[what coils replace air bags???]

My R-R has Bilstein coils , and handles brilliantly , without being too firm . Koni dampers.

[R-R Classic Newbie , few questions..]

Hi Tristan, I've run a number of Mazda's over the years - the are a fantanstic motor for towing...stick with it.

My own heater was acting up recently turned ou to be a worn hose which had kinked on the feed from the thermostat housing to the matrix input. I replaced it and hey presto car's warmer than ever. The heat output fromthe mada is normally higher than the tdi's etc ut it does take a verylong time to warm up being a big cast iron lump.

Make sure there are no air locks in the system between the engine and matrix and the guage sounds about right at a little below half way for normal running.

Cheers

Will

That's great to hear Will , thanks! What mpg did you get? And do you know what truck/van the engine came out of?

Check the axle breather is not blocked if it is spewing oil onto discs.

I have found in the past that if you catch it early then once you clean up the breather and it can do its job you might get away without changing any seals.

This has always manifested itself on one side only though, so the fact you have leaks on each side could mean seals are dead.

Cheers for that , you could be on to something , I topped it up with Gearoil before Christmas , I've done a fair bit of driving , and it hasn't dropped below the filler since .

Tempted to do the seals anyway , they are probably well worn now regardless.

TBH I could live with a faint leak , if it wasn't making the rear brakes so poor!

On the cold running issue , I noticed the other day when I turned the ignition on I had no dash lights and the fan(s) in front of the rad came on? And the RR was cold .

Starting to suspect the wiring... must start looking for a few dodgy earths...

[R-R Classic Newbie , few questions..]

Flush the cooling system with water and a tablespoon of dishwasher powder.

Then flush again with clean water, and refill with a 50% coolant/ water mix.

You´d be surprised at the amount of cack comes out.

as in a dishwasher tablet crumbled up?

[R-R Classic Newbie , few questions..]

Sounds like a nice vehicle! First port of call should be thermostat, check the top hose isn't getting hot until the engine itself is toasty and ready to let water out into the radiator. Check the heater hoses are hot. Check the flaps in the heater are moving ok, and like the other chap says, if all else fails, flush the matrix , i do it back, forth, with garden hose until clear water flows in both directions.

will do , trying to find out what stat to get , I might just change it anyways while I'm flushing it out.

[R-R Classic Newbie , few questions..]

Heater could be absolutely fine if the engine is over-cooled, does it have a fixed, viscous or electric fan? Converting to electric could help warmup.

Electric , a Kenlowe adjustable actually. I've turned it back a bit too.

[R-R Classic Newbie , few questions..]

Rear hub seals are easy enough, but it might be a sign of worn bearings too. As the truck is new to you I would suggest changing the bearings whilst you have it apart. Timken are the brand to go for.

If you look in the tech archive you will find guidance on how to do the seals. All the coil sprung axles are ostensibly the same prior to P38/ Disco 2 so pick a thread and get stuck in!

The RR heater is normally excellent. However, as someone has committed the cardinal sin of putting a diseasel in her, your loss of heat is probably down to something not quite right in the conversion.

Simplest fix (obviously) is to put a proper engine back in, then you'd have a lovely toasty heater!! :P

Alternatively, you could try flushing the heater matrix out with a hose - take the two hoses off the engine that feed the matrix (they go through the bulkhead so are easy to spot) and flush through in both directions. If after that you still don't get any heat and the hoses are hot then your matrix is toast which is a bugger to replace (dash out )

Many thanks. TBH , the diesel was what attracted us! Both dad and myself go rallying , so the RR was bought as a cool , nice tow-car . 30-35mpg all day long!

Where does the needle sit in the temp guage normally? Mine is a shade under half. The coolant looks clean , but you're dead right , the matrix may still be clogged....

I'm a mechanic with a garage at home so I don't mind ripping into the seals and bearings , I must look up them threads .

[R-R Classic Newbie , few questions..]

Hi everyone ,I've just recently gotten a Classic , bit of a "mongrel" , it's got a Motor and Diesel MAzda 3.5 TDi conversion, FMIC , Bilstein and Koni suspension with poly bushes , uprated LSD in the rear , and a tweaked autobox that changes up atlower RPMs (cruises at 70mph/2000rpm) .

And I have tosay...I love it!

First query , the back axle is leaking both sides onto the brake discs and hence the pads, are the seals much of a job to do?

Secondly , the heating inside is poor, is that normal?

The heated windscreen , I've 12v going to the 2 wires behind the rear view mirror and into the elements , where does the circuit go?

I'll think of more , but they're the main minor annoyances.

Thanks in advance.