TSD
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Posts posted by TSD
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I've owned my (2005) TDV6 D3 for almost exactly 9 years, was on 62k when I bought it, now somewhere near 210k.
In that time it's needed a handful of new injectors, and new air intake pipes, and that's about it. Plenty of other issues, but those are the engine related ones.
At the current mileage, I now view it as a disposable car - I keep up with the essential maintenance, (6k oil changes etc.), but the first 'big' problem will render it scrap.
I'm not shy of doing any job on my cars, but the complexity of the engine, the amount of work involved in removing it, and questions over quality of new parts puts me off the idea of fixing it.
I don't often watch tube videos, but this one was quite good at showing the size of the problem LINK
I've read some stuff recently about using Ford bearing shells which sounded hopeful, but it would still be an expensive, time consuming job and at the end it would still be dragging around a rusty ageing Discovery.
It seems a shame, the D3 is a great drive, the engine is smooth and torquey, and does a great job of hiding the immense weight of the disco (and the driver
) even when towing.
When the time comes, I'd love to replace it with one of the last D4, but the number of snapped cranks / spun sheels reported really does put me off. The fact that D4 prices are insane at the moment (probably all s/hand cars I guess) doesn't help. I reckon the book price of the equivalent car now (7yo 60k) is double what it was when I bought the D3. The D3 was the most expensive car I've ever bought, and I only purchased because I could buy it outright, and if it blew up it would be painful, but wouldn't break me. Even allowing for inflation, I'm not sure I'd have the same attitude at todays prices - even if I had the cash.
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1 hour ago, mickeyw said:
Clearly many visual design cues carried over to the Ibex.
The first time I saw one, many years ago, I overtook it in my Ibex on a country lane in the middle of the night. Following behind, it looked rather like a kitcar copy of a Series 1 Land Rover with a hardtop fitted, but I had no idea what it was, other than it was probably Mini based. By the time I drew level on the overtake, I was convinced it was Foers, something about the angles of the A pillar and the bonnet. Needed the internet to find out what it was though!
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16 hours ago, miketomcat said:
... I don't think a working Speedo is part of the mot yes it must display mileage but ...
I've got several MoT certs where the mileage is entered as 'Unreadable' without comment. For a while the Ibex had a broken VDO speedo where the LCD mileage readout was blank (and the needle went straight to 180mph as soon as the car started moving).
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1 hour ago, DC_ said:
Not sure about the rsonline one.
If the part in your photo is the correct one, the only way to be more certain would be to march into REME stores and requisition one
Not sure if TE now manufacturers the relays that were Siemens (most likely), or just distributes them, but either way, it's the same part.
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20 minutes ago, Nonimouse said:
But I have been told there is no difference between standard 300 and 2.8
There is a difference, but I don't know the details. The parts catalogue for the International 2.8 has a different part number for the the injector, but the 2.5 catalogue lists the LR part number.
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46 minutes ago, elbekko said:
as the linked article says, spring shouldn't just change their properties under normal conditions.
Also, OEM means Gen Parts in a different box, and the dashboard of my D3 says I'm averaging 32mpg.
(none of these things is true, by the way)
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22 minutes ago, Jocklandjohn said:
However having thought about it - not sure if a 'tired' spring will perform the same as a 'fresher' one under compression, so they may both be 'close' in compressed length but then perform vastly different when under their working dynamic load.
I can see two ways a spring could change with age, it could get 'softer' (compresses further for the same weight) or it could sag (so the free length gets shorter). Either way, the installed length must get shorter. Of course, it's a bit of both, but no way does the does the installed height stay the same.
LR says the springs should be replaced if 20mm shorter than specified free length. The hardest part of getting the springs out to measure them is usually shifting the rusty front shocks without breaking them - and you've already sorted that problem
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I just noticed the free lengths of the springs you quoted are exactly whats listed in the WSM. So I'm not clear - did you measure them, or quote the 'correct' numbers? If they have gone soft, I doubt they can do it and maintain the correct free length.
Potentially daft idea - you might get some idea of current spring rate by measuring the change in bump stop clearance after adding one or two lardy mates (exact number depends on your definition of lardy), roughly in line with the axle (scaffold board across the front wings?).
In the back, you could just keep loading scrap until you get to a convenient compression, but self loading cargo seems easier somehow
It's much easier to weigh afterwards as well.
