Peaklander

This from Andrew English in The Telegraph, it's behind their paywall and I won't copy all, but this is the headline and the verdict... Ineos Grenadier review: a perfect reproduction of the old Land Rover Defender – warts and all. This eagerly awaited utility 4x4 to follow in Land Rover’s tracks is a fine effort for a first car, but there are simply too many niggles For a company that has never built a car before, it’s an impressive debut, and if the majority of your driving/work is demanding off-road stuff, then a Grenadier should cope fine. However, as Bill Brock, my first road test editor, used to growl: “You do the test on the day and you write about everything, because if they can’t get it right for you, then God help their customers.” Not one of the Grenadiers failed to proceed, but if Land Rover, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz or Isuzu had presented a vehicle with this number of silly errors and faults we’d have their guts for garters. It’s almost as if despite the experience of the contributors to the project and the build team there’s been no hard-nosed and beady-eyed test department reporting straight to the board saying: “This simply won’t do.” What the Grenadier does well it does really well, but you simply can’t sell a new car from a new company with this many niggles and design howlers to a discerning public, farmers, utility companies, experienced adventurers and off-roaders; they won’t come back and they’ll tell all their friends why. Ineos has a great story and the Grenadier is a charismatic vehicle with a great heart and a single-minded purpose. But despite that and the hard work that’s gone into making it, as it stands now Sir Jim’s Awfully Big Adventure only just scrapes a three-star rating. If they wanted to produce the old Defender, they’ve achieved it in every way, for better and for worse.

I honestly can't keep up with this, the work is being done so quickly. The weather is kinder too. Do you work a 4 on 4 off, 12 hour pattern? Otherwise I don't know how you do it!

It seemed to. I bought the powerbank and started charging my then iPhone 6SE. Within a few days the battery would die when it had dropped to about 60% and the phone switch off. Just a few days later this rose to about 80% and the phone was effectively useless away from power. The battery started to swell and had to be removed. I always assumed that for some reason the USB-C was the cause.

Yes, it's a huge difference charging my iPhone 12mini. I often use a Powerbank, which has outlets with both USB type and there's a huge difference. Also (for info) USB-C is bi-directional and so is also used as the charge input from a mains power supply. I use my Mac supply to charge it. Just don't try to charge a phone that can't handle the current - cough.

Don’t forget that USB-C is being used more and more. It provides much faster charge rates. I think you can get suitable panel mount outlets now.

I don't know what original switches you can get for that particular location. I think my Carling Conturas are a lot bigger (but I have never checked). You obviously need a latching contact for the wipe and a momentary for the wash, so could go Off - On - Mom. @nickwilliams added to this thread about adding an easy fixed delay intermittent wipe relay which I would be good to do "whilst you are at it".

It might be a bit bulky but could you put a couple of loops in it, directly behind the Roamerdrive gauge? Is the OD ready to refit?

I'm glad the two wires are the same colour and that the light works again. I am confused that they are Purple and do not have a blue trace for the reason given earlier. You have better things to do now but it would be good to know. I have looked at the Puma circuit diagrams and in principle they are the same as my old 300TDi. That cable cannot be purple, as that is a direct connection to +12V.

Direct physical connections to 0 volts (ground / chassis) are always Black. Other connections that are controlled to 0 volts by a device like the Alarm ECU or a switch, are not black wire. The door switch wire connections at the posts are not direct to 0 volts, they are made through the switch and so are colour coded. The connection from each of the door switches go to the Alarm ECU and are PU wire code which is Purple with a Blue trace, except the driver's door which has a separate wire SW Slate (Grey) with White. The ECU Alarm unit 'watches' these inputs because when a door opens, the door switch connects to 0 volts through the screw fixing and the ECU Alarm sees this input signal moving to 0 volts. The interior lights have a +12V on one side and are turned on and off by the ECU Alarm when it sees the doors opening / closing. This is when the interior light switch is in 'Door' position. In 'On' these lights are connected directly to 0 volts through a black wire. So, are you talking about the passenger door and are you sure it is Purple and not Purple/Blue? If it is purple then it's not associated with the pillar switch side of the circuit because that is permanent fused +12V. Can you undo the door closed switch and pull it out of the A post to see what colour wire is connected to it? Edit: I see you are referring to the Passenger side so the wire is PU. It might be as simple as cleaning the pillar switch. You could check for continuity from the connector tag to the screw mount. This is probably why it isn't working.

