SacredDog

As others have said, it sounds like yours is working as it should for a basic automatic system. I personally prefer a manual system (as I have on my 130) compared to the Automatic system (as fitted to our RRC). I find mine always starts better on LPG but if it's very cold and/or damp then I increase the revs to between 1500 & 2000 rpm and switch over to petrol and keep the revs up a bit until it is running smoothly (choke is good for that on Carbs, EFI is a much smoother switch over) then as soon as the Water and Oil (if you've got an Oil Temp Gauge) are just starting to register on the gauge it goes back onto LPG. It can then stay on LPG for the rest of the day unless it gets very cold or damp again. Colin.

I use these, they work extremely well certainly as well as the 'standard' car aerials I have replaced. I've had a quick look inside and they seem to simply filter out about 27MHz for the CB signal and block 27MHz for FM. I wouldn't be concerned about the length of mobile CB aerials even a full length 1/4 wave at 27MHz is about 9Ft long and most are only about half that and Base loaded, so the active part of the aerial is almost ideal for 100MHz. The filters also tune the aerial a bit so it can improve the SWR slightly for a badly tuned CB aerial. Colin.

I think that is normal behaviour for the ZF4 box, our old RRC would do that, the only way around it was to use the lower gears with the Shifter to force it to hold the lower gear. The most annoying was if you forgot to drop the shifter down to the gear you were in as you approached the top of a hill it would change up and you would have to absolutely floor it to get it to change down to crest the hill. Colin

That does sound familiar but as I've said on here before I know very little about Diesels. That sounds like what happen to someone I knew who had an Escort Diesel, his problem was engine breathing resulting in the engine sucking some of it's oil into it's intake system. In the end it was using more Engine Oil than it was Diesel and generating lots of blue smoke. I don't even know if this is possible with a Land Rover but your symptoms sound identical to his early stages of the problem, it took ages for it to become obvious what the problem was to him. Hopefully someone else can confirm if this is possible and if so what to check. Colin.

I appreciate that, I wasn't advocating extended bump stops for you (only for my 130 as insurance for when it's well laden). After fitting the lower shock mounts with the Police Springs (about an extra 1" ride height) I never had any issues with bump stops. I just used Poly Bump Stops because they seemed to be a bit more cushioning than the hard rubber ones. I think the extra droop the lower shock mounts gave allowed the wheel to drop into any potholes and then the Shocks (std spec) along with the now fully extended spring cushioned the shock better (compared to a partially compressed spring at fully extension). I was just saying it worked for me with a RRC and hoping it will have the same effect with my 130 when I get around to swapping bits over. Colin.

You say 'I can't just fit drop shocker mounts as that will probably mean the shocks bottom out on full compression', I know that when I fitted 2" drop rear mounts to my RRC complete with Police Spec Rear springs it transformed it's manners both on & off road (with standard front end), I just fitted some decent Poly-Prop Bump Stops to the Body (also extended rear brake hose and dislocation cones) and all was well. Without springs fitted, when the Shocks were at full compression the Bump Stops were compressed by about Half an inch. I know a RRC is a different kettle of fish compared to a 110 but I can't imagine it being that different. Now the Rangie is off the road I intend to swap the drop mounts and brake hose to my 130 to gain a bit of extra droop at the back, I may fit extended bump stops just to give a bit more protection when running at the 3500Kg limit. Colin.

Thanks, that is excellent. I only asked about NSN's out of interest because I have seen boxes with the MPN covered by a Sticker with a Bar Code and NSN on it in the past and from my experience in the MoD NSN's tend to cover superceded items better than MPN's If I have an NSN (or at least the last 7) I can refer back to it. Cheers, Colin.

When you say 'as soon as the engine cools down its coughing and spluttering', do you mean after it has warmed up & been running a while? or just when you stop the engine and let it cool down?. If the former it sounds like you have an over cooling engine that needs sorting, let us know & I'm sure we can all put our collective heads together & suggest a few remedies. I have trouble running from cold during very cold or very damp weather but once the temperature is up it runs fine and stays that way until it gets very cold again. In very cold or very damp weather I often resort to running on petrol for a few miles (but watch out for the 'Catch 22' I mentioned earlier). From what I've read 'Megasquirt' is a modern Fuel Injection system and 'Mejajolt' a 'state of the art' ignition system but their are a lot more qualified people around here than me to tell you about both of them. Colin.

