Oscar sailed through his surprise MOT today. Yes it really was a surprise, took Oscar to Dartford Transmissions to investigate a noise and found out the Alternator is wining, but as the MOT was due on the 8th March, and the MOT bay at the garage next door was free, the Garage owner said, lets chuck it in and see. It initially failed as I had forgotten to clear the EML as I had replaced a sensor and as I hadn't planned on doing the MOT today, hadn't cleared the system. So cleared, then Passed with no advisories. So dead chuffed that another MOT and passed. Was fuming when I got home to find my ML had been keyed though. None of the other cars had been touched, just the ML.

However glad that the MOT was done sooner than planned as I am having an operation in just over 2 weeks which will leave me unable to drive for at least 2 weeks.

Shortly after the MOT, it was discovered that the alternator is trying to set light to Oscar. So Oscar is now not in use for now. It was going to be sorted next month, but MoFo the C-Max which we thought wouldn't need anything decided it needed £500 worth of work and with Mona still having 1 more payment left to pay on the work done in December, I had to prioritise MoFo for my partner to get to and from work. Although I am in the dog house for that one as I was told to scrap it. And the thought of my Range Rover's or ML falling to the fate of being used everyday by him filled my body with dread. After all, the last time before our holiday, The turbo blew up on Tank. I am very sad that I can't use Oscar though. As soon as MoFo's repairs are paid off, Oscar will be transported up to my favourite garage to have the alternator sorted. Then I will get back to using Oscar more frequently.

Gutted, Oscar decided he didn't want to start, Just 1 click from under the bonnet. Checked the battery voltage is was at 9 volts, so hoped that was the problem, tried to jump it, and nothing, and now the battery has gone almost completely flat So I guess I know what is on my list of jobs tomorrow. Battery off for a full in house charge. But it looks like I may have a broken ignition switch as well. Gutted as I was looking forward to using Oscar for a bit especially as the belt tensioner has just gone on my ML. Luckily after my operation, I am now able to get in and out of the campervan, so I am now back in that for most of my daily driving as I have been too lazy to get the tyres sorted on Tank.

Well.... It turns out that the battery is knackered. Dropped at least 1 cell, Bought in January 2017, Couldn't remember what warranty it had with it at the time I bought it and lost the invoice It is with the service history in a very very safe place So contacted Tayna who I bought the battery from, and they were extremely helpful. I know, I know, some people will be shocked, I am being nice about a company But they truly were, they tracked down the invoice with what little information I could give them, then after a few simple questions, They just told me, we are sending you a replacement I am extremely grateful to them for the help that they gave me, They went above and beyond. So according to the tracking information, my new battery will be coming tomorrow at some point.

Fingers and toes are crossed that this solves the not starting problem.

Really need good news right now, as my partner has been forcibly reduced to part time hours as the company he works for are struggling thanks to all the idiots who are over reacting to the cold! Sorry, I mean Coronavirus

Next on the shopping list for Oscar will be an alternator as it is making a noise. However Mona the ML has spat her dummy out again and needs my attention.

My days and any hope of rest are long out the window. I burst several stitches this week and ended up having to have them out. I have been told no heavy lifting, just rest for at least another 2 weeks as I now have no stitches. Fat chance, I am working on someone elses Range Rover tomorrow. And my own cars over the next 2 days.

I am looking forward to getting Oscar back into more frequent use though.

I have put the current battery on a deep cycle charge in hopes that it may charge, but doubt it will work.

and life goes on
i was wondering how you were going
i dont get the notices in my emails any more
good to here you are keeping on keeping on RR 2005 4.4 petrol
Any spelling mistakes are the fault of spellchecker
Previous MG J2, CITROEN light 15 x 2 gone unfortunately
Present MERC 180e, RANGE ROVER L322, JAGUAR XJS, MERC 280SE, MG F, JAGUAR S-Type 6v 2003, jaguar s-type 8v 2004, Ford Cougar

Cheers.

It turns out, there were 2 faults, Battery terminal wasn't fitted properly and the battery was knackered. And today the new battery arrived, and I fitted it this morning, and first flick of the key, and Oscar roared into life. So relieved.

