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ThreeSheds

Long Term Forum Financial Supporter
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Everything posted by ThreeSheds

  1. Got the GAP Diagnostic IID Tool yesterday and got it set up last night - a bit of a faff but made it in the end... So - to the error codes! DABM-Digital Radio B1A56-13 ("F) Antenna circuit - General electrical failure - circuit open DDM-Driver Door B110A-11 (6C) Rear door driver side central locking motor - General electrical failure - circuit short to ground Well I guess I am a bit disappointed, but it could be (a lot) worse. The DAB fault probably explains why the DAB radio is poor, although since I live in rural Aberdeenshire I don't expect much on that front anyway, and I still have VHF radio... It's a shame about the door - it's been that way since November and I never noticed! Good job it didn't get nicked eh? Anyway - I can lock it from the inside, manually, but obviously it is something I have to get fixed. Now... I have one of those 'second hand car breakdown insurance' things, and I have never thought them to be any good, but we will see... The company is "Warranty Wise" which do have a decent reputation. Be interesting to see how this goes. Watch this space! I guess that overall I am pleased that there is nothing too bad, lets hope it stays that way! Rog
  2. This would appear to be at odds with much of what I have read, but then I have read it on the internet so who knows if it's right or not. Thanks for your comment Now that IS something new... I have not heard of that one but it kindof makes sense... How do they 'turn them off'? I have noticed that when the D4 is on a longer journey the voltage starts out at 14.7 volts, then after a while it drops to 12.6 - this is (I assume) when it's stopped charging the battery (ie I think it's at 100%) and the alternator is merely producing enough juice to power whatever is running... but I don't think that would count as turning it off??? Rog
  3. The following post is full of my opinions... I am NOT AN EXPERT and anything you do to your car should NOT be based on this post without checking things yourself Battery thoughts: This Disco4 is the first car that I have owned with an AGM battery... And since I knew nothing about AGM batteries, I thought I would investigate and share my findings here: AGM stands for "Absorbent Glass Mat" (or similar depending on what you read). Prior to AGM, batteries would be 'wet' or 'gel'. 'Wet' is when there are lead and lead oxide plates surrounded by sulphuric acid. Since the plates are not too well supported, they have to be made from a lead alloy so that they are stronger and more able to resist knocks and vibration. Lead alloy is less effective electrically. 'Gel' is pretty much the same as wet, but with a gelling agent introduced in the acid to reduce the chances of spillage. 'AGM' is when the lead and lead oxide plates are separated and supported by a fine glass mat which also holds the acid like a sponge. Because the plates are rather better supported, they can be made from pure(r) lead which is more effective in the battery. An AGM battery is therefore stronger physically (more able to resist knocks etc) and better electrically. Some batteries spiral the lead-glass-lead oxide sandwiches into a drum shape and reflect that with the exterior shape of the battery. An AGM battery needs (of maybe just benefits from) a different charging regime which is noticeable since the charging voltage will be around 14.7 volts rather than 14.4 volts for a wet or gel battery. For this reason the Discovery 4 and similar need to know what type of battery is connected. I think that all UK D4s were supplied with AGM batteries, so if you change to a wet or gel battery you need to tell the BMS (Battery Management System) or it might over charge the battery. If you are replacing an AGM battery with a new AGM battery then there is no need to inform the car of the change. Also there should be no resetting of (radio etc) codes required as long as you don't leave the car batteryless for more time than necessary So - what battery to fit? AGM is better in almost all situations so go for that, but be aware that if the car did have a wet battery then you need to tell the BMS that it's now an AGM! Something else I picked up on my wanders through the world of lead-acid accumulators is that they like to be fully charged... They REALLY like to be fully charged. One comment was that keeping the battery topped up with a modern smart-charger can lengthen it's life by three times! One key point here is the phrase 'modern smart-charger' - old chargers wont be able to manage the charge well enough to get near this number. It appears from my researches that the most suitable charger for the D4 is the CTEK MXS 10 (if you can afford it). Quote from some website somewhere: "The D4 is hard on it's battery"... As soon as you get in the car things start draining it, and when you press the button the battery really takes a hammering. I can take a few miles to put back in what you have just taken out so repeated short journeys can leave the battery in a reduced state of charge*. When I checked mine it was commonly running at around 75% charge with repeated 30 minute journeys. I am not sure if this is unusual or not, but having charged it with the above mentioned MXS 10, it is now (2 days later) still running at a higher charge than before. I am thinking that an overnight charge once a week will help prolong the life of the battery significantly. I feel that I should point out that the car was running fine on 75% charge, in fact a while ago it was sitting at about 50% and still running ok. *Note that the modern alternator on the D4 should be capable of charging the battery even when sitting at the lights with screen heaters, seat heaters and lights on. It's really the length of time that the system has in which to charge the battery that counts. Establishing the level of charge of a D4 battery is problematic since it is difficult to test the battery voltage without setting off multiple electrical drains, and the quoted voltages rely upon the battery having been standing with no drain for several (12?) hours. The voltages are also temperature dependent (perhaps counter-intuitively, a given battery will show a higher voltage at a lower temperature). On mine I took voltage readings from the trailer socket (see below) and compared it with figures here (although those figures are not for an AGM battery). While on the subject of keeping the battery topped up, if the D4 has a 'caravan' towing socket (a '12S, 7 pin, white one) then the car can be charged through that socket as long as 10 amps is not exceeded... This is one reason why the MXS 10 was particularly mentioned above - it's maximum delivered current is 10 amps and so should be safe to use in this manner. The earth pin in the socket is the centre one and the constant live pin is the one at 9 o'clock (on the D4 socket - other cars may vary!). My plan is to use the 12S socket with a modified plug that will come out easily should I forget it and drive off. Well I think that's about it. I hope this helps someone, and if anyone spots anything potentially dangerous or wrong, please let me know and I will modify this post accordingly. I repeat that I am NOT AN EXPERT and anything you do to your car should NOT be based on this post without checking things yourself Cheers Rog
