Varsas

All sorted now, he managed to get the britpart one to work and, as above, it fits very well indeed. Just down to technique I guess...

Thanks for the reply. The car has a new manifold on it, which fitted the old exhaust so I assume that it's correct. Sadly the downpipe which definitely doesn't fit is a britpart one. Just wanted to check it wasn't something silly. Hopefully my friend will call me later with good news...

Thanks for the reply. The car has a new manifold on it, which fitted the old exhaust so I assume that it's correct. Sadly the downpipe which definitely doesn't fit is a britpart one. Just wanted to check it wasn't something silly. Hopefully my friend will call me later with good news...

Hi all. Long story short I need to fit a new exhaust to my 2.25 petrol 1972 SWB land rover and am struggling. I have removed the old one, which was subsequently removed from my garden, so I don't have it anymore. I ordered a complete new exhaust from a respected specialist (not sure I can name names here?) but I cannot get the downpipe to fit. I tried everything, but it would not clear the gearbox sump. After giving up I took it to a friends, he manages an exhaust/tyre/MOT place. Up on ramps the exhaust still would not go on, so we unbolted the gearbox, jacked it clear of it's mountings and tried again. This time the exhaust would slot under the first crossmember and above the gearbox mount like I believe it should however you cannot bolt up the downpipe to the manifold as the downpipe hits the bottom of the gearbox (this is with the gerabox jacked up) and even if you could the downpipe ends somewhere near the middle of the car, a good foot or more away from where it needs to be to line up with the centre pipe. So another down-pipe was ordered form a different supplier however it looks exactly the same as the one I had (despite being from a different manufacturer) actually, that's not true there are subtle differences but when compared side-by-side they look very similar indeed. My friend believes it will not fit. Before I waste any more of his time is there any reason I am struggling? My landie does appear to have a military chassis (ammo box welded underneath, heavy duty springs, extra fuel tank under the passenger seat) could that cause me problems? What if I have a petrol engine on a diesel chassis, something like that? Does anyone know where I can get a quality downpipe from, just in case it's just poor manufacture? Anyone got a good picture of what the down-pipe should look like and/or it's routing through the car? It might be that it turns out the new downpipie fits fine but thought someone else might have been through this. I fitted a new exhaust to my diesel land rover and had no problems at all. Thanks for any help.

Cool pics. Are they going back any time soon? Tried to have alook at the AWDC website but I'm getting a '403 Forbidden' error :-(

Yes, it is a bit out. Not sure it's as much as 45 degrees. As I did say, that guy seems to have his ignition very retarded, I would say that's past TDC, you are probably running a fair bit more advance. Wear in the timing chain, wear in the camshaft, backlash in the dizzy gears...all might also account for some of the difference? Not sure, if yours runs well as it is I wouldn't be too worried, there's nothing to say his is exactly right. Bowie69: The dizzys are slotted, can only be correct or 180 degrees out though.

Looks the same as the one with the orange leads I posted to me?

OK, just to end this then. I can't get the new dizzy to work. Every time I put it in the car it refuses to start. I have double checked points gap and the timing, I have even experimented with different plug lead positions, nothing. When I put the old one in she fires up first time. I'm getting bored of this now and my neighbours are getting annoyed at the backfiring which happens when I try to start the car with the new dizzy in. My plan now is to change the coil/leads/plugs and if that doesn't fix my issue I'll have someone with some more experience fit a new dizzy for me. One final question; are the ducellier type and the Lucas type distributors interchangeable, will a Lucas dizzy fit on my car? What would I have to change to get one to fit? Thanks for all your help!

Hi. Nope, see above. Dizzy moves anticlockwise. I do not know where they start from, but it will go 1,3,4,2 anti clockwise around the dizzy cap. You have 1,4,2,3. I have read that No1 plug goes 'nearest No1 cylinder' that doesn't seem to work for me. If you do get yours working can you let me know where No1 plug goes? I have done the same as you, but to add to it my dizzy may now be 180 degrees out. Just found this... is anyone able to confirm that this is correct? ETA: Right. I have just put my leads as shown in the pic and it fired up! Yay. My dizzy is a bit more clockwise then the one in the pic (my vac advance points at No4 cylinder) but that seems to be the correct order. For anyone reading this; this is the correct order for the plugs (or seems to be..) but it is possible to have the dizzy 180degrees out so watch for that.

Hi. Thanks, just tried that, no joy. It coughs and bangs a bit but will not start. I am back to using the 'old' dizzy, I have not undone the pinch bolt and did mark it's position against it's pedestal, so I know the 'fine' timing is OK, I just don't know if I have it 180degrees out or if the plug leads start in the right place.

umm..you know what...I don't think I have...no. It's going to the +ve side of the coil. ah.

