have not used a professional mechanic for 2 years now, since they all charge more per hour than I make (I am a full-time primary care physician) and since it is such a hassle for me to coordinate dropping off and picking up vehicles from where I live.
You can also get lots of help and mentoring from the people on Discoweb (some of it is pretty accurate) and from the nice folks in the Northern California Rover Club (www.norcalrover.org)who frequently provide help on their "mendo-recce" BBS.
Phillipe at Roverland in SF has a good reputation, but that is an awful long way to drive from Sunnyvale.
A mechanically-inclined boyfriend or husband may also be of help for the heavy/messy jobs, but they are as equally hard to find as a good Rover mechanic.
My only "pearls of wisdom" if you work on your own truck are:
1. Get both the Factory Repair Manual and the Electronic Troubleshooting Manual.
2. Get your parts from the vendors on Discoweb in advance of major service and be sure you have everything you need before you start...ask if you are not sure.
3. Double-check each step of your repairs and use the torque wrench correctly.
Good Luck
Rich Lee |
Dianne
| | Posted on Monday, May 13, 2002 - 11:22 pm: |
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Thanks everyone, for all of your input.
Rich - I recently purchased a 96 Disco with 80K miles on it. My boyfriend keeps nudging me to have all of the fluids changed and to perform some basic preventative maintenance. He says that he could probably do most of the work himself, but he has not worked on Land Rovers before. Have you done much of the work that is recommended at the 60/90K levels? What was the most challenging/time consuming? Also, have you found a Factory Repair Manual online?
Thanks again. |
bender2033
| | Posted on Monday, May 13, 2002 - 11:44 pm: |
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Dianne,
Two weeks ago I got a 1996 Disco with 81k miles as well. I just changed all of the fluids my self this last weekend (except for flushing the radiator, brakes, and power steering fluid). This was an easy task just time consuming since it was my first time wrenching in 5 years.
I ordered my manual for only $75 from www.4x4connection.com seems like a great deal. This is another great site that HIGHLY details with pictures the 60k service. http://www.d-90.com/~daveg/60kservice/main.html
I changed the oil, oil filter, both diffs, t-case, tranny, and both swivels. Do yourself a favor and get a $6 fluid pump at NAPA it will make the job alot easier. All was done with simple tools, the only gotcha might be breaking the fill plugs on the tcase and diffs as I had to use a 1/2" breaking bar.
Cheers,
bender2033 |
bender2033
| | Posted on Monday, May 13, 2002 - 11:48 pm: |
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Dianne,
Oh, I forgot ... changing the fluids is a nice introduction to your Disco too, spending so much time underneath i was able to become familiar with the truck. I also noticed that my oil cooler lines were leaking. Gotta fix that soon.
Before I take it on the trails I plan to:
- Replace oil cooler lines
- Replace all radiator hoses
- Replace Belt
- Change Plug Wires / Plugs
- Change Air Filter
- Lube all Zerkes.
This will set a nice baseline for future PM.
Oh, you can also order a free parts catalog from www.roversnorth.com
 |
chris sharpe (C_M_Sharpe)
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 14, 2002 - 12:04 am: |
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Hi Diane,
I live in Campbell.
I have heard good things about ebe motors but have never used them. You should be able to do most of your service on your own.
I agree with everything that Bender said. I'm not that mechanicaly inclined but I managed to replace some hoses and do my 60k service last month. Get the manuals and order the parts online. For the service, I dont think it will matter than your boyfriend hasnt worked on rovers before. The only difficult job is the trans filter which I paid to have done while having other work performed (warrantly work on my cats so it cost 1/2 the normal amount). Oh, and definately get the cheap fluid pump. I didnt, and squeezing 80/90 oil into the diffs and trans was a major pain!
cheers
chris |
Rich Lee
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 14, 2002 - 03:04 am: |
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Hi Dianne.
Yes I have done the 120k mi service on the truck, and it is not that bad. The worst part is the tranny filter, because you have to drop the Y-pipe & catalysts and remove the frame cross member. It sounds a lot harder than it actually is. Either of you can do this with no problem. I suggest you let him do the dirty work, but you watch and assit him closely as the "Q/A Director".
Key points:
Don't forget to buy new Y-pipe exhaust gaskets and at least a couple extra manifold to downpipe studs and (6) all new Y-pipe nuts.
Squirt all your exhaust fasteners with your favorite penetrating oil the night before you work on things (or at leas a few hours).
