COLD SURFER

A local donor rover has made itself available. It's an entire 1989 RR SWB and my 1993 RR SWB (both LHD) is needing steel-panel/body parts replaced (all doors/hood/lower gate) Will these doors work if I fit the front fenders from the 1989 on the 1993 as well? Will the hood work? Will the tailgate work? Will a trans swap be acceptable (both are ZF 4speed Auto) Best Regards and Thanks for input. Happy New Year to the Rovering world. -TD 1993 SWB RRC 1993 LWB RRC

no pics at this time, but I got a welded up craddle from www.dap-inc.com and my 10,000 winch dropped right in after some hacking away of the bumper of my RRC. Made 2 - 2" cuts into the lower part of the bumper about 2' across and bend/pounded/folded the heavy bumper metal forward to allow the winch to rotate 90 degrees forward. the mount was pre-drilled, zinc washed, and 1/4" thick. Don't know if DAP sources the mount from the UK or not, but it's faster and cheaper to go this route from my experience mounting on other vehicles that had serious pressure applied to the mounts during their life. The unit mounts between the bumper mounts. U shaped channel with box welded ends.

Yes there was a big improvement after the 3 flushes -- for forward gears... Prior to that -- I had forward gears for 3 shifts moving forward. Then if I hit a light it would hold 1st gear and then free rev. I would coast and pull off on a side road and wait 15-30 minutes. Then it would start and shift 3 times, repeat. I did that for 15 miles (4 times) and nursed it home. Pre Flush: Last 5,000 miles of abuse for the rover: mainly heavy offroad in Florida swamps, running a mantek -- deep water swamp washes, water pouring in sunroof on occasion, but often over the hood. buckled out the fenders and lost a few turn lamps, front airdam long since gone, deep mud framed a few times (door level), sand/sand/sand and more sand. Got some of that junk in the tranny fluid. the SWB is at 122K and it had not had a trans service since maybe 50K. I thought the trans was completely bullet-proof until the morning of the 3 shift dance. Post Flush: after the filter and 3 time flush -- got all forward gears going with firm shifts. no engage or anything for reverse until the last time we took the SWB out. it engaged the slippy free-rev and about 2 feet of reverse movement on level pavement. SO -- we got the LWB trans and there is sits waiting on the outcome of this. It's also a spare for out other LWB that runs like a champ. We've driven about 75 miles with no reverse since the flush. Do you think we should try putting on a few hundred miles before tearing it out? Florida is level in most parking spots but we don't have to drive it on a weekly basis so there she sits. I did get a 4 ton hand winch for that real manual reverse gear - should the mind slip in neutral gear and we pull downhill into a busy parking spot sometime... thanks, TD

Great comments and concerns I hadn't considered about the lines -- I wonder if flushing the current fluid 3 times has blown out most of the gunk? the current box runs but it slips in reverse very badly (weak engage and only a slight lunge on accel, ~2 feet and nothing). It's got better -- was no engagement in reverse before -- but it's not going to help out offroad in the wrong situtation. would fluid from the lines enter the trans AFTER the filter? this is a big concern -- and I'd hate to destroy my replacement...

My advice, coming from FL and home of the 5' deep wash.... assuming your coil is good and is replaced, here is a $13 fix that might not look pretty but it WORKS: 1. take the Dist. cap off, spray wire-dryer under where the rotor is, on the rotor, and inside the cap. look for cracks and burnt leads inside the cap. $3. 2. Get the $3 tube of di-electric grease. 3. $7 get the BIG tube of blue auto RTV. remove each plug wire, one at a time and grease the connector , then RTV the wire to the plug and also to the cap. Same for the coil lead. now move to the coil electrical wires -- remove and RTV the HECK out of them. I RTV'd EVERY wire I could find on the engine. 4. RTV the cap onto the distributor. be careful. ensure it is solid on there and pressed properly down. IT RUNS BETTER THAN A NEW TUNEUP. IT IDLES SMOOTHLY. ensure the vacuum breather tubes are NOT cracked. mine sucked water into the engine and it FOGGED the inside of the distributor and then did what you described after I shut it off. Sometimes the vacuum line for the cruise control is cracked and can suck water in there too. on US models the unit is on the front left side. not sure about the RHD type. If you cruise does not work you could have vacuum leaking and also sucking in water, dirt, etc... into your engine. both of my RRC's leaked and had cracked vacuum hoses. just some cheap thoughts to check. good luck...

no comments on this one?

