Sterlin will be stocked with a minimum of spare parts and tools. Clearly we are planning to go to some far off places and it is unlikely that we will find all the spare parts or even services that we will need to complete a repair. So of course it makes sense to carry some spare parts and tools. The difficult part is trying to predict which parts might fail and thus what makes sense to have handy versus what is better left behind. Getting the answer to this question right will mean the difference between a speedy repair versus sitting around until replacement parts can be flown in from the US or the UK.
Our focus and philosophy is to carry spare parts that are known to fail, that fail suddenly and are small enough to carry so as to not take up too much valuable cargo space. The other important consideration is our lack of mechanical skills, so we need to be realistic on what we can repair ourselves.
The thinking is that we carry spare parts for which we have sufficient mechanical skills and the right tools to complete the repair ourselves and complete the repair roadside if absolutely needed. Of course, it would be much better to get to a local garage and employ the services of a local mechanic to complete the repair under our watchful eye. Sterlin has been prepared for the trip and is in very sound mechanical shape, but unfortunately it is of an age at which bits and pieces are starting to fail. Therefore we focus as much on a regular vehicle inspection as we do on carrying spare parts and tools. Refer to the related article on Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance for more details.
Thank-you to the post by R_Lefebvre and others in Expedition Portal for their suggestions on what spare parts to carry. The suggestions in this post focus on what we call critical parts, that is, parts that should they fail, Sterlin as a whole will fail. There are of course some parts that are critical, but are not practical to carry, like a spare drive/prop shaft. Here is what we settled on for spare parts and tools:-
Critical Spare Parts List – Sensors
- Oxygen Sensors. These small sensors are known to fail with age and are recommended to be replaced after 60,000 miles. We will carry a total of two spare sensors, 1 upstream and 1 downstream of the catalytic converter. Sterlin has 4 oxygen sensors: 2 associated with the left bank of cylinders and 2 with the right bank. The Bosch part numbers are 15175 and 15630 for upstream and downstream respectively.
- Crankshaft Position Sensor (CPS). The Bosch part number is W0133-1833517. But the spare part we carry is a Standard Motor Products PC580 equivalent as it is cheaper.
Non-critical Spare Parts List – Sensors
- Mass Air Flow (MAF) Sensor insert. According to the Land Rover RAVE manual, failure of the MAF sensor results in the ECU using a software backup strategy based on tables. So technically Sterlin can operate with degraded performance due to a failed Mass Flow Sensor. To save space we will carry only the insert and not the housing. The Land Rover part number is ERR7171 and the Bosch part number is 0280217532. We carry an equivalent as it is cheaper.
- Throttle Position Sensor (TPS). According to the Land Rover RAVE manual, failure of the Throttle Position sensor results in the ECU using a value derived from the engine load and speed. So like the MAF sensor, technically Sterlin can operate with degraded performance with a with a failed Throttle Position Sensor. The Land Rover part number is ERR7322 and the Bosch part number is 0280122016. We carry an equivalent as it is cheaper.
In general a sensor failure will be reported by the Electronic Control Unit or ECU making it very easy to detect using a code reader. We decided not to proactively replace any of the above 7 sensors, as it not too difficult to replace them; should they fail the repair could be completed roadside if absolutely needed. And new sensors can fail as well, so even if we proactively replaced the sensors, we would still want to carry spares. Any sensor we do not need can be sold on ebay after the trip. The total cost of the 5 sensors is USD$240. All sensors are very small and easy to carry.
Critical Spare Parts List – Electrical
- Brake Switch. The Land Rover Discovery II has an interlock on the gear selection lever preventing it being moved from P (Park) unless the brake pedal is pressed. The replacement is easier to carry than by-passing the interlock solenoid which is the other option. The Land Rover part number is XKB100170.
- Fuel Pump Relay. The Land Rover part number is YWB101300G. We carry an equivalent from Duralast.
