Greg S

That my lad, is an indication the earth is connected wrong. Go to the reversing light and to the rear turn signals and make sure everything back there has a good and individule earth connection.

I get air blowing in through the bulkhead, possibly a poorly fitting front vent (eyebrow). Also a torn gear sift rubber boot does it to me.

You have a wire melted to a collection of other wires. Did you see any Lucas smoke? Smell any burt plastic? Good luck!

The terminal on the starter motor that comes directly from the battery, then an in-line fuse or circuit breaker.

Per above--- Been there! Got the tee shirt.

Start at the battery and start looking for a poor earth connection.

I have to ask. How do you know it has a spark? Do you mean it has a spark to the end of the high tension lead going to the plug? Okay, that's possible. But you still might not be getting a spark in the combustion chamber. I've found it common to have a spark plug that is dead. Before you do any of this other expensive, dirty, frustrating work, buy one NEW spark plug, a regular, inexpensive, plain old ordinary copper core spark plug (not Champion) and then try running your motor again. If the piston is going up and down, and there isn't a rag stuffed in the intake manifold, that cylinder is going to fire no matter the shape of the rings as long as the spark is getting there at the right time. Distributor cap is in good shape and clean inside isn't it? No cross firing? Then worry about things like compression checks. Even knackered engines with half or less of the compression they are supposed to have, still run. So there's no excuse yours won't fire on that one cylinder just because the compression is low, unless you have a great bl**dy big hole in the piston.

A Question for wizards. Automotive wizards that is. Automotive HT electrical wizards at that. Here’s the situation. 4 cylinder, carburetor, points and coil engine. (Not Land Rover but probably doesn’t matter.) Has wire core HT leads that are old. It was driving down the road and quit. Filled it with gas thinking it had run out. It still wouldn’t start. Pulled plug wires off and stuck them back on, both coil and plug ends. DID NOT get wires mixed up; these were done one at a time. Still wouldn’t start (imagine that?). I said it was flooded and as there is one cylinder that is prone to poor running and plug fouling, I directed the work crew, my son David and his friend Derek, to pull that plug first and dry it. Plug wasn’t too bad but when dried, we stuck a lighter in front of the open hole to burn off excess gas (Children! Listen! Don’t do this at home! Only an idiot would do this.) The gas burned off uneventfully for those of you who are worried. It’s real neat when you turn it over when doing this as a flame comes shooting out a couple feet; any way, dried and de-flooded. On to the next cylinder and did the same. Left the two plugs out to turn it over and get clean dry fresh air inside. Darned if it didn’t fire and run on the remaining two cylinders. (Yes. It was a bit rough.) Shut it off, put the missing plugs back in, stuck the wires on, and it wouldn’t fire. Pulled the wire on the bad cylinder and for some reason cranked it while the wire was OFF, and it started. Put the wire on while it was running and it stopped. Wire OFF and started it. It ran fine considering. As the wire approached the plug, the spark was half an inch long or more and it started running on all four cylinders. When the wire was stuck back on the plug, it quit running. Wire off it ran, big spark jumping across, it ran great. Took the wire off the dizzy, put it back on the plug and got a great spark between the dizzy and wire end, motor ran great----till stuck back in the hole----- when it would shut off. Here’s an oddity. HT wire OFF the plug and hanging in mid air, close to nothing; wire off the Dizzy, approach the dizzy hole with HT wire and get good, long, regular shots of spark going to the wire---But it isn’t connected to anything at the other end. Replaced the wire with a different one and the engine still shut down when that plug was hooked up. Well? What? Why? How? Greg S Canada

A friend has rebuilt his gearbox twice now, after the first time a faulty ring fixing spring for 2 & 3rd gear sleeve fell out and things went south. When that was all sorted it still kept popping out of third. Because of this it is apart again and on disassembly it's found the peg for the main shaft distance sleeve has sheered (how do you get it out?) and the locator on the third gear thrust washer has shorn as well. There is discolouration on the distance piece so it has been turning and over 30 thou clearance on the fixing ring that should only have 7 thou. It had 7 thou on assembly last year. Any guess's on why it jumps out of third and why the distance piece isn't staying in place? Thanks from the colonies. Greg S Canada

Thanks for the replies. It looks like a Series 2 engine from the water pump and I'll post pictures eventually. Can't post of the whole vehicle as the motor is all I've got. A case of "Grab it quick or it's going to the dump."

I have a petrol engine that apparently came out of a Land Rover. It looks to be an early Series 2 engine but I can't be sure. We've never had Transit vans over here so I trust it is out of a Landy. The exhaust manifold outlet is forward of the carb heating chamber and points up. I've never seen one like this before and wonder what it is for. It isn't like the Series I units that go laterally out the fender.

