TSD

Cap normally works best directly on the back of the alternator, but if the noise only gets in at one place (most likely the amplifier tbh) then it might work just as well directly across the power terminals of the amplifier. Separating the earths back to the battery is trying to prevent the noise from the alternator from being coupled into the amplifier supply. If the metal panel is earth back to the 2nd battery thats good, but if the panels is also earthed back via another route (such as the bodywork) then it might defeat the point. It normally only takes 5 minutes just to string a wire across to test - you only have to do the job properly if it works! Also check the earth connections from batteries to chassis/body are clean and tight. If theres an earth problem, it's most likely to cause your problem if it's at the battery end.

Varying pitch suggests it's the alternator, rather than the dc-dc converter. Capacitor may well help. If you disconnect the audio feed from pc to amplifier, does the whine go away? That may tell you where the whine is getting in, at the pc or the amplifier. Also try running with the phono plugs only halfway in, so the centre is connected, but the shield is not, and see if the whine goes away. If the whine is getting in through the pc, try running the power feed to the dc-dc directly to the battery terminals. Same game for the amplifier. In either case an inline choke in that power supply may also help. If the phono trick helps, you might want to try a ground loop isolator, something like this

I believe the input shafts are different. Different length and different spigot bush diameter. I have seen a tdi engine mated to a V8 box by changing the bellhousing and spigot bush (but not input shaft), but not the other way around.

I was just thinking that fireproof helmets might prevent Pete B from driving like his hairs on fire, but he seems to have found a better way Glad everyones ok. Dave

I bought several metres of non-stretchy cargo net from Anchor Supplies (or one of the other similar outfits) at one of the shows last year. I cut a piece to fit the roof of the Ibex, secured with webbing around the rollcage bars and tensioned with three webbing straps. Slacken the straps and the back hangs down for access, pull them tight and everything is pulled up to the roofline. Total cost maybe £15 ? Currently it holds snowboots, fleece, sleeping bag, basha and a spool of climbing rope that Miketomcat carelessly left behind I used to have the cargo nets with elastic around them, but they always sag down even with little weight in there.

Funny spot of the day was the 'older' lady walking her dogs up Wilsford Hill. We waited for a couple of minutes for her to walk up the track towards us, as we were heading down. She walked straight up to the drivers side window, and just as we were expecting the full tirade about noisy 4x4s tearing up the lanes and bothering the dogs, she said "You should try driving UP this hill, it's Brilliant!"

Not sure if you've noted this already, but I think the Bosch SPI systems (like the GM ones) run at about 15psi, not 50psi+ like the more common MPI systems. That means different using fuel pumps etc., but also it means that fuel pipework is a bit less demanding (and/or worrying ). Fuel supply and return can just be normal fuel hose throughout, with a restriction in the return line. I have seen the restriction be just a cut down BIC biro top rammed down the pipe - ghastly but works as well as anything. It's only there to give the HP pump something to work against and stop it running flat out trying to fill the tank with fuel - from the tank

I was fitting a chevy TBI onto a Weber 38DGAS manifold, and as I recall there was interference between studs going into the manifold and studs up to the TBI unit. Plus it made the initial manufacture very quick and easy - I cut one with TBI footprint and one with Weber, then bolted them together and blended the join with a Dremel. Mine was one of the first vehicles running MS in the UK. It was a fair time in the planning, then the inital install was done over a couple of weekends as a proof of concept. Once that was done, the install was upgraded one piece at a time with 'proper' parts.

At the risk of owning up to my 'kitchenware into land rover' experiments... You are dead right about the nonstick properties. I stuck the originals together with blue hylomar, but there was evidence of the sealant moving inwards under vacuum and vibration. A thick piece of gasket paper with sealant added might work better. Oh, and mine was only ever a temporary experiment, replaced by two thick pieces of ali. Dave

Not even that far I suspect. The injection pump will suck the filter dry and blow it out of the spillway pretty quickly.

Picky

I've been through a few boxes too, hence the labels. I splashed out on Castrol SMX-S fully synthetic oil at the last change (of gearbox), but I doubt that's made a huge difference to temperatures.

I have a tell-tale label on the bottom of the R380 (no oil cooler) in my Ibex. Despite spending most of its life on the motorway at errmmm 'about' 70mph the gearbox casing has never gone above 82C, so I can't imagine the oil has got out of it's safe range ever. That's with a 1.22 transfer box pulling 33" tyres. (I fitted the label to see if I needed a cooler.) Unless your truck is much heavier than a standard 90, or you spend a lot of time towing or in hot countries, I suspect the gearbox cooler is guilding the lilly (or polishing a t**d - choose your own favourite metaphor )

Duly noted, far better to limit all technical explantions to 'magic'.

There are a few things that can pull that 'magic' trick, but I think GBMUD probably read about something with a 'DC-DC' converter in it's power supply - which supply a constant output voltage, so draw more current as input voltage drops. In cars they are usually limited to mobile phone chargers and the like though.

