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Lumpy Norman

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Everything posted by Lumpy Norman

  1. Les, Had a decent smell of it this morning and it's definitely diesely. Smelt rather reminiscent of my grandparents paraffin heater and left my nose with a rather unpleasant tingle for a while. Could you advise how to proceed please? Cheers
  2. And another little nugget of information has crept out of the dingiest parts of memory . . . Ordinarily, when I went to fill up, removing the filler cap resulted in an inrush of air and a sort of "thunk" from the tank, as if it were expanding after being in a vacuum. For the last few weeks and seemingly about the same sort of time that this grey smoke issue has been noticeable, that hasn't happened. Presumably then, air can now get into the tank at the same rate as the fuel is leaving . . . I suppose this would be on the wrong side of the lift pump to let air into the system and cause the retarding effect Reckless mentioned earlier, but I thought it may be worth mentioning . . .
  3. Just so happened that this morning, following the vehicle standing idle from Thursday to Monday and subsequent cold start, the grey smoke appeared again but this time I had the chance to pull over and have a sniff. Basically, it just smells like an old diesel engine (I once had the joy of working on a 1975 Leyland Terrier 7 tonner and it smelled very similar to that). There wasn't any other noticeable odour to it at all as far as I could tell. Colour was very definitely grey, without any blue tint to it at all. However; that was at the side of the road idling away. Because I was trundling around town I had the chance to accelerate hard and then coast, during which I noticed that when accelerating hard the smoke in the nearside wing mirror was very grey, but on the overrun it adopted a blueish tint. The two stages being noticeably different. Also noticed that once the temperature gauge had lifted off the end-stop at cold, the smoking had gone. Does that provide any clues? Unfortunately I'll not have the chance for the clear-thing-in-the-fuel-line test until the weekend. And finally, the daft newbie question; if it is the head gasket which has gone, would the smoking/steaming/greyness not be visible all the time, rather than only as it was warming up?
  4. When you say "clear fuel filter" Reckless, is that one of those ordinary plastic numbers with the orange papery filter element inside, or something a bit different??
  5. Thanks all for the help, will start going through the suggestions at the weekend and as time permits. In the meantime, I'll be doing the praying and recitation of chants for it to be a simple problem Cheers
  6. Thanks all, much appreciated. In the vain hope that it's not a cracked block and is somehow fuel related; could air getting into the spill-return cause this problem, as it's on the low pressure side of the pump? I only ask as there seems to be a small seepage where the spill pipe meets the front-most injector and if fuel's getting out, presumably air is getting in? If it's parked up for a little while after a run then air may well get in that way. Only thing is I would have thought the grey smoke would happen at every start if this were the case, rather than intermittently?
  7. Thanks Les. I haven't given it a smell no, never thought of that. From the looks of it though, I don't think there's any oil in it as there's no hint of blue in it at all. I did wonder if it might be the cylinder head gasket as I do top up regularly, but (a) there's usually a small watery puddle on the ground after it's been parked up for a while and (b) I ran the engine for a few minutes from cold then unscrewed the expansion bottle cap and there wasn't any pressure in it, so I'm inclined to think it's just a leak somewhere. Will give it a sniff next time it happens. As long as I have my wits about me at any rate . . . I did forget to mention a few other things which may be of some use: When I had a 300tdi Discovery, the cam belt was replaced but put on a tooth out of alignment. Consequently it used to belch out grey emissions when on the overrun. Although the current issue happens under different conditions, it does look similar. Occasionally when starting, everything feels a bit . . . different. It doesn't take more cranking to start or make any funny noises or anything, but it does feel as if things are having to work a bit harder Usually, when turning off the ignition, there's the usual little shimmy before everything comes to rest. Sometimes however, there does seem to be more of a shake as everything comes to a stop, then on other occasions everything almost seems to stop without any motion at all. Fuel economy is still working out at 32 to 33mpg It still pulls like a train and I haven't noticed any degradation in driving performance Thanks again . . .