LWB right? And nobody else has spotted the problem yet? The locating pin for the snail cam on the rear brake shoes is located ever so slightly different from one shoe to the next. Two of your shoes have the pin just a few mm closer to the shoe than the other two. You have to have one shoe of each on each side then you hold a shoe up to it's proper spot and see how far the pin is from the snail cam. One shoe will line up "just right" with the front snail cam and the other will line up for the rear cam. The pin is just a few millimeters different from one shoe to the next but it makes a heck of a difference as you are finding. Hard to see by eye till you catch it, then it stands right out for you but only as you are comparing two shoes side by side. Commonly know by people with LWB.

Nige. Carefull with your speed into a puddle, you might find you will lose control due to aquaplaning. Your tires might loose grip on the road due to the water. Does your wife laugh at you when you attack a puddle. You know, because of that little hole in the seat box that directs water all over your legs and crotch when you do that? Or is that just my wife and Land Rover that that happens with?

You don't need 6 blocks. Three will do, possibly a fourth to the side to better direct the line past the vehicle. The one in front is a 180 (roughly) redirect to an anchor somewhere behind the vehicle; this is where the second block goes, to redirect the cable to the back of the vehicle and through the third block. From the third block the cable goes to an anchor behind the vehicle. It could be the same anchor as the rear redirect but only if it is bomb proof. Better to be another anchor for security and direction of pull. The idea is that you are pulling towards the front by a factor of one and at the rear by a factor of two. For every foot of cable you wind in, you go backward 6 inches. The strain on the chassis is three times what you are pulling in on the winch; 1 strain on the winch, two on the rear attachment point.

Rocky Mountain are of their own design, not BCB. They use easily obtainable Domestic (North American) brake components machined to fit. The hard part is making the bracket to hold the caliper, they've done this nicely. I saw them when they were still in pre-production and met the guy Ray was working with to develope them. They look very easy to fit and seem to be of a good design. Rocky Mountain is at www.parabolicsprings.com Wise Owl is at www.wiseowlparts.com The brakes aren't shown on either site. I don't know why as they're supposed to be in production and seem great. Here are photos of an installation: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/rover_r_us/album?.dir=/9259

Been there! Done that! Two items will cause what you describe, despite efforts to correct them like new tie rod ends. The most expensive, hardest to fix and least likely is that you have bias ply tires and they are wearing. Stick new or used radial on and it will fix itself. The most likely item, as mentioned in a previous post, and incredibly easy to fix; is to lube the steering relay. It takes about a table spoon of EP 90 (80-90) the same oil as your transmission, diffs and hubs. If the seal on the bottom of the relay is leaking, you will find you have to add 20 drops of oil every month or so. To add, it takes patience as it has to go in one drop at a time. If you are lucky, there is a small bolt right in the top centre of the steering relay shaft. I've never seen one like this but apparently they exist. More likely, you will have to take out two of the four vertical bolts around the top shoulder of the unit, not the horizontal bolts that clamp it to the cross member. If you turn the top steering so the arm on the unit is at 90 degrees (wheels about straight ahead) Use a nut driver (5/16"-looks like a screw driver.) and undo two of the bolts. Drizzle oil into one of the holes and the other acts like a breather. When oil appears at the top of the breather hole, you have it full. Replace both bolts and drive away. The over correcting problem should dissappear after a few dozen miles. Takes almost 20 minutes, no skinned knuckle and only about 7 cents worth of oil. If the bottom seal is leaking, it is really easy to replace this while it is in place. Drop the bottom arm off, pull the old seal and install the new one. On goes the bottom arm, refill with oil as described and drive away. I found out after I did mine and broke two of the little bolts, that you don't have to take off the round centering plate at the bottom of the relay.

What have you got for an air cleaner? Too much restriction will make it lose power and smoke.

Oops, I lied. It is in the October issue (now out) of LRW. GS

And if the rest of you wait a month or so, you'll be able to read about it. Land Rover Monthly is supposed to be having a 5 page write up and photos about it. I don't know what month it is coming out in but the deadline for the author to have it submitted was four weeks ago. Put my guess at the August edition. Should arrive on our book shelves late September. GS (Is this site a bit slow or is it my imagination?)

