skirky dave

Bowie69, yes ...it feels great, but i'm still kind of kicking myself up the backside. It's almost as though the landy has just taught me a lesson in school boy mechanics. That's if it was my fault, which i'm starting to believe it was because i've not been able to find out if this has happened before. It did get me thinking though,..why they didn't use a second locking nut as on the hand brake adjuster. Gazzar...That looks a little above my station. Hope you got that one sorted mate.

Cheers guys, appreciate that. Steve b.. nice to know i'm not the only one that can single handedly make a royal mess of things. It's a learning curve, that for me,..just keeps........ bending !!!!. But to be honest Steve, i was convinced it was an injection problem. Just goes to show.

OH MY GOD !!!!!. Oh dear, ..... well guys....i suppose i could just sit here and give you all a right pile of garbage as to the problem and say that the answer was,, this and that, blah blah blah. When the reality is completely different. However it would appear that the problem MAY have been my own doing. If it is...then i hold my hands up,.. and admit it, and at the end of the day, these forums are about learning from your own mistakes and from others. It's the way we learn. Steve b and Bowie 69....following your suspicions, and after trying to adjust the timing and checking every hose and working in the cold for what seemed an eternity, i decided....well, time for the rocker cover to come off and re check the tappets, even though i was pretty certain AND CONVINCED ,that i had crossed every T and dotted every I. So..off came the rocker cover and the re check began,...NO 8 fully opened /down and adjusted NO 1 ok there, lovely, it was at this point that my eyes glanced at the THIRD rocker along,....oh my god,...the nut had fallen off and was lying at the side of the push rod..eeek. I carefully removed this and was just about to replace it, when..i then noticed the hardened rocker valve cap was ALSO MISSING. This too was lying further on by number 6 pushrod. So...the rocker shaft came off .. YET AGAIN, and i decided to fully inspect every pushrod, pushrod brass seat, every rocker, every nut to make sure no damage had been caused elsewhere. As you can imagine, this took some time. As it happens....NO DAMAGE. Thank god !!!!. I feel very, very lucky to say the least that my engine didn't go bang. How i got away with that one,..i have no idea but the nut and valve cap was pretty much stuck down with the 20/50 engine oil. This nut MIGHT, have come loose of it's own accord, Maybe it was my fault...i don't know. So... i methodically re checked/set the tappets and made damn sure the lock nuts were tight. Re fitted the rocker cover, and after a sharp intake of breath, tentatively started her back up ................NO MORE BLACK SMOKE !!!!!. Thank god for that ( i thought). Took her for a spin round the block and she pulls like a train. Timing pump just requires a little adjustment but that's all. The main thing is everything's ok ,....for now,.. ( TOUCHWOOD)!!!. So......THANK YOU, for pointing me in the right direction guys about the tappets, otherwise i would still be trying to sort it out. All the best, cheers, Dave.

All i know is that they have a pre combustion chamber. Why, where's your train of thought going. Shrek moment, i'm all ears.

Your explanations make heersand i shall have a look in an hour once i've woken up fully !!!. ...........................................................................................................................................XXXXXXX Should read..Your explanations make sense. See, I told you i hadn't woken up yet!!.

Maverik Exactly my thought mate. It's a Royal Pain. Thinking i must have disturbed something, somewhere, but i haven't been anywhere near the pump. Just replaced the head and head gasket etc etc. I'm sort of expecting/hoping for a light bulb moment. He says rolling his eyes.

Morning guys. steve b Bowie69 , Cheers for the explanation guys, and for taking the trouble. Appreciate it. As for the tappet clearance, i've always found this to be a little daunting because,..what some might call a snug fit,..someone else could say,.. That's way too tight mate, OR to the other end of the spectrum...You could get a bus through there. I had a thought about this (One of my million pound ideas)...If they made feelers that were 10+ an extre 2 or 3 making it a10.2 or 10.3,, then when tightened down, the actual gap size would be equivalent to 10 thou. If you see what i mean. In other words, trying to dismiss the discrepancy , but my train of thought on this may well be wrong. It usually is. The article written by Les Hanson, ( how is he i've not seen him on here for a while, hope he's ok ) I thought was excellent and the method i studied and used when changing the timing belt in the summer. Fantastic article. Also read a lot and took note from SNAGGER..Nick. Your explanations make heersand i shall have a look in an hour once i've woken up fully !!!. Cheers again.

lo-fi Cheers for that, erm the new exhaust appears to be working ok. The diesel fumes seems to leave the system pretty much ok but, it might be worth investigating once other possibilities have been exhausted, no pun intended. As for the breather hose delaminating, it's the old fashioned plastic type, no laminate at all, just corrugated stuff but very bendable. I've been outside several times this evening just to check things out as things come to mind . The one thing i have done, is , to totally remove the air filter, ( Kenlowe round type ) and start the engine in the morning. See if that helps. I just don't see any other way of creating a clean air, trouble free route to the engine with this removed. In effect no air restriction. I shall also re check the tappets but i'm unclear as to how these would create black smoke if the gap wasn't correct ??. I have turned down the idle screw to somewhere around 700 rpm maybe a little less i don't know. It's my understanding that, too much fuel or lack of air causes black smoke under load, which is the problem i have. So this leaves me with (A) Rechecking the diesel pump timing .. (B) Air flow.. (C)..Exhaust pipe. Anyone else care to chip in. feel free. I kind of feel as though the answer is staring me in the face but i can't see it. Woods and trees. Cheers again Dave.