Hi. I have replaced the 'old' dizzy with the 'new' one. Same result, i.e. lots of smoke/melting wires etc. You are correct, the points where never open on the old dizzy, one of the reasons I'm changing it. With the LT lead between the dizzy and the coil disconnected, the king HT lead disconnected, and points open there is a more then 12 volt difference between the LT terminal on the coil and the -ve terminal of the battery. Is there supposed to be? From what MrKev says I assume not. (as much as anything else I'd like a way of checking to see if I still have the problem without risking an electrical fire every time)

Hi all. The short version of what is written below is that after swapping my distributor, with my ignition on I get smoke from everything connected to the -ve side of the coil, and want to know what to do about it. Following on from this discussion: http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=71090 I bought a new ducellier type distributor for my landie. I fitted it this morning, but afterwards the car wouldn't start. It did back-fire though. I re-set the timing, still no joy. I the re-fitted the original distributor, re-checked the timing (I had marked it's place so I knew the timing was correct but did double check), again, nothing. It then occurred to me that perhaps I had fitted it 180 degrees out (I hadn't realised that was possible, but it is) and/or had mixed up some HT lead places. To start the timing from scratch I needed to find TDC for No1 piston. I connected my compression tester in place of No1 spark plug but after about an hour of spinning the engine the tester hadn't moved. It records about 155psi from the starter, with WOT. I don't have anyone who can help me at the moment, so putting your thumb over the plug hole while someone turns the engine is a bit difficult, besides if my compression tester reads 0 how is anyone going to be able to detect it with their thumb? I decided to find TDC by looking at the valves. I removed the rocker cover, and rotated the engine until No 1 & 2 valves where closed AND the crank mark was at TDC. I double checked, and No1 piston is the only one with both valves fully closed, i.e. clearance between the tappets and rockers. Does that mean I have found TDC for No 1 piston? With the engine is that position, the rotar arm was pointing at number '3' in the picture below, which was connected to number 2 spark plug. I removed the dizzy, rotated it 180 degrees, put it back, and moved the plug leads round. They are now as shown in the picture. Still nothing. I had an assistant turn the car over while I held a spark plug to the engine block, no spark. I double checked earth with a test lamp, all well. As I was doing that smoke started to come out of the connections to the coil; the distributor, and possibly somewhere inside the dashboard as well. I disconnected the battery. I am now at the stage where, with ignition on but the engine not spinning, smoke comes from the cables connected to the -ve side of the coil, the distributor (presumably the points) and possibly inside the car as well (ignition switch?). I am hoping that the smoke indicates a fault in the ignition system, and when I fix that the car will spring into life... Anyone have any ideas as to what it could be? the rest of the electrics seem to be OK. Lights work etc. As always, any help is very appreciated. I wish I had simply taken a note of where the rotar arm was pointing and the position of plug leads, would have saved myself the last 4 hours.

Maybe I should consider doing the same to the Jaguar...

Thanks for the replies. My uncle is into landies and has said the same thing, i.e. ignition is a bit of a weak spot. I'll look at fitting a luminition kit (my Stag has one and is seems to work well). I do have a dwell meter but leant it out and haven't got it back yet. It'll have to wait till next week. I certainly see what you mean by the cam being worn, I looked at the one in the Jaguar and it's much more pronounced.

Will do. I'll have to clean it first of course... Right, thanks for the help. I have now set a points gap. The car still runs but it hasn't improved the misfire/stuttering. I'll re-check the timing, then replace the condenser and then coil. If neither of those help I'll be back... Off to check the gap on my XJ6 now. It has very similar symptoms to the landie...

Ahh..OK, I see what you mean. So the lobes are actually on the shaft itself...should have seen that. No idea what the distributor is, I assumed it was lucas. It has a black cap. I have had a look at the surfaces of the points, they look OK. Fairly smooth with no deposits. The inside of the dizzy cap had plastic flash markings covering two of the contacts. I cleaned them off. With that, this points issue, 0 clearance on the tappets and timing a mile off it really is a wonder this car ran at all...no wonder it overheated on the way back from picking it up! I have just been out and checked. Even with the top of the can lobe pushing the arm away there is no gap at all, certainly not one I can measure with a feeler gauge. If I push the arm toward the gap it doesn't move, if I pull it out slightly and release it I can hear it 'tap' against the other part. As you say the lobes are very indistinct, I can't help feeling that if I adjust it out to 0.4mm they'll never touch. We'll see. perhaps this dizzy needs a different gap? If I need a new dizzy would this do? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LandRover-2-25-2-5-Distributor-ETC5835-/330606178988?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4cf9a9f2ac Thanks for your help!