  4. I am a programmer... I am used to complexity and pedantic instructions... I have just received my new GAP IID tool and I am reading the instructions... WOW! 180 pages... Do there really need to be 9 sections in the 'Before first usage' section? Including: 2nd • • Create a user account on the website 3rd • • Installation of the updater software 4th • • Installation of Interfaces : PC Interface*, Mobile App 5th • • Updating the IIDTool’s firmware 6th • Synchronizing the Mobile Application, 9th • • Activating the IIDTool Time was when I could set up a car with a slot-blade screwdriver and a fag-paper.. Rog
  5. Damn! Just committed the last of my available holidays for the year... I might be able to make it down on Saturday and home on Sunday, but it's a long way from Aberdeen... Next year perhaps I will suggest an NC500 forum drive out Rog
  6. I'm not too confident with modern car electrics, but reading through the above posts, it seems that the (I think common nowadays) owner handbook advice to "remove the battery from the vehicle before charging" and the frightening warning that "failure to do so could cause severe damage to the vehicle's electrical system" are perhaps a bit over the top? Sorry that this is a little off-topic (ie not Anderson connector related), but I think it is close enough since charging with a permanent connection implies that it's being done without disconnecting the battery... I have a D2 (who's handbook has those warnings) and regularly connect a trickle charger to it without ill effect, but I must admit that the same warnings on the D4 do have me concerned... Your thoughts and comments are appreciated and should any damage actually result, then I promise that nobody except me will be held to blame Roger
  7. haha - I think I'll use that as my tag-line... Great article, but too much to read at work
  8. I did a lo-o-ong rebuild a few years back and I bought a battery charger/maintainer and took the battery into the house and left it connected (I put it in a builders bucket in case of any problems) and, even though it was a knackered battery, when it was warm and fresh off the charger it would still start the car (admittedly only a 3.9V8, not a diesel). I have never tried one of those power packs but honestly I fail to see how they can hold or deliver enough power to start a diesel... my two pence worth... Roger
  9. Agree with FF, Scrap yards have plenty of these, on any car later than about 2000
  10. Like this - a brand new (wrapped) Porsche... Sorry Reb78 - no recommendation from me either, but I will be very interested to seewhat you achieve...
  11. Well the transmission can certainly decrease it, but I guess if you are comparing an old (inefficient) one with a new (efficient) one, then yes the BHP at the wheels may be increased. But mainly I think that in the above situation I personally would be thinking torque rather than BHP and in that sense a new box with more ratios could be better..
  12. Unfortunately I can't give any scientifically rigorous answer to this, but I reckon that it's about 28mpg for the D2 and 30mpg for the D4... One thing I can say is that I was a bit dismayed when I realised that the D4 tank is smaller than the D2, but as far as I am aware the range is approximately similar. The problem with comparisons like above is that there are so many factors involved, just a few of which are: Biggest factor is how I drive. Most of the time in the D4 I am showing an average of 31(ish)mpg, but on one recent trip where I was in a hurry with a sick dog on board I managed under 23mpg - and that was not being silly or illegal. Both cars have BFG K02 tyres, the D4's are slightly oversized and the D2's are a bit more oversized (compared to stock), meaning the speed and mileage recorded are not comparable. The D2 has a four speed auto box that locks up at an indicated 54mph in top (which is about right according to GPS, I think), whereas that D4 has an eight speed auto box that appears to lock up all over the show whenever it can. This is particularly beneficial to me since a lot of my normal mileage is (approx) 50mph cruising where the D4 is locked and doing 1200rpm, but the D2 is not locked and is doing 1800-2000rpm... The D4 estimate is based on the dashboard average MPG display, which I roughly checked with tank-to-tank soon after I bought the car. The D2 estimate is mainly based on gut feel and one trip on which I kept detailed records (see this post) Hope this helps somewhat - sorry I can't be more accurate, but that's why I put the "for me at least" caveat in the other post Roger
  13. Thanks! I think so too. The 18" wheels have 10mm more offset than the normal LR ones, which (combined with chunky tyres) really makes a big visual difference, and improves the driving experience. win-win really
  14. Can't argue with that! (well except for the mpg, which for me at least is better in the D4). I guess it's horse for courses. I am getting on a bit now and I wanted one nice posh car before I go... , but I did keep the inherited D2 as a backup
  15. How well does the FBH (fuel burning heater) work? First - my traceable to national standards outdoor thermometer wot I found in the garden: To be honest I think it was colder than this, but the car agreed, -6oC Now the car before running the heater as a 'single timed event' (which is a 20 minute (max) run) Then a video of the FBH exhaust while its running (I can't upload this here as it's too large) And finally - how the windscreen looked 18 minutes after the FBH started. Not bad eh? It's interesting to note that on a cold day the FBH runs even if I just get in and start the engine and drive away - this means that I have warm air from the vents long before the engine has warmed up. Also I think that the FBH just heats the cab unless it's VERY cold in which case it will preheat the engine instead.