Like they say! "Build it and they will come." I set the place up, and they came. It was a great weekend! Entertainment that you can't buy---anywhere. We had about 25 Land Rovers of every style; 60 or so people and a great time. The neighbour came over the day before and walked his big tractor back and forth in the wet area next to my irrigation pond. The mud pit was the best yet. The Saturday drive was good and the dinner even better. Those that spent the night joined us for breakfast at a local eatery and we went on a 30 kilometer drive (okay, I admit it took 5 1/2 hours and was pobably less than 30 K). The weather was spectacular and all that is left is to take down the shelter. Greg S

The Vancouver Island Laager in the Valley happens this weekend. June 10th & 11th. The back field will start loading up with Land Rovers of every description Friday night and after a wild weekend of potato chips, pop and talk, we'll wind the event up Sunday with an off-road drive. Saturday has a pleasant afternoon "no sctratch" drive but the Sunday drive has some rough areas and off-camber. The Pot-luck dinner Saturday night is followed by fire-side chat and outdoor movies. I'll post more information after it is over. This is our 4th annual event and the first year it is called a "Laager" (SA for camp protected by circled wagons) (come-on, don't you read Wilber Smith?) Previous events can be seen at our site at http://www.topicalisland.com/vanislelandrovers/ under the Photo gallery and Events sections. A write up about last years event can be read at http://www.topicalisland.com/vanislelandro...005-article.htm Plan to be here next year, the weekend before the Canadian Father's Day. Greg S

Broken shifter? How novel! They all brake in my experience. There is an undercut of the shaft right where it enters the pivot ball. Unbolt the base from the tranny and take it and get the shaft welded back on. If you elect to buy a new one, before you install it, take it and get it welded before you use it. This is how I've found a way to live with them. Greg S

Pitty I haven't been here for a while. I would have told you that there is a chain on the bottom of the funnel extension so it doesn't inadvertantly get removed and lost. To remove the chain, or re-install it, you have to remove the rubber fill-hose at the bottom of the filler neck to get into the bottom of the filler. Then the chain and it's anchor are easily accessible. Merry Christmas Greg S

I find warranties and garantees to be worth the paper they are printed on and nothing more. I have a top quality "Uncle Henry" folding, lockblade knife burried away in a drawer somewhere. 1 inch of the tip broke off when there was no abuse being committed to it. I wrote the company twice to see how to proceed. Never did get an answer back. Uncle Henry is a line carried by one of the large, hugely well know American knife manufacturers. 2 years ago I loaned my SAG pocket tool to a workmate. 2 seconds later he had managed to break the pliers in half. Sent it back to the company for the repair and haven't seen it since. When I lay out good money for an item, I look for design and material quality. The garantee isn't even considered except on a car. Happy Thanksgiving Day everyone. Greg S

I'm a bit slower than I would like to be. In June I took most of my 109 SW apart and didn't touch it all summer. Now I have 2 weeks left to get it all repaired and back on the road for my big annual October trip. I took the roof and rear tub off the 5 door. The piece that goes from the box to the front bulkhead is so rusty that I cut it off. Now I have to fabricate a new one. I have most of the pieces but will have to do some calculating to figure where to weld on the B post. Besides the tub I also took out the fuel tank. Seems it had a few leaks. This time I got out the welder and welded things together. (Don't do this at home unless you take ALL KINDS of special precautions.) Previous repairs with different types of goo or lead didn't seem to work too well. I also found what the bolt head was that I fished out of my rear diff when I last drained it. It seems at least 3 of the crown-gear bolts have sheared. Peculiar, I think, that they aren't side by side but seem to be every second one. I haven't dissassembled it so I don't know yet if it is more than 3 that are broken. The two I didn't recover out of the case are still held in place by the retainers. The one that came out is missing most of the retainer---but--- there seems to be no sign of the retainer. I replaced the rear brake shoes that had a gallon of oil on each one. Replaced the seals and distance pieces too. Wouldn't be complete without breaking off a bleed nipple or two so two new cylinders and new brake lines went on too. Chipped the red tarry stuff from the military frame, put on two homemade rear cross-member outriggers and painted the frame. In went a newly painted fuel tank and a new 1/4" copper fuel line up to the pump. The tub is ready to go on now that I rivited on repair pieces between each of the floor cross-members and undersealed the whole thing. The aluminum channels on the bottom side of the floor, that go front to rear, were entirely corroded away above each of the crossings of the steel tub-cross-members. I bent some replacements and rivited them in place then riveted the cross-members to the repair pieces. Thank heaven a tool shop was going out of business close by. I bought an air riviter for the job. Only had to weld a repair piece on one of the tub floor cross-members. Hope to get the tub on tomorrow and start working on that "A", "B", "C" post section. It can't be worse than I was driving before. The B & C posts were rotted off the bottom rail so the doors were having trouble latching, or at least, staying latched. The roof will go on soon after that and I hope to put so much sealant and foam around that that it shouldn't leak for 50 years. Sure looking forward to having it ready to drive in a couple weeks. I'll need the rest. Two questions for the group. I am going to put a CV master cylinder back in it. It had a CB retrofitted a few years ago. The CB has a 1/4" from the resivour and 3/16" to the circiut. The CV looks like it has the same size in as out. Will the fittings and pipes fit from the CB to the CV or do I need to send away for special fittings? The CV is going to need "bubble" flairs. Does the CB have "bubble" flairs as well?