Bye bye, MINI
It was a nice fall day (October 7) in 2011. I was in St. Louis for some reason with a little time to kill so I stopped in at the MINI Cooper dealership. Just window shopping. I was handed off to a “Motoring Advisor” (see below) and the next thing I knew I was writing a check for a new car.
I sold the MINI today to my friend George. It was a good car and fun to drive. But anything more than an oil change meant a trip to the nearest dealer…in St. Louis. And I don’t think I ever got away spending less than a thousand bucks. But the big reason is there simply isn’t room in my life for two vehicles so it was time to say goodbye to the MINI.
Fluids
From the day I started thinking about an old Land Rover, people have been advising (warning?) me about fluids. “You gotta watch your fluids” and “These things leak like crazy so keep an eye on your fluids.”
In the 50+ years I’ve been driving I’ve the water level in a radiator; pulled the dip stick a few times; and unscrewed those little caps on top of the battery. But checking fluids has been something I left to the dealer’s service department. For the Land Rover there is no dealer within a hundred miles. So I’ve committed to check fluids weekly.
Oil: check; coolant: check; clutch fluid: check; wiper fluid: check; brake fluid: a little low. So Mr. Wolf, Charlie, and George Tergin gave me a little lesson in brake fluid. (It eats paint) All are on the weekly-check list but I’ll probably the brake fluid a little more often until we know what it’s low. The tire pressure was a bit low as well. Okay for off-roading but I’m mostly on paved or gravel roads so I used my little portable air compressor gizmo to take them up to 38 psi.
Under the bonnet
In his bon voyage video Mr. Wolf identified each of the major components in the engine compartment. I’m posting the photos below for future reference.
I’m creating spreadsheet to track service and maintenance.
No four-wheel drive
Tomorrow will be two weeks with The Truck and I finally got around to playing with four-wheel drive. According to the owners manual (and lots of YouTube videos) you just push the lever with the yellow knob down and your in 4WD. I never could get 4WD engaged so I asked my pal George Tergin to take look. After several hours of investigation he thinks the problem is worn linkage.
We found this illustration on the Rovers North website and George thinks he’s ID’d the OEM part numbers. Trying to find and order these. I don’t expect to do any serious off-roading but I’d hate to have the only Land Rover in North America that doesn’t have four-wheel drive. Hoping to have this resolved before first snow.
215808 clevis complete 4WD lever – #27 on schematic
268847 gearbox high range operating lever – the part below #24 and #25 on the schematic
232464 selector transfer, locating pin 4WD lever – #24 on schematic
Short video clip of George ‘splaining the worn linkage.