Be sure you have all the appropriate Lock-tite compounds, high-temp silicone, teflon thread sealer and Permatex Anti-Sieze and Hylomar compounds.
Don't forget to disconnect the oxygen sensors before you drop the Y-pipe (I braced it on my legs as I lowered it, pretty easy that way)
Your bottle jack an a proper wood block work fine for spreading the frame rails to remove/reinstall the crossmember.
A simple pair of wrap-around safety glasses are great for keeping crud out of your eyes and the $10 Ray-O-Vac AA-cell headlamp with focusing beam (at Fry's) makes all the under-vehicle work a lot easier. Don't forget the Nitrile disposable gloves.
A low-profile roller creeper is nice for getting around under the truck, but a cheap closed-cell camping pad works well in a pinch (or on the trail).
Ditto on the pump, but it's a lot easier with sunthetic 90wt.
Go for it the more you know the more you will enjoy the truck.
Regards,
Rich |
Dianne
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 14, 2002 - 03:42 pm: |
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Thanks for all of the information. How long does it take to replace the transmission filter?
And, how much should I expect to spend for all of the parts, fluids, etc. with a do-it-yourself 60K service?
Has anyone used the Haynes Service Manual? Is it any good? It seems like the Land Rover Service Manual is more technical and not as "Step by Step" as the Haynes. |
Rich Lee
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - 12:52 am: |
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With the right tools and no last-minute parts runs, no sheared bolts or studs, on a warm dry day, with no major interruptions, my best guess is from 2 to 2.5 hours to do the whole under-vehicle fluids & filter change. This includes changing all fluids and filters in the engine, tranny, transfer case, diffs, fuel filter and swivels (if not changed over to LR grease)and greasing the driveshafts. Add 1.5 to 2 hours if you have little mechanical experience or any minor bad luck. This also assumes you have the truck up on 4 solid jack stands with the wheels off (another 10 to 20 min.).
The "top end" work of replacing coolant, water hoses, plugs, wires, emission t-piece (if needed) , serpentine belt and air filter is another 1 to 2 hours.
The other "tidbits" on the service schedule should take another 30 to 60 minutes. It really helps to have someone as a first assistant, to hand you parts and tools, read and check each step from the manual (including torque settings)and clean/prepare parts for re-assembly.....I usually end up doing this in an unheated garage, alone, and after 10 pm while hoping I don't get called or paged. The best time to do it all is on a liesurely spring saturday, while listening to "Car Talk" on NPR.
Costs:
Rover Connection has major service kits. The "basic" kit for the 96-99 D1 costs $187 and includes spark plugs, ignition wires, air filter, automatic transmission filter kit, swivel grease, Oil Filter, & Drain Plug.
Their "Plus" kit costs $308 and includes BOSCH 4+ platinum spark plugs, Magnecor 8mm performance ignition wires, K&N air filter, automatic transmission filter kit, swivel grease,K&N Oil Filter & Drain Plug Washer.
If you pick and choose from various vendors and go with a cheaper (i.e. Champion or NGK ) plugs, you can probably get away with "basic" items for about $160 or the "Plus" items for around $200.
Other parts:
$20 to $30 for exhaust nuts(6), gaskets (2 + 1)and studs (2)
$9 to $12 for a FRAM fuel filter
$0 to $100 for water/coolant hoses (none to all)
$25 to $40 for serpentine belt (if needed)
$16 to $36 for 8 qts of oil (6 + 2 extra, reg vs. synthetic).
$12 to $25 for 10 qts of ATF (8 + 2 extra, reg. vs. valvoline "extra life" for older trannies)
$16 to $64 for 8 gts of gear oil (reg vs. synthetic).
$10 to $14 for coolant
$25 to $40 for Castrol LMA brake fluid, sealants, lock-tite, grease, cleaner, rags, band-aids etc.
All in all, the parts for 60k mi service could run between $300 and $650 based upon the above prices and what needs to be replaced.
This assumes you have no brake work to do. Figure 20 to 30 minutes to bleed all brakes and 5 to 10 minutes to replace each pair (1 wheel)of brake pads. If you need to replace the rotors, figure another 20 to 40 minutes to do each one, which includes new bearing seals and repacking the wheel bearings.
Regardless, it's probably a good idea to get a set of pads for later. Rover Connection has the best price at $53/set of front or rear OEM pads.
I don't have the Haynes manual, but I assume it is plenty good for maintenence help.
Good Luck
Rich |
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