  16. That gets my vote too, although I think that there must be an additional failure in the centre diff? Since the viscous coupling only prevents excessive slippage, the main power transfer is done by the mechanical diff I'll be very interested to see what you eventually tie it down to! Rog Edit: ! two people with the same thought! elbekko
  17. A few years ago a friend bought a new 90, and within a year the chassis (even the visible bits) was covered in rust far worse than the underside of my (then) eleven year old Skoda. A couple of years ago I inherited a (then) fourteen year old D2, and was gobsmacked by the level of rust underneath. Most of the chassis and suspension components looked like a post war mooring ring on a harbour wall!... It had done 104k miles (only 2/3 of the Skoda's miles) and had had so many new components (from bills supplied with it) that I thought it must be worth saving - so one new rear chassis, a new hub, new top and bottom joints, new CV joints, new exhaust, and ripping out the interior to seal the sunroofs later and there is still work to do. The Skoda mean time, soldiered on with just a new battery, new steering rack and the normal consumables in the last 110k miles that I have owned it. Another friend recently (after I had been on a bit of a rant about 'bad design' / 'cheap components' / 'poor-to-non existent corrosion protection' ) said - if they are so carp why do you keep buying them? Honestly I was stumped by that one for a while, but I guess I just love them? We moan, but we love them... With regard to the new defender, I just hope that it's better made than the old ones. And, although I doubt it would engender the same feelings that the old ones do, to be honest I have been surprised by how much I am falling for my D4 after a couple of months of ownership. The world has changed and nobody would or could make a basic 'no-electronics or plastic' car any more, but if it's like my D4 but with a shorter wheelbase and overhangs, then it would do nicely for me thank you very much... If I won the lottery of course. Rog
  18. hmm... Think I'll shelve that idea then... Thanks for the reality check! Rog
  19. different topic altogether. - what do you think these things are for? (arrow drawn on mobile phone - sorry) I mean the downward flaps that look a bit like spoilers, one each side at the front...
  20. That's why I was thinking that the door mechs would be a good choice - they are live when the car is unlocked or when it is single-locked, but not when it is double-locked. TheBECM is the reason I was asking the question - that sort of thing frightens me... I tried something similar on a skoda a while ago only to find that the window switches didn't actually control the windows - they just sent a signal to the ECU... grrr
  21. Sure - but I agree pretty much with all of this
  22. garrycol: I have (ok - had...) halogen 'fill-in' lights and HID main/dip lights. it was the fill-in halogens that were leaving a big gap above the mains and then lighting up the trees, that I wanted to prevent. The LED bulb adjustment is merely that (unlike halogens which don't need it anyway) the LEDs can be rotated in the housing. This is because most (all) LED lights have blind spots where they don't shine and the effects of this can often be mitigated by rotating them. The LEDs I used (which present as 55 Watts to the ECU) are not actually very bright, but since they are only fill-in lights I am happy with how they are now. On another thread I have mentioned that I am looking for some long range spots to help with the significant amount of night driving on unlit roads that I do at this time of year. Rog
  23. I have no idea what the answer is but wondered if you should make it clear whether you are talking about earthing the LT or the HT side? As I implied, I know nothing about the P38, but if they have a 'wasted spark' system, then earthing the HT side is not a concern, and the LT side usually earths through the loom... Hope this helps, and if not then sorry to have wasted your time. Rog
  24. OK - so I think I have this licked... I installed a couple of cheap LED bulbs instead of the H7 and angled them in their mountings about 20o inwards, and have almost eliminated that annoying gap and the feeling that they are spotting treetops. (I get the feeling that I have written this before?). I also played with the alignment screws, and there was some improvement to be had, but as I suspected, the screws affect low beam too and so that has to be the deciding factor when setting up the lights. Tonight, if the weather is ok, I will go out and take some before and after photos to round off this thread.
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