- Fuses. A collection of blade fuses at various amp ratings. The Land Rover Discovery has 77 fuses, so probably a good idea to carry a few spares.
- Ignition Key correctly cut and keyed. The Land Rover Discovery includes a factory installed immobilizer. Failure of the electronics inside the drivers key could mean the immobilizer remains active. The best counter measure for failure or loss of the ignition key is having a spare key with the remote correctly keyed for the ECU.
Critical Spare Parts List – Rubber
- 1 Full Spare Wheel (tire and Rim). Wheels are very prone to failure on under developed roads and so we will carry a full spare which is mounted on the rear cargo door in the usual place. Being stored on the outside of the car the spare will be locked with a lug nut lock. We only carry one spare and hope this will be sufficient.
- Tire Repair Kit. We carry the ARB Speedy Seal Tire Puncture Repair Kit which includes a quality pencil type tire gauge with dual pressure range and dual chuck, insertion and reamer tools, lubricant, additional valve accessories and 30 self vulcanizing repair cords for complete air sealing. This allows for roadside repairs when nails or other sharp objects puncture the tire.
- Serpentine or Auxiliary Belt. This is the belt that drives the alternator, a/c compressor, power steering pump and viscous fan pulley. The serpentine belt has been recently replaced, but as it is rubber and can fail we decided on carrying a spare. The Land Rover part number is ERR6898.
We have been quite conservative when it comes to spare parts for the rubber items. Clearly tires can fail from stones, nails and other bits and pieces found on roads. And although we have recently replaced the Serpentine Belt and Radiator Hoses, rubber can fail. The decision not to carry replacement radiator hoses was difficult, but they take up a lot of room. The hope is that we patch the vehicle with either hose bandage or locally acquired temporary hosing. The timing chain on a Land Rover Discovery uses a metal chain and not a rubber belt, so fingers crossed this will not fail. And anyway, replacing a timing chain is a multi-day procedure requiring specialized tools and way beyond what we could do.
Critical Spare Parts List – Mechanical
Water or Coolant Pump. Probably a bit of an overkill, but engine cooling is important. The Land Rover Part number is STC4378A. We carry an equivalent.
Non-critical Spare Parts List – Mechanical
- Coolant Thermostat. The current thermostat has recently been replaced as a proactive measure and Sterlin will operate with a stuck thermostat. Even so, we carry a replacement spare. The Land Rover Part number is PEM100990.
- The Water or Coolant Pump or Thermostat could in theory be replaced roadside using the tools that we are carrying. Obviously we hope that this will never need doing as it is quite a difficult procedure to be completed roadside.
- There is no need to carry an oil pump or power steering pump as the repair is beyond our skills. None of the pumps have been replaced proactively as the procedure is too difficult and expensive to justify it.
Consumables
- 2x Oil filters. Land Rover part number is ERR3340G.
- 2x Air Intake filters. Land Rover part number is ESR4238.
The intention and hope is that Land Rover Service centers will carry the right consumables and fluids. Sterlin will be services at the end of Leg 2 (Australia Leg) and either at the end of Leg 3 (South East Asia) or the start of Leg 4 (Russia) and one last time in the middle of Leg 4, somewhere around Moscow.
We have recently replaced the engine gaskets and transmission case seals, so hopefully they will not leak.
Note: Many we talked to along the way were amazed we did not carry fluids like oil, transmission fluid, power steering fluid. We completed the 50,000 km journey without needing to top up any fluids except the coolant. And for the coolant, probably only added 200ml. We suspect the coolant level dropped through the overfill hose when on rough roads. Not sure if that is even possible, but it is the only theory that makes sense to us.
Non Critical Spares
- 2 complete sets of replaceable light bulbs (excluding head lamps). Light bulbs are cheap and easy to obtain when at home and very difficult to obtain when out on expedition.
- A collection of various small terminal crimps, shrink-wrap tubing and some spare 22 and 14 gauge electrical wire.
- A collection of various nuts, washers and bolts.