  8. How do all, Another trouble has reared its head on the old "trusty" '95 Deafener, this time to do with what's coming out of the exhaust. It's not constant and only seems to happen under certain circumstances whichI'm still trying to identify, but I rather think the MoT man would have something to say about it if he were to see it come May of next year. The most common circumstance for it to flare up is after the engine's been running at temperature, then it gets parked up for twenty to thirty minutes (say, about the length of time you might spend in a shop getting a few tinnies and choosing a pizza for your Friday night, to pick an event entirely at random . . .) then it gets restarted. There's the usual cough of black sooty looking stuff that comes out, but then it's followed by what looks like thick grey smoke - such as you might get from a bonfire with wet leaves on - which continues unabated until everything's back up to temperature (about a mile or two's driving). I tried just giving it a boot-full of revs to see if that would clear it, but all that happened was that the car-park was engulfed in the grey smoke . . . The other circumstance, which seems to be more intermittent, is after it's been driven a mile or so from starting from cold. After the cold start there's the usual belch of blackness, then all is well. But by the time I'm navigating suburbia on the way to the motorway, I'm leaving a grey veil of emissions through the streets. This has all cleared by the time I've gone a couple more miles though. Notes for info: At the last four or five fill-ups I've added a 50ml dose of Millers Diesel Eco-Max, but this doesn't seem to be changing anything. I usually fill up with BP standard diesel from the same filling station and have done since before the grey emissions began. I changed the injector spill return the other week as it was split and leaking, but this hasn't helped either. Mind you, the union to the front-most injector still seems to be seeping, even though everything's good and tight. There seems to be a coolant leak somewhere that isn't the p-gasket. This was leaking a month or so ago which I fixed, but there seems to be an additional leak somewhere. If anyone can shed some light on what might be happening or any diagnostic suggestions, I'd be most grateful. And if there's any information required that I've not supplied, please just ask. Cheers all
  9. Can't say I'm massively keen on buying any sort of critical or safety part from ebay to be honest . . .
  10. Thanks Boydie, could you post a link for where to get it please? I've run a number of searches but nothing seems to come up, other than a company called Bestobell (two 'l's) Oilfield Products. And they don't look like they'd sell a sheet of goodness to some oik in Hampshire . . . Cheers,
  11. Could someone suggest a source for the composite gasket please? Last year my P-gasket went about once a fortnight using the metal gasket types and red Hylomar. Then I replaced the auxiliary bracket and used blue Hylomar and it's been sound, up until now. The mating faces of the block and bracket are on the pitted side and I've had my interest piqued by mention of these composite gasket types. I have a couple of this sort which I bought from Britcar (http://www.brit-car.co.uk/product.php/89425/10638/water_pump_housing_block_gasket_300tdi_) but these seem more of a single, papery "fabric", than a composite. Or are they indeed the composite types? All help and recommended suppliers gratefully received.
  12. For what it's worth at this (much) later stage if anyone's still reading this thread, that Ballytherm/Kingspan stuff (what appears to be some expanding foam sandwiched between silver foil) works a treat. It can be easily cut to size, can be (sort of) bent to shape and is light enough that it can be glued into place. Then covered with something more aesthetically pleasing . . .
  13. Well, it looks like I've solved the fuel gauge issue: It would appear that the green plastic bulb-holder bowl also secures a very fine wire to the metal chassis of the gauge. This is then provided with ground via the long threaded rod on the back. If there is no ground provided by this terminal, the gauge steadily rises to full. By soldering the exceptionally fine wire to the metal case where the green light bowl would normally live, everything returns to normal. So that's one thing sorted
  14. That's brilliant, thanks Western. Blummin' lifesaver Cackshifter; no, it was just the illumination bulbs that go in the gauges which I replaced, the warning bulbs are still the usual filament type. I've checked each lamp by putting voltage at the edge connector, so I know the circuit's good from the tracks to the bulbs. It's quite possible something's been displaced, cracked, broken, disturbed and/or upset when everything was dismantled of course . . .