330lb/in springs means that even two average mates in the back should get you nearly 15mm compression, so if it's much more than that then the spring must be soft? Some confusion is added by progressive springs, but it would give an idea, I would think?
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Coincidentally, this week I replaced a set of OME shocks with Monroe 4x4 adventure.
The OME still work perfectly after 250k miles, but the bushes were 'a bit tired' to say the least, and stones have taken their toll on the rear shock bodies.
The OME were way to stiff for a SWB Ibex, but I've never bothered enough to swap them out before. The Monroe are very soft, probably softer than the Boge one's I fitted to another vehicle at the same time. They do extend very slowly/lightly compared to the OMEs.
Ride quality is very much improved, and I've not noticed it hitting the bump stops any more than usual. Of course, a SWB Ibex is a very different thing to a LWB Land Rover, as there's no overhangs, all the weight is between the wheels. I'd imagine they would seem very soft inded on a 110.
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Just randomly found some more pics of the D4 6x6 that @Escape mentioned a while back...
https://www.brightwellslive.com/lot/details/545007
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24 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said:
... guess I'm going a bit soft in my old age.
You're not alone, I've spent the last 140k miles turning a mint D3 into scrap metal, but on the same basis - it was something I fancied driving, rather than some ghastly commuter box I rented.
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There's many ways to slice it, but it was certainly no more spendy than many of the other options. But this reasoning is all after the fact, I drove the Ibex because I didn't see any point in spending 3 hours a day in something I hated, while the Ibex sat at home waiting for me to find a day off.
I would have owned the Ibex anyway, so to commute in it I had effectively zero purchase price, zero tax and zero insurance. 30mpg and 6k servicing (done by me).
I was driving ~35k year. So about £7000 in diesel, call it 7500/year to allow for the odd replacement gearbox
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That fuell bill is scary, should I lease something that does 60mpg, and save 3500/year in diesel?
I don't know what sort of wheeled horror I could lease for 300/month with that annual mileage, but I think I prefer my choice so far
(Even adding in a brand new TGV engine, R380, LT230, diffs and shafts, over the 5 years I was doing that mileage, I reckon it still looks good.)
@FridgeFreezer drove a 'scrap' Freelander for many years/miles - that was probably way cheaper than the Ibex even.
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3 hours ago, ThreePointFive said:
What are the doors and bonnet made of? Are they suitably kit-car in their feel or a bit more substantial?
When we converted my SWB into a hardtop, the rear door needed the top fetching inboard about an inch to compress the door seal. Mike and I eventually gave up swinging on the doortop and slotted the frame with an angle grinder instead
Not wanting to sound like an M&S advert, but it's not just 25mm box, it's 2.5mm (3mm ?) wall too...
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Soft top on mine was from Exmoor Trim IIRC?
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Mostly to echo what @miketomcat already said...
I've owned my SWB for more than 15 years, and it was my daily driver about half that time, clocking up some huge miles. I didn't build it (bought s/hand), but by now I don't think there's a bolt left on it that I haven't had out at some point. I do also have a LWB in (stalled) build at the moment.
If you have the appropriate donor vehicle and a full kit of parts from Foers. there shouldn't be too much fab work involved. Interior trim (door cards, carpets etc.), and a few simple brackets, are about the only things I can think of that weren't supplied, or available off the shelf in my SWB.
It gets more difficult and time consuming when you decide to do things differently to the typical LR setup. Pretty much every change I've made in the LWB build (and none of them is major) has been a huge time sink. Most things where I just cleaned up old Defender bits and bolted them on have been pretty straightforward.
Happy to answer questions if it helps.
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You probably don't have room for the same trick, but on my old V6 hybrid, it was much easier to unbolt the slave cylinder complete, let it hang down on the end of the flexi and bleed it by gravity alone. Obviously don't press the pedal down or you press the piston out of the slave. (Actually you can, very slowly, with the bleed nipple open, but best not)
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The old favourite for cleaning switch contacts and the like is Servisol Super 10. It won't have much effect on properly corroded contacts without some mechanical assistance though. My favourite way to do that is with a fibreglass pen intended for circuit board work.
If you need anything more agressive than that, the plating is probably beyond saving anyway.