Yes Ivan, I think you are right about the Army V8 110's, they had restrictors (i think they were just metal rings fitted to the Carb inlets to make the Carbs perform like smaller ones). However I was under the impression that the Rapier Tractors (being heavier and expected to tow/carry much more weight) were left un-restricted) but I may be wrong. Perhaps a REME (or ex-) VM would like to confirm this (or let me know I don't know what I'm talking about ). Colin.

Sorry I don't know much about Disco's or Diesel's but it sounds to me from what I have heard that the Disco's are overgeared for comfortable towing of any great weight and are a lot heavier than a 90 to start with. You would probably find that a lower geared Transfer Box would work well for towing in a Disco, something like a 1.410 as fitted to a 110 Defender. Perhaps you could persuade someone with a 110 to swap with you as I used to find my old 110 would scream a bit in 5th (but that was a V8, don't know if a TD5 would be the same) at Motorway speeds. The other alternative if you are talking about a Disco 2 is to fit a Compushift (see here: http://www.ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/category_24.html ) gearbox controller that you can set up to work the Auto to your liking and even have some degree of manual control. Although if it were me I would stick with a Defender and get the Gearbox changed to an Auto, that's what I plan to do when I have the Time/Facilities and/or Money. Colin.

Yep I agree, you should be able to get at the Switch from underneath, might be tricky getting enough clearance to get a screwdriver in there to undo it though and if my memory serves me correctly the cable runs over the top of the gearbox and the Connector is clamped down on the top somewhere. If you're lucky you might be able to pull the switch out far enough to clean it up & free it off in situ. Colin.

Hi Tom, You shouldn't have any trouble with a health V8 in an ex-army 130 even at 100K miles (should be good for double that) if it's been looked after. My 1994 Defender V8 130 will cruise quite happily at the legal limits on the flat full laden and towing a Range Rover on a Trailer. It does pay to keep the revs up a bit (about 2500rpm) as you approach hills, so you need to change down in plenty of time. If it gets below 2000rpm it tends to bog down a bit and struggle to get back up to speed. But it will chug up even some of the steeper hills we find in Cumbria at a fairly respectable 30mph in 2nd, if you have to drop into 1st it can be a struggle to get the revs up high enough to make the change to 2nd without bogging down, so from a standstill on a hill it can be wise to use Low Box until you clear the hill (but be careful you don't spin the wheels in 1st if you have Mud Tyres like me). If it doesn't like running on Petrol as well then you must have problems somewhere. If you run it a lot on LPG I have heard that the various moving parts in the Carbs can wear out because they are not being washed in Petrol. I have heard this can be a particular problem for people who experience fine dust (that gets past the filters). I have noticed this myself, after a long time running on just LPG it doesn't like Petrol for a while until the Petrol has cleaned off all the rubbish (a bit of a Catch 22). But if it isn't running well on LPG then you must have problems elsewhere as well (assuming the LPG is set up correctly). Another possibility at 100K miles is that the Cam is worn, shouldn't be a problem if it has always had the required Oil changes with a decent Oil but I have heard of some batches of 'soft cams' being about. It should be a fairly simple job for someone who knows what they are doing to check you are getting the right amount of lift at the valves. That's about all I can think of for now, apart from the giving it a total service. I like FridgeFreezers idea of MegaSquirting it to solve the problem, how does that work with LPG? Hope you get it sorted, the RV8 is an excellent engine (when it's working as it should). Colin.

Perhaps Calum will be along in a minute to confirm or deny that one , thankfully I don't have any tattoos or have any teeshirts with rude words on them (not that I can think of anyway). I was a Civil Servant in the MoD for more years than I care to remember, is that close enough?

That would seem the logical explanation to me as well, having worked around the MoD stores system (not Vehicles though) for a good few years (as a Civvy) I know our codifiers would do such a thing and before I left the MoD they were making a big thing of rationalising the Stores. I'm not that concerned about what I have fitted being genuine but more worried about anything I get in the future being compatible. Colin.