But life seems to give with one hand and take with the other, After my so called best friend back in 2013 stole from me, I spent the following years replacing the tools that were stolen, and sods law said that one tool I hadn't replaced yet, was the one I needed today, so my ML is stuck on the garden until my 3/8 Breaker bar turns up as someone pulled the belt off without needing to slacken the tensioner as it is that bad but need the breaker to move it to get to a bolt

However I have been on 1 test drive in it and loved every minute, and then took a customer out in mine to show him how under powered his was And after shutting my business down in 2013, I am back up and running and slowly getting my customer base built back up

Oscar has certainly kept me on my toes over the last week! 14th I decided to use him to go shopping thinking the starting problem was solved by the new battery, Oh how I was soo wrong. Turns out, my starter motor that I had originally suspected, was faulty, I shoved some fuel in, and Click..... So we had to push the car off of the forecourt and wait for the AA. The guy showed up and after a few old fashioned smacks of the hammer and pole on the starter motor, he roared into life. Needless to say, I didn't turn the engine off until I got home That was on the 14th.

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Flipping heck you must have driven straight into that one. Ouch.

Well, had to get some jobs done on the C-Max as the alarm kept going off randomly, and went to sit down on the tailgate of Oscar, and heard a loud crack, and it let go on one side, and noticed the strap had snapped.

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Spent isolation working on my cars, starting with my ML which I have done some modifications and upgrades on, but today I decided it was Oscars time for attention. So swapped the cars over and put him on my garden ready for tomorrow, and all was fine at first, had it idling for about 10 minutes, decided to run full diagnostics to get a head start on a list of jobs to tackle on the next stretch of the current lockdown. And then all of a sudden he just cut out on me. So started him right back up several times, each time would start to idle, then cut out again, so ran diagnostics several times and one code keeps coming back, Airflow meter. But I don't think the meter itself is at fault, I think the wiring got damaged when I hit the pothole, but strange that I have been using Oscar on and off without issue since resetting the peddle parameters. I tried that again and it didn't solve the problem. So I have a long list of things to keep me busy for a few weeks depending on the weather lol

I have now repainted the Kahn grill, just got to rub it down and then spray it with lacquer, then I can fit the new mesh and finally get it back on the car.

But my planned list is:

Drivers door wiring / electrical faults to find and fix.
Reverse camera stopped working after PK Motors damaged my car, so either fix that camera or fit a different camera system on to it.
Rear Tailgate Straps.
Hot oil smell to be traced.
New to me sidestep to be refurbished and fitted.
Steering wheel to be replaced.
Idling fault.
Central left rear parking sensor to be replaced.

Probably other things I have forgotten as well.

Click image to enlarge

Finally gotten around to investigating the electrical faults in the door, the pin for the solid blue wire in the P Bus plug that goes to the drivers master switch pack had come partially away from the plug hole. So pushed it back in, and ALL my electrical gremlins solved at once I have left the door card off as I am going to fit the replacement door card during the next lot of good weather. The Kahn grill paint is now also finished, just waiting for my polishing compound to be ready to collect then I can buff it, then I will be able to fit the new mesh and finally get it back on the car.

Next issue to deal with is the fact it now doesn't like idling once the engine is warm. I have a replacement throttle body sat at my neighbours house from the one we broke, just waiting for that to magically appear outside, then I can fit it. But I think my TPS is knackered as well. However working on Oscar is now over again until the next lot of good weather. Having to also pace the work I do as I am speeding through the lists too quickly and running out of boredom busting tasks too quickly

good one
lucky to find that i think RR 2005 4.4 petrol
Any spelling mistakes are the fault of spellchecker
Previous MG J2, CITROEN light 15 x 2 gone unfortunately
Present MERC 180e, RANGE ROVER L322, JAGUAR XJS, MERC 280SE, MG F, JAGUAR S-Type 6v 2003, jaguar s-type 8v 2004, Ford Cougar

It was thanks to a member of my club who was having various issues and found the fault to be that wire, that I decided to take a look at mine. Then I started looking into it more online and found that it is quite a common issue on 2002-2005 L322's

Another job done, replaced the throttle body housing on this one as my old one was showing as faulty, deep cleaned this one as it has been in storage for a while. Now the acceleration is even better than before, only downside was the damn jubilee clip snapped on me, which was enough to me off so after a quick risky test drive around the block, I banished Oscar to the road so I could do some repairs to MoFo and now Mona is back on the garden for further work. In a few weeks Oscar will be back up for paint correction and other little jobs. Looks like my airflow meter may be knackered though

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

what diagnostic unit do you use RR 2005 4.4 petrol
Any spelling mistakes are the fault of spellchecker
Previous MG J2, CITROEN light 15 x 2 gone unfortunately
Present MERC 180e, RANGE ROVER L322, JAGUAR XJS, MERC 280SE, MG F, JAGUAR S-Type 6v 2003, jaguar s-type 8v 2004, Ford Cougar