steve b Hi Steve, Mmm must admit, that has me thinking and i'll try to explain. I've just turned the idle speed down a bit and gone to the garage to put some fuel in. Now, when i set off she seemed a lot smoother and more power. That was from almost cold. i then travelled down the road for a further quarter mile, ( just to convince myself i wasn't going stupid ) and then it started getting lumpy with what can only be described as a loudish schick schick sound, carp explanation i know but like a very loud swiss watch, it was also a revolutionary sound. so i'm also wondering if one of the tappets near the bulkhead end needs looking at again.. Also, i.ve been speaking to a diesel specialist here in sheffield, and he said, it could be that the injection pump might not be correctly lined up and has offered to lend me a special timing pin as it's supposed to be in the shape of a triangle or something, but anyway he has all the bits to check the pump timing bang on so i shall probably take him up on his kind offer. Although it might mean taking off the whole of the front end AGAIN!!!. Anyway.....a few more things to ponder.

Going to look at EVERY SINGLE HOSE !!! Getting mardy now!!! Feel like throwing teddy out of the cot. As far as i know with the 15 J & 12J Engines, there is only 1 air feed pipe to the air filter pan. ALL OTHER HOSES are diesel fuel pipe feeds, or return pipe to fuel tank and from what i can see..there's nothing leaking diesel anywhere, so.......

Kind of thought you might think that. and.....doh is putting it VERY politely. The air from me was very very blue. My next train of thought is the dreaded INJECTION PUMP ......£££££££££££££. WHY ME???. After all this work !!!.

Peaklander The only hose available would be the one leading directly from the wing vent to the round air filter pan 15J. That's totally clear and the only air feed to the engine. Bowie69 Eh up mate, erm, No intercooler pipework as there is no Turbo. It's a straight forward 2.5 n/a 12j engine. Really has me stuck this one.

Ok,..... this engine is really really doing my head in. As you are aware from my last post ..TICKING NOISE, i found out one of the hot spots had fallen out, creating the ticking noise. So...ordered 4 new from Turner Engineering and the 2.5 n/a cylinder head was sorted out by Sheffield Engine Services. Fantastic job done. Cylinder head replaced with new head gasket, manifold gasket etc etc. My son has also bought me a new Stainless exhaust system, bless him and all in situ. Here comes the problem...AGAIN, Started her up and it was running a little rough so i put this down to being stood on the driveway for a few months. Took her out for a drive and....Ooops, where is all this black smoke coming from, plus ..down on power and sounding quite rough. So i started looking up on google forum sites, as to just what could could be be the problem. Quite a few people said.. Black Smoke = fuel issue EITHER overfueling or, maybe contaminated diesel due to water in diesel filter. Went out to motor and emptied the fuel from the filter drain screw into an empty 4pt milk carton and then poured this into an empty jar to check for water contamination. NOPE everything good there, unfortunately. That would have solved my problem, but it wasn't to be. Next step..Turned engine to TDC and locked off the flywheel with locking pin..Then,..undo all fixings on and around fuel pump. Turned fuel pump until pump locking pin engaged. Next step..Removed ALL locking pins and tighten all bolts, union pipes etc. Next step.. Turn over engine until she fires up,..after a few cranks she burst into life but needed fine tuning on the pump. Did this, and then took the Landy for a spin !! Still black smoke, sounds rough and down on power,... what could be wrong and have i missed something. The engine sounds the same even if i remove the round air filter off the manifold...formerly 15J Sherpa engine. I can't see anything leaking from anywhere. Undone each injector in turn to see if that makes any difference but NO..Still the same. It NEVER black smoked before and has only started doing this since the hotspots and head gasket were replaced. What is going on ??????????????. Almost out of ideas. Any help out there guys. Cheers Dave.

It has just dawned on me, but i'm sure that quite a few years ago, there was a spate of motors being stolen and i think the thief's were members of some off road site/ forum/club ??. I think they got the vehicle information from members posting images from their vehicles with the registration number and the area from where they lived. For this reason alone , i've told my son to never post images with the reg number. There are some very nasty and devious people out there!!!. Hate the lot of them.

Ian T, Really sorry to hear about this. I too worry about this issue as my son has just got hold of his dream motor, Military 110 . I 've told him to give Skytag , gps tracking a call, for this very reason. Based in Gainsborough .Also to have it ping on his mobile phone if it's nicked. These thieves should be taken to the woods and have their fingers chopped off with a very blunt axe. I really hope you get it back mate. Dave.

