Noob has Q's about Classic

[Lemontin]

Hi all,, I'm a new guy here with what may seem a silly Q.

Is it completely foolish of me to expect that my local Valvoline Oil Change type place will have filters and other misc parts for my 92 RR?

Is it completely foolish of me to expect that my local Auto Zone type place will have parts for my 92 RR? I already struck out on an upper Radiator hose.

How about NAPA?

What do others of you do if the answer is 'they will not have those things'? Buy from the net?

I am probably not physically able to do oil changes any longer and my local dealer seems about as clueless as anyone else. They told me they don't do stuff for "classics" ..


Any ideas or help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[joey]

Local places should have the oil filters... it is a standard oil filter that will fit a few vehicles... remember your engine is nothing more than a 1960 Buick 215ci engine.

As far as Radiator hoses this may be more fun. Since the Radiator was built for Rover then they are harder to come by... my suggestion would be either www.atlanticbritish.com or buy a universal hose for the top.

 

[roverman]

When I had a classic, most oil places couldn't come up with the part number, a few could cross reference it. Generally what I would do was buy several filters from atlantic british and have them use that filter and knock a couple bucks off the service.
Same goes for the other parts, buy them online and find a nice mechanic who will just charge you labor only to install.

 

[Lemontin]

Well, I learned about the hose already.. Autozone didn;t have anything so I was able to order that from the local dealer, even though they don't "do classics" ( I'm still not sure what that means). I guess it can't hurt to ask the joker where I get my oil changed if he has the filters etc.

I was thining of getting all the fluids changed with the oil,, will that be a problem too? Are the Rover fluids special.

I ordered a Haynes repair manual on Ebay and hopefully that will answer a lot of my other questions. Between that and lurking I might just learn what the heck I'm driving..

So far I know:

'92 Range Rover in Portofino Red.. 90k

 

[joey]

Fluids are pretty normal... not sure on the 92, but on the newer 95 - 03 at least the PS fluid will be Transmission fluid...

By classic they mean anything older than a 95 as far as Rovers are concerned.

You have a rare vehicle remember Land Rover NA only sold 3875 RR's in NA for MY 92.

Here is another very good Range Rover resource I hate to point you away, but I want to make sure you get the help you need. http://www.rangerovers.net/

 

[thenewkid64]

Here is what I do:

I keep my cart loaded at Atlantic British with the niggly things I find I need, and if I need to do something, bearings, etc the kits they offer are normally less than the cost of the parts individually and they are correct. Once a month or so, I have it shipped, then I have all the stuff I need to get the stuff fixed.... I got the whole set of hoses for my 92 LSE for 80 bucks. Upper, lower, small heater hoses, etc. I did the thermostat and gasket as well. One recommendation, if you do one side, IE front bearings, do both sides, and replace all of them. Inner, outer and stub axle. I did one side and had to do a roadside repair 500 miles later because I did not spend the extra 50 bucks and do both sides.

Good idea on the hanyes, you are your Rovers Best mechanic, and the knowledge you gain can save your bacon in the future.

 

[Lemontin]

Joey,
Only 3875?,,, great. I mean, I knew it wasn't on the level of a Toyota, Nissan or whatever, but still, that's not very many.
Last year I bought an old Honda motercycle, my thoughts were.."it's an old Honda CB model, tons of parts around"..WRONG.. I was lucky enough to stumble upon an '83
CB1000, they made them for one year only. parts are nonexistent. Anyway, I digress..

I've been to RRnet and Atllantic British, found them both helpful in different ways.

Newkid64 & Roverman, great idea for AB, I will do that as soon as I make sure my local place does not have them. So far, only my upper hose looked bad, nothing saying it was going to leak but it looked distended so I thought better safe than sorry.

 

[Lemontin]

Oh, one other thing... In my reading while trying to learn, I keep coming across all these letters when people are talking about these vehicles.. I'm guessing that LWB and SWB are long/short wheelbase? Not that I know what I have. But what is LSE, NWB, LR3 and all the others?

Showing my noobness everywhere..

 

[roverman]

if you can get in the back seat, and in fact lay down on the floor...it's an LWB. But they didn't make them til '93 i believe. LSE is a trim level, which is HSE now. NWB no clue. LR3 just a model designation. BTW, the classics are about the best truck ever in the snow, largely because of those skinny tires esp. (of course) if you have snow tires. I could go through ANYTHING with mine. I loved 'em. Hope you have fun with yours.

 

[Lemontin]

Another Q..

While driving, Rover seems to lurch from side to side.. is this just shocks or something more serious? Seems to happen most often when letting off the gas, or when hitting wind gust from close by truck etc. This is not mild lurching, but rather strong and at times quite hard to keep in the proper lane.

Also, the bright lights do not seem to work. When i pull the lever back they click on, but when I push forward all the way, they turn off completely along with the running lights. The fuses are both working.

I thought it might be the bulb. but it works when I pull the lever back.. I find that odd.

Any help is appreciated.