Escape

Indeed, one big door is better than 2 smaller ones. Depending on how long the garage is, you might even be able to get 3 cars inside if the door is wide enough.

I went back yesterday, armed with the info in this thread and a wiring diagram I managed to find online. Thanks again for the help! The second connector I took off seems to be the culprit: full of green corrosion and rust. 😞 Well at least we've found the problem. I should have tried this earlier, but was a bit hesitant to rip things apart. The engine ECU is a snug fit and needs to come out to unplug. Unfortunately, both male and female connectors seem to far gone to fix with cleaning. One of the pins broke off, probably rusted half way through and stuck in the female side when I pulled the connectors apart. To get the car running again we'll need a new ECU or get the broken pin fixed and ideally a new female connector to splice into the wiring loom. Not looking forward to that, it's a lot of wires and a very little space to work in. Apparently Bosch does offer a repair service for the ECU, the connector seems to be harder to find.

Good find, both of them! Veel succes/ bonne chance with the restoration. As Fridge says, we're happy to help or have a chat. Filip

Not the one I would pick. 🙂

Not the mention the studs that are metric thread on one side and imperial on the other. 😉

They're too small. They'll never make it uphill. They're always overloaded. They're French so you need metric tools. They're aircooled so you'll need a fuel burning heater all the time. They're too top heavy and soft sprung so they'll tip over. And little kittens will die. How's that for starters? 😈 Not really a fan, don't mind seeing them around but wouldn't want to drive one.

Always nice dreaming about how to equip a workshop. 🙂 My 2cents: - I've had a garage with a pit, but hated working in it. It was smallish so felt like dungeon, but much bigger and you have to be careful driving over it and smaller cars might not fit. The same for the depth: for a Land Rover I'd need a small step, on a Lotus I'd be crouched all the time. And yes, the inevitable water ingress. - Just how limited are you for headroom? If you can fit the uprights, it easy to add a limit switch so you don't lift the car through the roof. Standard size lifts can be found cheaply either new or second hand. The budget ones I've seen are well up to occasional use, so no need to go over the top for a professional one. I paid around €1000 excl VAT for a new one a few years ago, the second lift of that type I've had and both served me well. - I have both a 4-poster and a 2-poster. The 4-poster is used most of the time, because it's so easy to get a car onto it for a quick look or a service. The 2-poster is a bit more work to safely set up, but makes work on suspension, brakes etc easier. That tends to get used for longer projects. May be the best choice as an only lift. Scissor lifts are somewhat in between, easy enough and wheels free but less well suited to vehicles like a Land Rover with chassis jacking points. Also limited height, but with limited headroom that might not be the limiting factor for you. I don't have any direct experience but fear the lifting plates could get seriously in the way when working underneath. They seem more oriented at bringing a normal car up to a comfortable height for bodywork/cleaning. I briefly considered adding a 3rd scissor type lift in one of the workbays (also limited headroom) but decided against it because of the price. I'd get a second hand 2-poster instead. - On my 2-poster it wouldn't be that hard to shorter the uprights if needed. You have to weld the end plate back on to attach the cables, but with little load directly on the welds and the built-in adjustability that not much of a problem. Not a deal breaker if you could mean being able to fit a decent cheap one. - I'd be weary of a movable 2-poster as the mounting is critical. A mate had his lift fail with a 90 on it, luckily nothing underneath at the time (he also tends to park classic cars under the lift to save space, just like I do)! The bolts on one side ripped out of the concrete... A risk that IMHO would only increase if you're regularly removing and refitting them. Do keep us posted! Filip

It's had a decent rebuild by a PO. Wiring etc could be better, but certainly a good example. I'm actually just a temporary keeper, I've put it on the road again for the last owner after about a year in storage with the intention to sell it on. I do like driving it, especially off road! So I'm in no hurry to sell and have already paid the bottom price with the agreement to split any profit. If next weekend turns out to be as much fun I might be tempted to keep it, but that will inevitably lead to all kinds of modifications. So I'm counting on some voices of reason to keep me on the straight and narrow, as this one should be kept stock and the Range Rover project finished instead. To be fair I have thought about upgrades like a winch, lockers, coil conversion, maybe a V8... Nothing that could end well! 😛 I have made sure the LED-bar can be removed without leaving a trace, it's using the existing mounts for the grill and I only needed to enlarge an existing hole in the dash to fit the switch. There was even a fused 12V feed ready behind the dash!

Thanks Simon, that's very useful info. Unfortunately I don't have a wiring diagram detailing the connector pins so don't know which pins to use to check resistance. I could unplug and clean the modules that are accessible, like the engine ECU, to start.