If you get a good swing going, they land in the back of the workshop with a very satisfying THUD! Might try rebuilding mine if I ever manage to tunnel that far back, and if I'm in a good mood... so let us know how you get on Dave

TBH I don't know anywhere near enough about the VE pump or diesel tuning in general to have an opinion that anyone should take any notice of. There's also a few too many warnings about runaway fuelling for me to want to fiddle with the max fuelling screw just yet. I have a fair bit of petrol tuning experience, but not done much on diesels. I was thinking along the lines of Gremlins thread about VE pump mods, where the VW guys modify the governor springs so the pump doesn't tail off the fuelling at mid-high rpm as you approach governed speed. It's a brave mod on the TGV though, when you can just grab a spare pump or engine off ebay when you've bu66ered it up totally I also wondered about putting a delay in the boost feed to the FIP, so in the low gears the engine would be past the torque peak before hitting max fuelling. I doubt there's much mileage in that though, as the diaphragm volume is already quite high so a delay can would have to be huge and feel like massive turbo lag. I reckon the best way might be a set of over-centre catches around the bellhousing. At least it would be quicker to change the gearbox

No, mostly I just hang around internet forums so I can watch people trying to one-up each other with their understanding of schoolboy physics The Ibex is my daily commuter hack, plus greenlane and occasional playday toy, so tends not to be used really hard off-road. It does do a lot of twisty A road work though, so tends to get worked hard there - hard acceleration through the gears etc. I think what would be useful in tuning the TGV is a way to increase the fuelling at higher rpm without raising the 1400rpm torque any more than necessary. I don't see how that can be done by adjusting the diaphragm (or the smoke screw or spring platform that bear upon it) since they all adjust fuel vs. boost. Anyone know exactly what the EDC unit on disco autos does? Does it adjust the tapered fuel limit pin under external control? If so, I might have an idea... but then I've never even looked close-up at those pumps so I might be way off track and talking rubbish. Worth sticking my nose in a manual or two later on anyway...

So you have to get to the 5Alive 'Stage 2' tune to exceed the torque of a standard TGV. No dyno plots on their website I could find, but possibly they make the torque higher up the rpm range rather than the very low 1400rpm of the TGV? I'm not sure how that might change things other than the really fast rise in torque of a TGV coming off idle must be hard on the gears and bearings? Otherwise a 5cyl may just be a bit smoother in the instant torque 'spikes' due to having 5 smaller ones per revolution? At one time, people were tuning low mileage newish Td5s, which would have been likely to be more reliable and less fatigued than an older truck thats already seen off its first engine, but I guess thats less true now as Td5 get older. In short, dunno but as there's a huge market in rebuilding R380s, there must be lots of people breaking them, and not all will have tuned engines and beat their truck to death every weekend. Found an old thread about tuned TGVs that I could find the other day...

Once you're happy all the bushes are fine, check the swivel pin preload?

NFU said they needed an engineers report on my Ibex when I fitted the TGV engine. They didn't have any idea what should be on an engineers report though, so I just put a fresh MoT on it (even though it had 6 months to run), and got my MoT inspector to write a letter on headed paper saying the changes were carried out properly and that in his opinion the vehicle was in good order. Never heard a word back from NFU once I sent that in.

In South America, Merc Sprinters were available with 300TDi in... so YES!

Here's the spec of my Ibex :- 'Stock' 2.8TGV M&D 'extra heavy duty' clutch latest spec R380 from Ashcroft 1.222 LT230 Maxidrive shafts, ashcroft CVs 285/75R16 BFG Muds The engine has covered about 70k since install. The intercooler is an Alisport uprated, standard size part. No changes were made to the fuelling. The list of casualties thus far :- 1st R380 (early suffix) snapped the output shaft like a carrot. 2nd R380 (late suffix rebuild from Ashcroft) retired hurt making nasty bearing type noises. GKN overdrive slipped when in, and repeatedly stuck between engaged/disengaged, leaving me with no drive. (Just over 12months old when this happened) M&D 'Heavy Duty' clutch - bought with the engine - tore the centre out of the disc. Replaced with obscenely expensive M&D 'special' Thats all folks! The original lift pump failed, replaced with a 300tdi part. I don't think that has ever made the grade, and recently replaced with a facet electric pump. Top speed has returned to somewhere beyond 70mph I'm thinking about upping the fuelling, but not until I know everything else is working correctly. On the Powerstroke list, there were 'safe' EGT published from International engineers, measured downstream of the turbo. I'm not relishing the idea of drilling the exhaust manifold, but obviously no probs with sticking a sensor in the downpipe. Eventually I might have sensors both sides, since they aren't expensive. IIRC the Dakar Bowlers with TGV engines were making 180bhp and 420lb-ft, with HUGE intercoolers. High boost levels were tried, but I think they ended up not much above standard. The engines themselves were not heavily modified IIRC. My engine sits with 15psi boost on all the time at motorway speeds - that might be due to the housebrick shape and very tall gearing, or is it characteristic of the engine / vgt ? Flooring it at results in brief spikes of 20-25psi presumably as the turbo changes shape. What boost do others see at cruising speeds? Dave

Surely as a hybrid it will come with a monster alternator and battery setup as standard. Should be able to overvolt a 24V winch quite effectively

I don't know what compression tester you have, but Gunson used to be good at providing spares...