There is, however,..someone on youtube ( Land rover series 3 88" 2,25 diesel cold start) Red land rover with B/W CAT, who starts his series 3 in this exact fashion with the addition of other switches, which, i can only think is for keeping the glow plugs on for a few extra seconds AFTER the engine has started. Have a look Steve, it's a bit different!.

Yep, that's the way i do it in winter. Get it started first then apply the hand throttle for a couple on minutes to help warm thing up. I just thought, by what he was saying, ooh have i been doing it wrong all these years but apparently not.

Oh, i see what you mean, as in disregard all the information. Derr!!.

Hi steve b, Mmm, yes it's a little confusing and thank god it's not just me, but what about the Open full throttle bit ??.

Ok, the following is from a Land Rover F.A.Q article i just happened to come across. I'm a little confused by what the editor means,.. anyway here goes 2.25L Diesel Engines Original Author: Mike Rooth (M.J.Rooth@lut.ac.uk) Running the Engine As with all diesels,starting must take place with a wide open throttle. Indeed the original Owners Manual specifies this. Since diesels require a copious amount of air,particular attention should be paid to keeping the air filter clean,and the airways unobstructed. S11,11A,and 111 models have a hand throttle,which can be used to raise the tickover on cold mornings until the engine has warmed through ............................................................................................................................................................................. ( Q, 1) Does this mean, before starting the engine you should floor the accelerator If so,.i was always led to believe that you DON'T touch the accelerator until the engine has fired up. .............................................................................................................................................................................. Second thing i read which is a little confusing. If it is necessary to remove the cylinder head,do NOT be tempted to have it skimmed.This should not,in any event,be necessary,since the head is a large and rigid iron casting,and not,to the writers knowledge,unduly given to warping. Skimming the head will(not may,but will) result in the aluminum"hot spots" recessed and pegged into the head falling out in service.When this occurs,the engine will be a write off.Head overhaul is a specialist job,and must be treated as such.This danger cannot be over emphasized. The cylinder head,when returned to the engine*must* be torqued down twice. When the writer rebuilt his engine he bought a head gasket advertised as being such that it only needed torquing down once. However,the firm from which it was bought said that they used this gasket,but even so,they torqued their heads down twice. Start the engine and run it for about twenty minutes at fast idle until warm,shut down,remove the injectors,torque again,replace injectors, bleed fuel system,and run.Yes,it *is* a fiddle,and yes,it *is* worth it. ( Q, 2 ) So, what happens if your hot spots need replacing, little confused by the meaning/ interpretation on this one. In my previous post i have just had new hot spots fitted. The cylinder head must be skimmed . Mine is the 2.5 N/A but the same head as far as i know ...........................................................................................................................................................................

jordan_meakin Mostly use mine as a tool for self flagellation when I feel like banging my head, busting my knuckles or getting rust in my eye. Occasionally, I do even drive it to Sainsbury's. Oh my god, that made me laugh, crying. Put like that, makes me realise just how many times i've done exactly the same things with my landy over the years!!...Brilliant.

Peaklander Yes, they do seem to know their job, i've just got back after delivering my hot spots from Turners, and the first thing they did was to try picking one up with a magnet, not magnetic as Frieda stated. My old one's picked up straight away so obviously my last lot from britpart was cheapos. Just goes to show doesn't it. The britpart one's were £24 i believe for 4 with free delivery and vat included. The one's from Turners £86 with delivery and vat. Even Steve, who's doing the job, said, "These feel far better quality and a nicer finish to them, and, if anything, they appear a slightly tighter fit, should have no more problems with these" So that filled me with confidence.

Hi guys, ok here's the latest update thus far. The guy at the engine services has been on holiday for the last couple of weeks so things have been rather quiet, anyway,i popped in to have a chat with one of the other lads. i was told that it may be better to buy a set of oversized hot spots =.5mm or 20 thou. They would then machine them to the correct tight size, but to see if i could get them from Turner Engineering. I have since spoken to a lovely lady called Frieda who is VERY knowledgeable to say the least. She said,..oversized hotspots are not available but what can be done is to grease the one that has come out and tap it back in. She also stated that it's quite normal for one or more to fall out when the head is lifted as its only an interference fit. Also the quality of the last hotspots may have something to do with it. She said, if they can be lifted with a magnet then they are the cheap kind. The original type was apparently made of neumonic/mnumonic 80 (spelling) but these are not made anymore.However the type supplied by Turners are a very high quality. I gave all this information to the engineers who kind off agreed with what had been said but didn't sound utterly convinced, but anyway...a full set has been ordered and i'm now just waiting for them to be delivered. She also asked me if the top of the pistons were ok and could it be a combustion problem. I said the top of the pistons looked ok, but i guess we shall just have to see how things go when it's all put back together,....fingers crossed!!!!.

So which Canadian heaters are those then.

Fridgefreezer, Mmm oh yes.... but a little out of my price band, ( like by a long way ) and i certainly wouldn't know where to start with fitting one of those baby's.