monkie

That has simply not been my experience at all over the past week doing motorway miles. You can even see what chargers are available before you arrive. I work to tight deadlines and have to be in places for appointments at specific times. I have not had any issue whatsoever in making any of my deadlines. ... And this has all been with no home charger, so totally reliant on chargers out and about. Honestly, my experiences have shown me that there are so many myths and misperceptions out there.

Okay, so I can report on today's experience doing a round trip of around 300 miles in the Tesla. I started the journey off on 97%, got to the office 145 miles later with 55% remaining. Plugged it in at the office for free while I worked. Got in the car at the end of the day to come home, car was 100% full. Drove it at motorway speeds and stopped at Gordano services South of Bristol with 64% on the battery. Plugged it in at the Tesla supercharger (3 spaces available, 3 cars left whilst I was there). 15 minutes (£10.17) later I had gone up to 95%. Got home with over 80% left. I am converted and will now swap my company car for a Tesla.

As I say, these charging concerns are a misnomer. Most people will be starting off with a full charge from being plugged in at home and can then charge at their destination such as the office (it may even cost you nothing). For longer trips, you need to forget the concept of a "full tank". If you stop for a toilet break, you plug in. By the time you have walked through the main hall at the services to the toilet, got a coffee and walked back to your car you will have added quite a bit of power to your battery to continue your journey. The batteries charge quite quickly to 80% if around 20% full when you plug in. If you are skeptical (as I was), try one (if possible). You'll be surprised. Concerns about the infrastructure are someone else's worry. New chragers are popping up all the time all over the place. As the government are trying to move us off ICE to EV by 2030, they are the ones to worry about if the grid can cope.

I hear that both Hyundai and Kia are producing some great EVs that will really challenge the traditional prestigious brands such as BMW and Audi etc. I know someone with a Kia EV6 and it is a really nice car with good specs.

I don't think we'll ever see this swapping of batteries, because from my experience there is simply no need for it. This is one of the biggest things that has caused me to change my mind about having an EV. You need to rethink the concept of a "full tank". When your battery is down to around 20%, charge it to around 80%. Charging the last 20% is slow, but going from 20 to 80% is fast. You wake up to a fully charged battery (250/300 miles on a long range EV), so for short journies you don't even need to think of charging. For long journeys like I do, I stop anyway after 150 miles or so for a toilet break and to have a drink/snack as most people would. That is sufficient time at a super charger to get you more power to complete your journey or get you to the next toilet / stretch your legs stop. In the pandemic I drove from Yeovil to Glasgow a few times, a journey of around 400 miles. I stopped about 2 or 3 times any way on that journey (Gloucester services, around Warrington and then Tebay services) those stops for around 20 or 30 minutes each would have been ample time to get enough charge for the journey. I think I'm safe in saying that driving from Yeovil to Glasgow is a journey longer than most people would drive on a regular basis.

I agree, we aren't there yet for every application. However, given the miles I do for work, I was under the impression that an EV wouldn't be practical for me in terms of range and ease/speed of charging. I stand totally corrected on those points. I am now more certain than ever that the writing is on the wall for ICE.

So Richard, I've currently got a loan of a Tesla for work doing a few hundred miles a day. As it's just a loan, I don't have a home charger so I am totally reliant on public chargers. I have to say I have gone from very skeptical to won over. I really like it. It doesn't take long to charge up, it is a lot cheaper than stopping at petrol stations and I love the instant response of the car. I drove from Maidenhead to home (Somerset) and still had over 60% battery left. I've been driving it all over the place since and knocked up some miles in it. Next week I will be driving from home to Solihull, put it on a free charger at the office in Solihull then on the way home I will stop off at the super charger at Gordarno services on the M5 to try them out while I get a coffee. If you are skeptical, honestly give one a go. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, I was.

I have a new 200tdi waterpump in my box of bits I'd you want it to try swapping it over to see if that helps you?

I echo the view of stripping the engine you took out to find the cause of the low oil pressure. It will cost you nothing to strip it down and then you will know what you are dealing with. It will either be financially none viable for you at the moment to repair or you might be pleasantly surprised. You won't know for sure until you have investigated. I have a box full of 200Tdi stuff in my garage, if I have anything you need, I'll gladly send it to you.

I totally agree. My heating system is in good shape in terms of clean matrix and adjusted cables. In winter in my 110 hardtop, I actually have to turn the heat down after a little while.