It's strange as I can't find that picture - but it is very useful thanks @Retroanaconda. I can now see that the only extra parts needed are the actuator, short rod and the white 'door-bell crank'. The actuator is the same as the one at the front passenger door, the rod is easy (possibly the same too) and the crank has an extra third tag on it for the actuator rod. So that's OK from a ££ view but then I see that the inner frame would need to be replaced or modified to carry the actuator. The non central locking one doesn't have the metal at the actuator. I am used the innards and cards from my old doors when I moved to genuine Puma 2nd rows a few years ago. I don't think I will press ahead with this - the Puma fronts were costly enough and the cabling and connectors added an extra chunk to the bill. I am enjoying the remote locking of three doors - will I be happy with continuing to manually operate the 2nd rows? Not sure but it will be cheaper. This is the other door panel but you can see the difference in shape.

Thanks both. The actuator is where I’d expected it to be. It is just under the lock. Why is it connected across to the front with that long rod though (FQK000040)? I’ll need to investigate. P.S. @Retroanaconda where has the photo come from?

Thanks - I’ll take a look on a bigger screen than the one on this phone!

Anyone??? Bolt-on-Bits sell an actuator and operating rod for the front doors but they don't know if it's the same set-up on the 2nd row. I will remove the door cards if necessary but I hope someone knows.

Yes that’s right. A viscous fan spanner work. I mentioned it on page 5 too. The glass is covered with the necessary oil quantity though…

Just one more observation that might be helpful. I had previously followed the lead by @FridgeFreezer and fitted a sight-glass to the Transfer Box. I filled it to halfway, equivalent to the level plug / tell-tale that is supplied with the Roamerdrive for that same hole. Then I added the required 0.75 litres directly to the Roamerdrive. Somewhere after about 0.5 litres the sight-glass was covered. I don't know what happens during use and how much of that 0.75 migrates to the TBox or vice-versa as don't remember draining the overdrive first, in order to measure, before draining the TBox. Next time I will try to remember to do just that.

You may well need the union-tee at the rear axle too, where that pipe splits to either side. It’s easily damaged (in my exp) if trying to undo old unions.

It's back together and hooked onto the Transfer Box. I approached the installation of the three shifting plates with great confidence, having done them the first time using the extra instructions that I posted earlier. However there is a real knack to them and I had a frustrating time (many times) as I tried to get the first one engaged with the hook on the spring on the other side of the hub. Eventually, possibly 50 trys later, it was in. The other two are easy and then the other spring is fitted in the opposite orientation, as in this photo, although I have posted similar higher up the thread. I might wander to see Mister Gearbox when I get chance and see if they have any ideas about a pump for the rear bearing. A trip down the M42/M5 beckons soon and I have applied new temperature tell-tales, so we will see.

That means you have the latest synchro cone at the planetary housing. This has the oil-way holes rather than the previous slots, or the early 'nothing'. (see my pics for comparison). You also have the newer rear case with the larger 6205 bearing. What's that? Do I need a link?

Ha, you are so harsh. I had thought about it, between leaving their place and the rebuild but I was a little concerned about going back and trying their patience. I now know them even better and they would have done it happily then. Instead, I relied on the temperature stickers. As soon as I saw the readings in November, I knew that I would be going back in. @FridgeFreezer, if you identify a suitable pump and decide to proceed, I will follow your lead. Please let me know.