Question and advice needed from those experienced in tranny swaps on RRC: The valve body in my 1993 SWB RRC 3.9L seems to have seized the reverse gear. Didn't stay up on fluid/filter change and got swap water in the trans during deep washes (4'+ sandy water). Anyhow, got all forward gears going but reverse only half shifts into reverse now and slips, not engaging. on filter change there was 1/2 teaspoon of clutch matter in the pan - fluid was not burnt -- just milky. drain and refilled 3x. changed filter second time. put in lucas and seafoam. So, I found a used 1993 LWB 4.2L trans and had it delivered to the house. haven't changed it out yet. My repair logic and options currently are: 1. remove, clean, and reinstall the current valve body. no concern, other than the waste of another $20 of tranny fluid and time. will have to do a drive-way tranny swap so I'm inclined to give her another "FIX' attempt to avoid the pain of a 4wd transfer/tranny/etc remove/reinstall. 2. swap the valve body from the 4.2 trans to the trans on the 3.9L (original one) in the truck. concern -- possible gunk still in the circuits, different part number from rover. 3. swap out the trans entirely without fooling with the other valve body. Concern -- are the SWB and LWB ratios different OR is the computer different? thanks, TD Melbourne, FL space coast

I got a new set of bosch wires at AUTOZONE (US, I know, but they were about $39 instead of the $80 special order ones). then while I replaced them I used BLUE RTV on each plug and cap terminal end, ensuring no water or spark leaking. installed new plugs too. I sprayed a good dose of wire dryer in the distributer and RTV'd that on too. RTV'd the coil to the cap AND both terminal sides of the coil. The result was OUTSTANDING and only $5 more than installing new wires. no misses, no pops, no questions if I submerged the engine. Ever test it at night? open the hood away from street lights and spray a misting of water around the coil, cap, plugs. If you get a light show then I recommend the RTV silicon job. Call it a boob job, it does wonders for an old sagging rover.

Can the 1989 transmission from a RRC swap directly into a 1993 RRC SWB ? Better yet, will the valve body be the same? Thanks, Tony

So I have a ZF auto SWB, 119K, 1993 RRC that has a problem going into reverse. Can someone with experience in ZF auto gearboxes help debug this one: 1. transmission slips and doesn't engage when gear selector is shifted to "R" reverse. 2. all forward gears are working fine, now that I've changed the filter and flushed the fluid about 4 times with fresh. There is about 3 oz of SEA FOAM tranny additive and 24 OZ of lucas just added on the last refill. 3. when the pan was off the pan had more than a sanding of non-metallic parts. 4. the fliud had not been changed for 4 years+. Synthetic mobil1 was used at that time. The problem started 1 week ago. before any service attempts the tranny would drive 1-2-3-4 and at the next light blow the shift into 2nd, free-rev engine/slipping. shut it off, tranny would engage forward or reverse. Then it went 1-2-3-4, downshifts at light, blow the shift into 2nd gear. shutdown. same thing again and again. From what I read in manuals: Does anyone know what Rover means by "reverse gear interlock valve siezed"? The only other reference to it in the rover manual is the "gear selector interlock" and it's electronic -- no "valve" (that implies fluid, not electronics). I've attached the gear interlock portion. There is an inhibitor switch -- is that related? Another forum member found: FAULT SYMTOMS that the PRIMARY REGULATOR IS STUCK as the cause of NO DRIVE IN REVERSE GEAR. what do you think of this tranny pan? gritty junk in there -- I'm guessing clutch parts? Yikes. I found out you don't have to completely remove the Y-pipe and crossmember to change the filter.... diconnect O2 sensors, 6 nuts on front of Y-pipe, all bolts from crossmember and lower it 3/4 the way. Probably too late for my own good. makes a mess... Anyhow, ideas on how to fix the the mysterious "sticking regulator/valve"? If I drop the manual valve body can the regulator valve be serviced? The tranny was slipping in forward and reverse before adding the seafoam (thinner). Sea Foam made forward gears clean up. Reverse instantly failed to engage. I drove about 10 miles, including about 25 stops and through the gears, pulled the pan/filter and refilled with fresh Dex3 + lucas additive. forward gears are fine now. no reverse. no clunk, nothing other than the noise of the selector changing position. I've ran it about 15 miles forward and about 30 attempts into reverse. Any stories of the "stuck primary" unsticking itself? I keep hoping it will break free. Thanks, Tony