I like the look of those

Bad earths are a pain made worse though electrolytic corrosion between the aluminium body and steel chassis/bulkhead. To sort them out is relatively straight forward. On a basic level you can take 4 nice thick black wires (stick to the LR wiring colours to avoid confusion later down the line) from the main earth point from the negative battery terminal. 1 of each of the 4 thick black wires should go to a convenient point in each corner of the vehicle on a bus bar (get one online) or simply a bolt. Connect each earth from the accessories such as lights etc to the nearest earth point you have just made. You now have a nice route straight to the battery negative terminal independant to 30 year old connectors and slowly corroding land rover body panels. This is the best mod I have ever done on my 110. I made 5 earth points, the 5th being on the bulkhead to earth the relays and gauges etc to from the dash.

The first job if not done already is to familiarise yourself with the land rover (based on lucas) wiring colour codes. Black is earth, brown is unfused permanent live, white is unfused live with ignition on, green is fused live with ignition on (from a fuse fed from a white wire), a coloured stripe indicates the wire is from a switch/relay to an accessory. etc. The wiring scheme if understood is really helpful. I'll use the lefthand turn signal as an example: Your indicators will work only with the ignition on, and you know there is a fuse somewhere in the circuit. Working backwards from the left hand light indicator light... Green with red stripe wire goes from the left hand indicator lights to the switch on the steering column. (switched, fused, live with ignition on) Green wire goes from the steering column switch to the fusebox. (fused, live with ignition on) White wire goes from the otherside of the fuse box to the ignition switch. (unfused, live with ignition on) Brown wire goes from the igntion switch to the main postive bus on the starter motor solenoid. (unfused, permanent live) Thick red wire goes from the main positive bus to the positive terminal on the battery. (Main positive feed) I think this takes the wiring colours from a confusing mess of colours to order that makes perfect sense when fault finding. I'd take the opportunity to spend your money on new lights rather than connectors. One of the best things you can do to improve land rover electrics is to ensure the earth circuits are in top form. Tackle the connector issue when you are forced to by another project such as the rear crossmember replacement would be my advice.

I went through this thought process when I rewired my 110. I came to the conclusion there are 3 things to consider: 1. Quality bullet connectors are obviously not that bad if they have made it through 30 years of being rattled about in a land rover and had a few owners fiddling about with them. 2. There are alternatives that might be considered more modern such as econoseal, superseal and then deutsch connectors. They are resistant to water and lock together, but they took the bulk of my rewire budget. You can get them from places such as autosparks or RS components. Beware of cheap versions on eBay. 3. Why even bother with a connector? I was very skeptical of this view, but if I were to do another rewire project, I would only use connectors where absolutely necessary. They are only there to aid manufacture, they are in fact a weak point in your wiring. If you do need to remove something down the line, you could cut the wire then and add in a quality connector. EDIT: another bonus to point 3... To do a proper job with connectors, you need to use proper crimping tools designed for the connector you choose for best results. Option 3 eliminates this consideration and saves you even more money.

Maybe if you ask the admin to change the title of the thread to "anyone recommend a garage in the Banbury area"? I'm sure there will be some folk here who will be able to advise from experience.

@Badger110 thank you for sharing the pictures. I think that looks great for a 10 year+ vehicle. Have you any plans for some protection for it?

Nah, not bothered about going anywhere that charge you. Good point about the VED, but I seem to think they started to rip you off in around 2002. I'll just have to pay it I'm afraid.

Oh yes please!

@reb78 I've just noticed they are described as part of a "nuclear incident reaction team". Now I love Defenders just as much as any of us here, but could you imagine being in one post some sort of nuclear incident? With their rattly Windows, leaky doors and electrical issues they suffer without high levels of radiation!!

Oh yes, plus the VAT. I'll take 'em both

I quite agree that the lack of attention or lack of quality control to some items from new is quite surprising.

I'm quite confident that DPFs became a requirement at some point in 2011. Here are the diagrams for the 2.4 and then the 2.2 exhaust systems respectively. I think only the 2.2 puma has a DPF but happy to be corrected if I have misunderstood.

Yes, I think you are correct in terms of one of the changes to the 2.2. Although I've read that it doesn't seem to be an issue like it can be on other diesel cars.

Goodness me, the first thing I noticed was how nice it is to see doors that shut properly! Only ruined by those darn rattly rear sliding windows.

Thank you, that is helpful information. I had read your thread about comparing the 2.4 and 2.2 with interest. I am in no rush, I am not going to part with my money until I see one that really excites me. One that thing that puts me off quicker than anything is horrible aftermarket fronts and checker plate.