  15. Evenin' all, About a year ago the wipers in The Beige One tied themselves in knots, the end result being that the instrument panel and dash had to come out. The wipers now work very nicely thank you (touch wood), but the instrument electrics have been behaving strangely ever since and sorting it out has now risen to the top of my to-do list. Also, while the instrument panel was out, I did have a fettle and remove all of the standard incandescent bulbs and replace them with LEDs and a controlling dimmer circuit. This meant cutting out all of the wiring associated with these bulbs, so it's possible I've disconnected something I shouldn't have. Trouble is, I have no idea what. For starters, I'm going to ask if anyone has a decent wiring diagram for a 1995, 300tdi, rhd 110 Defender? No air con, no ECU, no alarm, no immobiliser. I have the workshop manual, but the section for electrics (86 if I remember correctly) only has diagrams for the alarm and immobiliser circuits. Trawls of t'internet have yielded all manner of suspicious doodles and searches on this forum have usually ended up in dead links. And I doubt my search terms have helped to be honest, but if someone could point me towards a decent diagram, I would be most grateful. And now the symptoms: With the ignition in stage two, the red lights which illuminate vary each time. Sometimes it's the battery only light, other times it'll be battery and the "( ! )" brake warning, occasionally "(P)" comes on too, but usually not until it's been for a drive. The oil pressure warning only comes on occasionally. Once the engine's started, the warning lights work as expected, although I can never really be sure about the oil pressure light . . . Then there's the fuel gauge. It always reads full, but it's not perpetually shorted. With the gauge removed, I took resistance measurements at the green and green/black terminals at regular intervals (electrics off) and this shows that the sender resistance varies between 16 Ohms when it's just been filled to 170 Ohms when it's done about 350 miles (I get just a shade over 30mpg at the moment). This graph shows the sender resistance against miles covered since last fill up. I've tried two gauges, but each one shows full when it's attached. Out of curiosity, I put the one of the gauges in line with different resistors and found it reads full at or around 100 Ohms and empty at about 1000 Ohms. Attached is another graph that shows by-eye estimate of indicated level against circuit resistance Since one of these items it out of scale with the other by a factor of ten, my usual assumption would be that one of them is up the knack, but because everything worked fine until I removed the dash, I'm inclined to think that something isn't connected which should be, or vice-versa. So there we have it, anyone got any suggestions of where I might start looking please? And I'd also be grateful if anyone could tell me what the expected working range of the gauge/sender should be too please. Many thanks in advance, Norm
  16. One of the other symptoms (which, incidentally, was the one that resulted in the relay diagnosis) was that the battery wouldn't charge to the point where the vehicle wouldn't start one morning. I reckon the relay probably failed in June but, since I was trundling around in the summer months, I didn't have any additional loads turned on, so there was enough juice left to charge the battery. Come the colder, darker (and rainier) days however, driving to work with lights, fan and occasionally wipers and heated rear window turned on, over about a fortnight the battery drained enough from regular starting duties to be unable to turn the engine over. So yes, probably worth checking yours before the winter comes . . .
  17. *sigh*, never thought of putting the old gearwheel back in . . . I changed out the new plastic, switch-activating, bump with the old one, as I thought it might have a higher profile, but the thought never even occurred to me that the replacement gearwheel might be 'out'. I still have the old parts, so will do another swap out next time I can be @rsed. That's just me though, trusting to a fault . . . Cheers. Again . . .
  18. When you 'did it the last time', what did you do to fix it? All I did was take out the old worn gearwheel and replace it with a new one. The new one came with a much thicker dished washer and that setup never stopped. I replaced the new dished washer with the older, thinner one and that helped. Then I added a washer between the gearbox case and the external circlip (number 5; "washers", in the diagram you linked) which helped a lot bus hasn't fixed the problem. I was toying with the idea of adding more, or a thicker washer, to pull the gearwheel nearer to the park switch, but haven't due to concerns about squeezing everything together too tightly and causing binding of some sort. Or is that what you're supposed to do . . . ?
