Posted on

Surveying The Damage

I was going to post these last week when I took them, but then life intervened. 

So it appears that the bolts holding the caliper retaining bracket just backed out entirely. They are gone. No damage to the caliper, bracket, hub, or disk. The back shield is shot, as are the brake pads and the brake hose. 


I have already gotten the replacement pads, and the new hose should be here in the next day or two. I am still looking for the shield. I thought there was one at the local junkyard, but they scrapped both the Discos they had. Bad timing!

Anyway, hopefully she will be back together in time to make the drive up to Columbia, SC, this Saturday for the Midlands Centre British Car Day  held in conjunction with the Scottish games and festival.  



And the cause of the problem itself? Must be my handiwork. Not the Land Rover’s fault. I either didn’t torque the bolts down enough, or put in too much anti-seize compound, or something. At the very least I didn’t go back and recheck my work later. Always inspect then inspect again. Especially when you’re talking wheels and brakes. 

Guess I should get that new tire before I hit the highway this weekend too. Need to have a spare. Oh, and a jack. 

Posted on

My Brake Broke

So how does the caliper come completely loose? It may be hard to tell from this photo, but the caliper is basically sitting at the front of the brake rotor instead of at back where it should be. Yes, it broke loose with a whomp and has gone about 180 degrees around. Accompanied, of course, by popped brake lines and a massive gushing of fluid. At least I was in very low-speed traffic at the end of the day.

I will be the first to admit that this must be something I did, somehow. This is the front left brake that I replaced not a month ago. There were seized bolts in the old one, and I had to get replacement bolts from a junkyard.

I am not even sure yet what gave way, but maybe I tighten something down wrong. Or maybe there was a bigger reason the old ones were stuck. For whatever reason, something let loose.

This also means that for the second time in under a week my Land Rover and I are sitting dead on the side of the road. Last week it was a blown tire. (Totally my fault.) This week a broken brake. Oh, the joys of life with older British cars. Actually, any older cars. Or just about any cars of any age at all for that matter.

But I bring it on myself, so I’m not complaining.

Well, not much anyway.

Posted on

I Am Tired, or, How I Blew It

Sometimes life happens to us. And sometimes we bring it on ourselves. In this case, I brought it on myself.

I was calmly cruising home from work, maybe going to tad too fast for the road, when my entire left hand side took an unceremonious dip into a construction pothole. Not your normal kind of minor water holding pothole, but the deep ragged jagged crevasse that roadwork leaves. 

As soon as I felt it, I knew it was gonna be good. Sure the Land Rover suspension could handle something like that, but I also knew that I didn’t have the best tires in the world. Sure enough, as soon as I got to my destination around the corner I could hear the air escaping from the rear tire. A huge hole in the side.

As bad as this sounds, it was made worse by my am stupidity. Not only did I not have a jack in the truck, but my spare was of dubious quality and had no air in. There was no way I was going to be able to get the rover on the road by myself.

Yes, I was driving around totally unprepared. And I knew it. I had known it for months and chosen to do nothing about it. No, that’s not totally true. The one thing I had done was to put my spare tire and jack needs on my todo list. Wow, how efficient of me. 

Luckily, I was in front of a friend’s house – which was my destination all along. I was able to call AAA and they promptly sent a truck. My friend even insisted that I go to dinner with him and his wife and enjoy a few beers and a burger on them. Those the kind of friends to have. 

Long story short, I got it towed home. I aired up the sprare so that I could at least motivate a bit, and a new tire or two and a jack on the next things on my purchase list. As well as looking at my todo list a little more often. And perhaps actually getting a few of those things done.

Posted on

It Leaks

Well of course it does! It is not that bad actually, and it is to be expected. It is leaking around the sunroof. Although I had seen stains before, I had never seen actual water until now. Strange because it has been in the rain before now, and I have driven it in the rain a few times. 


Today’s rain wasn’t heavy, but must have hit in just the right way to drive the water on through. I noticed drips from the rear view mirror and then, when I stopped hard, a small stream from the overhead switch area. 


Again, this doesn’t bother me much. It is fixable, common, and more an annoyance than anything else. Besides, I have driven British cars – mostly convertibles – all my life. This is a walk in the park. 

Oh! And notice in the pictures above … I got cup holders! Got them of a Disco in the local junkyard for only about $15. 

Posted on

Trouble Codes

Land Rover Discover 2 Trouble Codes ODB2

Yes, I know. Lots of work to do. And this does not even include the 3-Amigos.

Oh, and of course it does not include things that don’t show up on these sensors, like getting my blower motor to work, testing the A/C – who knows what that will turn up, the valve cover leak, the slight exhaust leak, the need of an alignment and new ball-joints, etc. Yup, the list goes on.

Land Rover Discover 2 Trouble Codes ODB2

I really like this Disco, and it is doing great as daily transport other than poor gas mileage. But, the list can sure seem daunting at times, especially when you consider that I have three other old British cars each with their own list.