After reading @Northwardscomments and investigations and re-reading my posts and emails from Ray, I felt that I should take a look at my unit again. So I removed it but not before I cursed myself for putting just a bit too much Dirko on the mating face with the Transferbox. The mag plug had collected a little debris and the drained oil has lost a lot of its gold colour but I was running-in a refurbished LT230 with new ATB, so guess that this is OK. With confidence gained from the original disassembly, I slightly warmed the rear casing and then tapped out the sunshaft, just using the original screws which have enough length to get it moving forwards and out. Now one thing that has been on my mind and I haven't mentioned until now, is that when this new 6205 bearing was fitted in April, it was a sealed version. I didn't think about it at the time but when I came to reassemble in October I noticed it and pulled the seal of the accessible rear face. As the nut was tight and my press is useless, I decided to run with it sealed on the other side, which is up against the synchro cone and not go back to Mister Gearbox to rectify. As far as I know, this is the only assembly problem that might have contributed to the higher than expected temperatures. The work by @Northwardsin identifying the three variants of the synchro cone and discussions with Ray at Global Roamer this week have confirmed that the first development was the radial oil slots and the most recent one has the oil holes. So I had built-up my planetary unit with the correct one. Other possible assembly mistakes were the dog washers. I fitted the new ones, as the old ones had been fitted, with the grooves facing up into the planetary gears. I asked Ray this week if this was correct. He initially said no but a day later came back to say that he'd made a mistake and that they are correct. Ray Wood did say that there have been other reports of "cases where (on older units like this) a unit has run hotter than normal and the cause has been that the tension on the main bearing has been too tight due to the crush washer bottoming out. This might also have something to do with the manufacturers clearances on the bearing you are using. It would do no harm to try running with a thicker mounting gasket (or two gaskets) and see if this has a positive effect on the temperature". I have measured my crush washer and it has a good shape / depth when compared with two older ones so I doubt this is a significant issue. I nipped into Mister Gearbox for a 4th time (https://mistergearbox.co.uk) and the bearing was pulled by pressing the sunshaft out of the synchro cone. The rear seal was removed and then both pressed back. It took 5 mins. Interestingly I had tried to remove the nut myself with a 32mm socket on a breaker bar and the sunshaft held on the flats with an open-ender in the vice and I couldn't budge it. The big Milwaukee took it off easily. Inside, my unit looks perfect, as it should, after less than 1,000 miles and so I am re-assembling and refitting with new oil. Ray confirmed that it is perfectly capable of use as a gear splitter between 4th and 5th with no reason to fear overheating. Honestly, if I can't drop into 4th with the Roamerdrive engaged then it would take away half of its usefulness. I did think about the idea of an oil feed at the rear of the case and whilst I don't have the ability to just do this on a whim, I have taken some measurements. The gap between the rear bearing's rear face and the inner face of the case is about 15mm and bearing face to the end of the shaft is 12mm. So there is plenty of space in there for oil but also it would be no problem to drill into the back with the unit in-situ, as proposed by @FridgeFreezer, to fit some sort of union. I warmed the case in the Aga bottom oven (100C) for 10 mins and it was at 30C when I took it outside and mated with the sunshaft which was at about 2C. The two slipped together with a few encouraging taps and a pull with three of the six rear screws. I now just need to re-fit the hub slippers but I had a lot of practise the first time and then the OD will be ready to re-fit. The frustrating part of that is that the handbrake cable gets in the way and I have previously had to disconnect it at the top. This time I have tried to tie-wrap it down and away because the OD won't locate if it is out of line at all. That will happen tomorrow, as today we have a three-way family birthday party and I am one of them - 7 / 35 / 64 No prizes for guessing which one is me.

The switch has two positions (plus ‘off’) and the common side of it is connected to 0 volts (ground). The switch position determines what low voltage connection the motor sees (it has the higher, +12 volt connection on the other terminal). When switched to the first position, the connection to 0 volts from the motor is provided through a resistor. This means that the motor doesn’t ‘see’ the full voltage across its terminals and runs slow. In the second position, the connection to 0 volts is direct from the motor and so all the voltage is available at the motor and it runs at full speed.

Yes, I wonder if more sellers should complain about Britpart problems. There was a guy behind the counter (now retired) at Paddocks and he was a lovely chap and knew every part number and its application, across the range of vehicles. I told him that I didn't want any Britpart items and he asked why. I was rather shocked and said, surely you know that they are of dubious quality / reliability? He said he didn't realise that and also that as he wasn't a LR enthusiast, he didn't buy parts himself. I wonder what happens when a supplier receives a return. Is there a system to notify the distributor / manufacturer so that corrective action can begin? In automotive and aerospace manufacturing, the parts suppliers are certainly kept on their toes and have to jump when needed. Perhaps this doesn't happen across some areas of the aftermarket parts supply.

About the Tesa tape, note it is deceptively visible when you are applying it but if you need to remove it, after a few days the end seems to have disappeared. Out comes the knife to try to find it and the whole tape wrap then seems to take control and you have a fight. Best advice is to get the cables and positions correct first time.

One I was doing a few days ago... IMG_8869.MOV Now using a more appropriate sized container

I've been de-rusting stuff outside for several weeks and the soda is preventing the water from freezing. It works fine. Each day I start a new part, so first job in the morning is a scrape and wash-down. 😁