Even with the plating scrubbed through, a good smear of vaseline over the terminals, before and after assembly, will keep air and water out and keep corrosion at bay. It flows away from pressure points, so it doesn't hurt electrical contact, but tends to keep an airtight seal around the contact points.
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It's been knocking about for a few years. It was built by Supacat, and was a display rig for the RN as @miketomcat said. Think it was on Withams about 5-6 years back when it was demobbed.
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Quoted 'typical' performance from one manufacturer is that blade fuses should blow within 5 seconds at 200% rated current. That is a short enough time to be confident the fuse blows before anything too bad happens, but probably long enough to survive switch-on surge, and not run so hot as to start melting things. I'd take that as a starting value, and select the next larger fuse.
(At 135% rated load, the fuse might take up to 10 minutes to blow, and below that it might never blow at all!)
@smallfry When I measured Defender fans, the current almost doubled when fitted into it's housing (of course a Defender heater box is probably more restrictive than most). So it's easy to imagine your Vauxhall fan drawing 15A when installed, making 30A sound like a good choice for a fuse.
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Well remembered - the Puma fan hit 17.2A at 14V, while only delivering about 15% more airflow than the Gates unit from the 300tdi era. I suspect the test rig didn't present enough back pressure to let the Puma fan shine though, it seemed to blow up a storm when I tested it on the Defender dash in 2Bex. (Shame the Puma fan is not an easy retrofit to the standard heater box really.)
We only tested the SJ fan up to 11V (10.4A) for some reason I don't recall - maybe because it's a smaller fan and housing (and a tiny motor), the airspeed is much higher, it was probably making a hell of a racket
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There are more than two possibilites....
Blade fuses rely to some extent on the connecting wires to dissipate heat, so if they are undersized (and they often are) then the fuses run hotter than they should when operating close to rated current (Littelfuse datasheets specify the wire size for specified performance)
Wrong fuse entirely? Red fuses are usually 10A, but I think Defender fan fuse is usually 15A? Even 15A may be on the small side for a fan thats getting on a bit, and could benefit from a clean and some oil? I've measured defender fan motors drawing more than that.
The real point here is that a 10A fuse will run very hot at 12A or more, but likely not blow. A 15A fuse will run significantly cooler.
Sizing fuses is a complex business, but since a wiring short would likely give a current well over 30A (and that's the sort of fault fuses are supoosed to trap) then I'd happily put 15A in there.
(Actually, I'd put 20, but I'm not telling anyone else to do that - I know what my wiring loom looks like
).
Oh, and Genuine Durite is a bit like Britpart OEM in my book... but that's another argument entirely. As you say, much better than random ebay versions though.
EDIT : Just dug out my notebook, the last Defender fan motor I tested (300tdi, good condition) was drawing 13A at full chat on the bench. It'll most likely never reach that with the voltage drop in a LR wiring loom, but still 15A would be the smallest fuse I would fit.
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You can get the cable trays out of the way with a bit of manipulation and the application of undue force. Disconnect as much of the wiring loom as seems necessary, cut the cable ties and lift the wiring out of the tray as far as you can (the plastic conduit will probably disintegrate, but this makes it easier). The trays are clipped to the pipes below, but they will come out, or at least out of the way.
One thing I learned - tie a bit of cotton onto the leakoff pipe clips before you try to refit them. Sometimes they clip straight in, sometimes they ping off across the engine bay never to be seen again. Sods law says if you tie the cotton on, they will fit straight in
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ISTR that one former member of this forum found that his house wifi was the source keeping his P38 awake at night, and that the receiver change was the fix.
If it's happening at home, flip the big switch on your house long enough to prove if it's something of yours, or your neighbours. If you know it's something of yours you can try invidual circuits, then individual items until you track it down.
But the if fix is going to be to change the receiver anyway, you might as well do that first.
) even when towing.
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Boost pressure spike help on VNT
in International Forum
Posted · Edited by TSD
editted for clarity
As far as I remember, boost spikes are all but inevitable using a simple mechanical control of a VNT. If the system is damped enough to prevent the spike, then boost rolls on so slowly that (in normal driving) the engine has run through the rev band where the VNT shows an advantage over conventional turbo, before boost can build.
My 2.8TGV has shown spikes since day one, more than 250k ago. After 15 years of smacking the endstop at 25psi, the boost gauge no longer reads zero with the engine switched off.
I can't understand why Maverick only sees the spike once, after a restart though.