I know this is a long shot because it's such a recent vehicle, but here goes. I'm trying to help out a friend with a 2016 Sport TDV6. Last week he got a 'performance limited' error on the dash but the car kept driving normally, except for the cooling fan that came on and off at random. Even with the engine off and lowish temperature. Exterior temperature was also incorrectly displayed at 3°C instead of around 20°C. I read the fault codes, plenty there but none made much sense apart from 'fan control circuit short to ground' and 'fan control open circuit'. Others were for glow plugs, O2 sensors, fuel pump etc. I could clear most, some returned and others were added, so not much help. The other odd thing was that I could not reset the service interval, because 'conditions not met'. This had been the case after the service a couple of months ago as well but I didn't think much of it at the time. He made it home, and then was no longer able to start the car. I brought over my Ctek just in case (battery was replaced a few months ago but you never know) and tried to read the fault codes again but this time I couldn't even access the engine ECU. Going through some other systems revealed a CANbus error and some other, seemingly random codes. I had read about problems with the earth points in the front wheel wells so cleaned all of those. They were in pretty good shape, no corrosion or any other signs of poor connections. Checked and cleaned the ones at the battery and in the engine bay as well. No improvement, still no start and no communication with the engine ECU. The dash shows seemingly random faults: parking brake (which luckily was in fact working, so we could move the car!), DSC, TPMS, ... I really want to avoid taking his car to the stealer, but don't know what else to check. CANbus is a bit out of my league and I'm not about to tear down the dashboard to look for other earth points. Anyone know of similar problems and hopefully a solution? Filip

Added some brightness to the lightweight for the night stage. Now all that's needed is a check-up and quick service and sort some secure storage for the recovery gear and we're good to go.

The problem with lean in the suspension is it will move the CoG to the outside and possibly up, more so if the CoG is significantly higher than the axles or roll center. So while I agree it isn't a problem in itself and gives better damping control and feel, it will reduce traction. Rolling from one side to the other can be quite interesting during a series of opposing bends as well because the weight is constantly shifting side to side. Clearly illustrated when you see a Mini tackle the same corners as a 2CV on a classic car run.

It would look a lot better without the scaffolding! It's unlikely to have any internal triangulation, so pretty useless anyway.

Too bad Mike, would have been nice to catch up. And see the Ibex in action. Next time. 😉

That never fails to bring a smile. 🙂

I've just booked our crossing for next weekend. 😎 Me and @elbekko will be taking Tommy the Lightweight (on a trailer, we're not that extreme...). Looking forward to being back there and seeing what the lightweight can do! Who else is going? Filip

To be fair, the Facom tools that we broke were pushed above and beyond. Although one could argue a breaker bar is meant to be used with a pipe extension, the length of the pipe can make a difference. 😉

That some serious flex in the chassis! Even the roll cage has a single pivot point at the front. I had never heard of those, now I kinda want one. 🙂

I've had good experiences with Facom. The few tools we broke were replaced no questions asked, they just gave us a new one from the store. When I asked to service my fast ratchet (the ones with the rotating handle for quick, light work) because it was a bit stiff, the reply was they no longer service the old generation, but I would get a free new one as a replacement. That was after about 5 years, nothing really wrong with the tool, just a bit stiff, and even bought in a different store (and without an invoice as it was a gift at the time).

For £15 I wanna try one!

Are you sure the switch is fully seated and the pedal is pushing it in far enough? You can try removing it or plugging the old switch in again and testing it by hand without mounting it on the pedal box. The brake switch has 2 sets of contacts inside: one normally open that is closed when applying the brakes, like in most brake light switches. Standard wiring is GP and WP. The other set of contacts is for the signal to the ABS control unit, WS and GK.

Here you go: http://rave.stringsandints.com/Discovery II - Freelander '01.rar

Black soot on the fuel pump points to leaking injector washers, so I'd start with those. They are a known problem/ wear item on the TD5. The injector harness can also cause both failure to start and loss of power when warming up. Have a look at the connectors and try some cleaner if there is any sign of oil.

We've discusses this at length in another topic some time ago. I can understand why some would prefer to get a new(ish) 'normal'/boring/cheap/... car for commuting, for me that doesn't work. It would get on my nerves very quickly and I've found if I have to drive a car I don't like, I start trashing it which still isn't fun but isn't safe either. Cars and driving are an important aspect of my life (some would argue it's all there is), so no time or place for anything boring. Sure there are frustrations when driving a classic and something doesn't quite work as I want it to, but at least I know I can try to remedy or improve it, whereas in a new one it's probably by design. And on most if not all runs, even the commute to work, there is some enjoyment to be had. Be it that one corner where there's no one in front, a thumbs up from someone or just the sound of the V8 coming to life in the morning. 😎 I'd consider the Grenadier if for some reason I was forced to get a new car, but as it is I don't see any advantages over my old Range Rover but a lot of things I don't like: autobox, touchscreen & dash, BMW engine, and the unavoidable big brother stuff every car has to have these days.

Same here, my most recent car was a 2005 '90 TD5, I've not seen any new cars since that I'd actually like to drive. None that are remotely affordable that is. I wouldn't say no to a Noble M600 or Radford 62/2 (only if I can spec proper mirrors!), but that's not gonna happen. I can understand why you liked an XF, I've driven an F-pace and that was OK for a modern. But I wouldn't want to trade my 20 years older Range Rover for it.