- A collection of various cable ties.
Tools for Sterlin
- Bottle Jack and lug nut wrench
- Flat head screwdrivers; small, medium and large
- Phillips head screwdrivers; small, median and large
- Set of metric Allen keys
- Metric sockets; 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 mm
- Imperial sockets; 3/8, 1/2, 7/16 and 3/4 inch
- Socket drivers; one small and one large.
- Security Torx T-27 for the MAF Sensor insert
- Metric spanners; 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 mm
- Imperial spanners; 3/8, 1/2, 7/16 and 3/4 inch
- Oxygen sensor socket
- Adjustable spanner
- Monkey grip
- Long nose pillars
- Multimeter with a fresh battery
- Ultragauge which is an OBDII cable and ECU Code Reading software
- All the tools are of reasonable quality, not the best but also not the cheapest. The tool list was based on the tools recommended in the Land Rover Workshop RAVE manual along with suggestions from various members of LandRoverForums.com.
Other Tools and Consumables
- Terminal Crimping tool. A luxury, but I suspect the number one repair will be to the wiring of the auxiliary lighting and power distribution for the fridge and clean water pump.
- Nylon thread tape for the water tank and filter connections.
- Electrical tape for general electrical repairs.
- Duct tape for general repairs.
- Some x-treme tape from Duluth Trading.
- Small can of WD-40 for greasing and lubrication. Although we suspect WD-40 can be purchased anywhere in the world.
- Leatherman multi-tool.
- LED Flashlight. Here we splashed out a little and got the Streamlight Strion. Ok, it is expensive, but it is a rather nice flashlight and everyone should have 1 rather nice flashlight.
- Small hammer.
- RAVE Manual.
Summary of all Critical Spare Parts
The total cost of all the critical spare parts and consumables is around USD$1,000. All of the spare parts and the tools are packed away carefully in a Pelican case (model 1550). The advantage of the pelican case is to keep the moisture and dust out. And the Pelican case provides some emotional comfort, as we feel good having all the spare parts and tools in a known location which is also compact and portable enough so they can be removed from Sterlin if we are staying overnight in a hotel (for instance).
Spare Parts not Carried
There is always a temptation to take spare parts for everything that could possibly go wrong. For instance, it is really hard to start a car when the starter motor is broken. The same could be said for the ECU. Some people even recommend drive shafts, hub assemblies and other very large items. If something fails beyond what we are carrying, then I guess we will be spending a little extra time in a location where we were not planning to spend a little extra time. There are a number of items that almost made the list:-
- Brake Pads and Rotors. We should notice unusual wear through regular inspection giving us enough time to find a replacement.
- Fuel pump. It is possible that fuel will have containments that cause the fuel pump to fail. Actually, the fuel pump could just fail. If we really really had to, we could probably jerry rig a work around until a replacement pump arrives.
- Power Steering Pump. Expensive and hard to install.
- Oil Gear Pump. Expensive and hard to install.
- Starter Motor. Too big and will likely notice when it is starting to fail. The starter motor was actually a good candidate for a pro-active replacement.
- Shock Absorbers. We recently replaced the original 10 year old shock absorbers with a heavy duty application from Biltsen. Given this recent replacement we will not carry this bulky item.
Detailed inventory of all of Spare Parts, Consumables and Tools including costs can be found below.
All prices in US Dollars.
- Oxygen Sensors – $60 each
- Throttle Position Sensor – $20
- MAF Sensor – $30
- Crankshaft Position Sensor – $65
- Brake Switch – $35
- Fuel Pump Relay – $35
- Coolant Thermostat – $40
- Fuses – $10
- Ignition Key with keyed remote – $20
- 1 Full Spare Tire – $135 each
- 1 Full Spare Rim – $75 each
- Tire Repair Kit – $45.
- Serpentine or Auxiliaries Belt – $40
- Oil Filters – $25 each
- Air Intake Filters – $20 each
- Water or Coolant Pump – $100