  19. Cheers fellas. That inertia business is exactly what's happening. It's the dished washer that I was most bothered about, wondered that is should perhaps go on the outside of the casing, held in place by the circlip. That diagram, however, would suggest that I have it right. Although it does say that No. 5 is "washers", plural, so maybe it's just a case of adding some . . . Maybe I'll just do a furtive swap of motors instead . . .
  20. Evenin' all, Does anyone have an exploded diagram of the wiper motor for a '95 Defender, 110, 300tdi please? Part number RTC3867. I'm trying to solve the problem of the park switch not being activated properly, and I rather suspect I have the washers in the wrong places that's pushing the switch activating bump on the main cog away from the switch button. Specifically, the conical washer. If anyone has a diagram they could post or can describe where on the spindle the washers go, I'd be most grateful. Cheers.
  21. I know it's been a while, but thought I'd post again anyway. It looks like the problem was a knackered glow-plug timer not turning off and drawing a constant forty amps or so. Replaced the relay with one which makes the noticeable 'thunk' when everything's toasty-warm and now the mpg's back up between 28mpg and 30mpg. Forty amps eh? Who'd-a-thunk it . . .
  22. I did have to take it off for access, but I'm pretty sure I put it back on properly. Having said that of course, I haven't really checked. Will do that a little later. Could a seized viscous coupling put sufficient load on the engine to result in such a marked increase in consumption?
  23. Hmmmm . . . good questions, thanks fellas. The answers, thusly: DailySleaze: The reduction in mpg has been noticeable on every tank since the job was done. I've gone through about four or five tanks of diesel since then and it's been consistently at about 27mpg. Prior to the fettling, it was around 29-30 mpg. CackShifter: Not entirely sure what it is you're referring to; is it the viscous coupling of the fan? If so, I don't think it's seized as it was spinning freely when I put it back on. Will check and confirm however. PatPending: I'm using the same method each time, so any inaccuracy should be repeated for each measurement and thus cancel out. Every time I fill up, I reset the trip odometer to zero. Then when I fill up again I know how much fuel I've used and how far I went on it. The weekly journeys are practically identical, mostly dual carriageway and done at about 65mph. There are two other minor issues which I'm not sure are related or relevant, but I'll mention them in case they're useful: The fuel tank seems to be getting pressurised and blowing diesel out of the vented cap. I don't know the mechanism of how the pressure's getting in there, but the first couple of journeys after a fill up show that diesel's being ejected from the spout somehow. This was happening while the vehicle was doing 30mpg however, so I'm making the assumption that it's not related to the drop in economy. Obviously it's not helping, but the fault is common to the before-and-after scenarios. The temperature gauge seems to read ever so slightly lower than it used to. Normally, the gauge's needle would sit about vertical, now however it seems to be canted over to read slightly cooler. Rather than being at 12 o'clock say, it's now at about 11:45. Not much, but noticeable. I first noticed this about a week before I changed the parts. After the overheat and while I was trundling round, topping up the coolant twice a day, it would sit vertical. But then about a week or so before I 'mended' things, I noticed it was reading that little bit low. Any help?
  24. Art'noon all, I recently changed the water pump, 'P' gasket and belt tensioner on my 300tdi 110 and, for reasons utterly unclear, my fuel economy has dropped from 30mpg to about 27mpg. I'm still doing the same route, filling up at the same BP garage, driving the same way, haven't changed the amount of weight carried, using the same tyres etc, etc, but have seen this 3mpg drop. Anyone got any ideas as to why this might be please? The 'P' gasket was changed because it had sprung a leak and got hotter than usual, but it took me a while to get the opportunity to fix it. Consequently, I was topping up the header tank before each journey. After the slight overheat, it never ran low again. Before the overheat incident and while I was constantly topping up with water, I was getting 30mpg. I do the right thing and fix the leak and I'm rewarded with 27mpg. And that, as children might day, just isn't fair . . .
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