Hi all. I have a very slight misifre on my S3, 5MB, 2.25 petrol landie. It'll usually idle OK, but if you rev it it'll cough and splutter a bit. It actually drives very well, but occasionally you can hear and feel it stutter a bit, especially at high loads and low revs. I have checked HT leads (by swapping them for known good ones) spark plug condition/gap, timing, fuel/air mix, compression. All are fine. I have also reset the vale clearances, when I got the car there wasn't ay clearance on any of the valves even with a stone cold engine! The next thing to check (should have been one of the first) is the points gap. If that's OK then I'll replace the condenser, then the coil. Despite owning classics for the last 10 years I've never had to check or set the points gap, my other cars had electronic ignition, but since I now have two cars with points I'd better learn. I was assured it was quite an easy process but I've still managed to get very confused. The haynes manual says to '<rotate the engine> until the contact breaker arm is at the peak of one of the four cam lobes'. How do I tell when that has happened? Since I didn't know how to do what it wanted I thought I would just rotate the engine until the points moved as far apart as possible, and then measure that gap. That doesn't seem to work, at no point is there any gap between the points. I span the engine one half of a revolution (checking the points after every small movement) and the points where closed the whole time. I then span it over on the starter a few times, after every rotation the points where still touching. What am I doing wrong? Am I checking the right thing, the gap between the two parts pointed to in the arrow in the picture (the moveable arm and the fixed piece)? How do I get the engine in the right place for the points gap to be measured? Can I do it by looking at the valves? Are my points so badly set that they are touching all the time? (this would explain why I couldn't set the timing statically, I tried using a test lamp between the LT side of the coil and earth, but the lamp never came on. I have used this method successfully before so I was a bit confused). Thanks in advance for any help.

I paid £50 for a half-decent one (needed new rear crank oil seal, bearings etc). The fuel injection pump and injectors themselves are worth a bit, if they are good. Is it a 3MB or 5MB unit?

The engine earth is through a bolt into the top of the mount, and then to the chassis. I'll see about placing it round one of the bolts which goes straight into the engine, althrough from memory the cable wouldn't reach. I was also worried about it chafing on the edge of the mount. Thanks for the feedback re: the starter earth. I'll use a starter fixing bolt then.

After my throttle cable melted after the car decided to earth the starter through it, I thought I'd better check my earths. Obviously the engine -> chassis earth needs cleaning up, I will be doing this. I have discovered that the starter is supposed to have it's own earth to the chassis. Mine does not. Can someone point me to the correct earthing point on the starter? I think it is point A on the attached image, but would like to be sure. I've seen enough sparks and smoke to keep me going for a while. Also my engine earth goes through an engine mount, is that how it's supposed to be? Cheers.

I put mine on pistonheads and it was sold, sight unseen, within 24 hours. Free advert, too. I got a lot of calls from traders, they must sit on it hitting refresh. Suits me, no haggling over price and less likely to have any problems with the sale. I would have though £2k on a good day. The gearbox is a big problem, it means you can't really test drive it.

Sorry for the thread resurrection, but thought this might be helpfull. This issue tured out to be the starter. The clue was when I recorded 2ish volts between the outside of the starter and the -ve terminal of the battery, this means earthing issue or a worn starter. In my case adding a seperate earth did not help. New starter in (much easier then you'd think, and no need to mess about with the exhaust as the Haynes manual suggests) and it's spinning much quicker then the old one did, even on a good day. It sounds totally different! Thanks for the replies.

Thanks for the reply. There was nearly 2V between the body of the starter and -ve terminal of the battery when cranking, running a jump lead between the engine lifting eye and battery helped, but not enough. I get 13.9 volts across the battery with the engine running. 12.5+ volts across the battery with no load. When the weather gets a little better I will have the battery checked (although it seems fine. My charger says it's OK, and it works fine in other cars) if the battery checks out OK I'll change the starter. I do actually have another one; it happens to be attached to my other SIII but it'd be worth swapping them over to make sure it's definatly that. Thanks once again for the replies. It's so frustrating because the engine runs very well once it's going, and starts very easily when jumped.

County station wagon was the top of the range more comfortable, road biased, people carrying version of the land rovers. They had radial, on road tyres for example. They had headlining and all the comfy interior options, deluxe seats, door cards etc. The SW (station wagon) is also more of a people carrier then a hard core off roader, it will also have rear windows, rear seats etc.