I see here: http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=39267&hl= that hoarebag has a Detroit fitted to the Back of his Defender and a Truetrac on the Front (lucky Devil). If he doesn't see this it might be worth sending him a PM for his opinions, I know the comments will relate to a Defender as opposed to a Series but that shouldn't make a lot of difference when his has Centre Diff Lock on & you have 4WD selected.

I did ask someone who had a Detroit fitted on the Back that very question. He said it was virtually undetectable on the road but he could sometimes hear a slight knock as he powered out of a corner but he didn't know whether it was actually the Detroit or just some play in the drivetrain making the noise as it was locking/unlocking. This was many years ago, so if it was the Detroit making the noise this may have been improved on more modern ones. Colin.

That is weird mine not being marked front or rear, I assumed they were genuine military ones as they have the 'LUCAS', 'ENGLAND' and traces of Matt Green Paint on them (why they weren't unscrewed to paint, I don't know), they look original from it's days as a Rapier Tractor. Do you have the respective NSN's &/or Land Rover part numbers for the Front and Rear Lenses?, just for future reference. Cheers, Colin

I think as always when there are two options there are two schools of thoughts on which is better Locking Front or Rear Diff. I think I would go for a Truetrac on the front first using the theory that the front will hit un-churned up ground first (at least by you) so it should hopefully find more grip & drag you out. It should also help you steer out of existing ruts. Whenever I have got stuck towing a well loaded Trailer I have found that giving the front end more grip helps the most (using stones, sacking etc). My other reason for going front first is that often the lack of steering causes me more trouble than lack of traction. I always seem to slide into areas with less grip and then can't steer away from more trouble. This is all academic for me, I have never been able to justify getting a locker (yet), so I just practice getting out of being stuck Colin.

I was answering the question about 'Laptop GPS Software' for which I use Fugawi. I just happen to use my PDA (also with Fugawi) in the Landy instead of a Laptop (most of the time). I assumed that you needed a connection to the Internet for Google Earth to work because it has always stopped working when I have lost my Internet connection, perhaps someone can explain what my problem is if it does indeed work without the Internet. If I could get Google Earth to work without an Internet connection it would be excellent to use when I didn't have an Ordnance Survey map of the area. Colin.

The only reasons I don't use Google Earth is that you need an Internet Connection and I don't think it will run on a PDA. I have been known to use the Google Earth Plug-In for Fugawi Global Navigator as one of my 'other sources' for maps. I do however prefer using Ordnance Survey maps for general use. Colin.

The last time I wanted a new Military Fog Lens I found it cheaper to buy a complete lamp assembly from http://www.johnrichardssurplus.co.uk/ rather that just a Lens from Craddock. Colin.

I never knew that about 'Front' & 'Rear' Indicator Lenses, mine hasn't got 'Front' or 'Rear' marked on them, does that mean they are not Genuine? Colin.

My preferred Mapping software is 'Fugawi'. You can either get the 'Global Navigator' if you want to scan your own paper maps into it (or obtain maps from other sources). Or you can get the UK version of 'Fugawi', the 25000:1 versions being particularly suitable for Greenlaning (or any other general off-roading, powered or not). I normally use the Fugawi Maps with my PDA and either a Bluetooth GPS or Garmin Etrex when in the Landy. Colin.

I was also getting concerned like you TimR. I can often be seen wearing DPM (of various nationalities) just because it is cheap, hard wearing and doesn't show the Mud so easily and of course just in case I feel the urge to invade Scotland . I have also been seen waiting outside Car Boot sales for my other half . I don't however have a beacon on my Landy Roof (although there is a hole where one may have been fitted by a previous owner), does that mean there is some hope for me? Colin.

I had the same issue with fluorescent strip lights with my 110 HiCap (fiited with an Ifor Williams) many years ago in Cardiff. I cleared the clatter board easily and didn't come close to anything else. Luckily those ones were hung by chains, so just made a lot of noise and no Tinkle Tinkle. After the first few I managed to avoid most of the others by picking my route carefully, it was mainly just in the ramps where I didn't have much choice of route. I didn't worry about a few more dents in the Ifor (just a bit more added character). Colin.