Raumer

I used to tow with a RR 300tdi auto. Was superb most of the time, especially for manoeuvring and even better at hillstarts! Only problem we found was on the hills, it had a set speed it liked to go up hills at and that was it! Although to be fair as it's gearbox has now given up it could have been the box at fault the whole time. Having never driven an auto before I didn't know exactly how it should behave! Everybody else I know with Landie's has manuals. Personal choice would be a 300tdi auto for long distance work or if you are going to have lots of hillstarts. Otherwise it'd be a 300tdi manual. I've replaced the RR with a 200tdi 110, lot more low down grunt just not as civilized!

Latest news, via industry auto daily report: BIDDING HEATS UP FOR JAGUAR, LAND ROVER. Ford Motor Co. is expected to receive as many as six preliminary bids for its Jaguar and Land Rover brands by today’s deadline, according to the Financial Times. The London newspaper says at least one automaker is expected to be among the bidders, probably India’s Tata Motors Ltd. At least three private equity firms—Cerberus Capital Management, One Equity Partners and Ripplewood Holdings—also are likely to make offers. Meanwhile, today’s Detroit News says Ford has put significant restrictions on bidders. The newspaper says prospective buyers must promise not to restructure the two brands—a sop to British unions and politicians who fear plant closings. The News also says bidders aren’t being allowed to tour Jaguar and Land Rover factories or meet with the brands’ executives.

My one is Franesca, named by other half. Seems to suit it! My series 2 has now been named Lexa. My brother's landie is Katy as the numberplate ends in kty. Dad's volvo C202 is simply called Ovlov. Ed

Not running by a long shot! It's my dad's, bought with seized engine and back axle disconnected for some reason. All that's been done in the last 3 years is to take the windscreen out and get hold of a manual. Sadly no difflocks or portals but there is a volvo 960 in the garden with a police chase engine in it. Put the two together.........! Oddly it's a civilan one, we think was painted that colour originally for a swedish power company! A friend of my parents owns an ideal vehicle to act as recovery for petal, a diesel unimog with a massive timber winch and spades on the back! Will try and get a photo next time I see it. Ed

Isn't that what the spare is for?! Nice big rubber ring to float serenely down the river!

I know a little bit. We are doing lots of work as to how biodiesel affects our injectors. Work is being done in conjunction with Bosch etc... All of the FIE manufacturers are staying together - thats why the 5%. The whole FIE industry is running behind the times on this. When the Td5 and similar injection systems were developed biodiesel was not on the horizon and no public demand. Development for a system like this takes at least 3 years and for td5 probably more like 5 years. As I said in my first post this is the OFFICIAL line that I can't deviate from. The properties of bio diesel that may (or may not!) cause problems on FIE are - lack of lubricity, increased liklihood of holding onto water - water is very bad in Td5 type injectors, viscosity when cold (does it flow!), inconsistent fuel quality plus a few other things. Will have to check my records at work, I'm working with one of our customers on field trials with bio diesel. One big problem is that if the manufacturers warranty it for biodiesel it still needs to run exactly the same as when it's on diesel and needs to cope with the different grades available. The one big missing at the moment is a standard for biodiesel. A manufacturer warrantied bio diesel engine would have to work in all the different countries, with not even minor imperfections/changes allowed by buyers. If you are ever in the area pop by and I can explain things a bit better! HTH Ed

I might be able to help with this question, the company I work for used to developed and made the TD5 injectors - production of final spare ones ended a month or two ago. The official line is that we do not warranty any injectors for running on more than 5% biodiesel which is why landrover won't warranty them. Research is ongoing into the use of bio fuels in our injectors (along with Bosch, Denso etc...). Obviously I cannot deviate from this line at all. Ed Delphi Development Engineer P.S. The validation of the injectors is done using kerosene to increase the wear rate - helps shorten the time for a life test along with higher pressure. If anyone needs to know the ins and outs of how they work and what they can do I might be able to help! P.P.S. If landrover had the new version (a bit bigger as it goes on 9 litre engines) then the working pressure would be 2500 bar. Another point I missed. I can't reveal what the price to Landrover was but it was an awful lot less than A$2000. I don't know how the aftermarket/replacement price is calculated but it is ridiculously high. Ed

Hi, My auto tdi range rover had a similar problem. Turned out to the uj on the propshaft. Might be worth a quick look, easy to check and eliminate. Ed

Have just realised the incredibly obvious! The hillman imps have two long handbrake cables going front to back! I can measure them up if they might be of use. One end has the normal fork with hole in it and the other end is a long threaded section (will double check this bit). The really good news is that they are £6.50 plus postage (might need to add vat as well) from speedy spares. Not sure if that is each or for both - either way cheap! HTH Ed

How thick are the cables? One of my other toy's is a hillman imp. There are accelerator cables and a choke cable that go from front to back. The accelerator one is a normal multi strand one but the choke cable is a single strand one. Can't remember the prices but a lot cheaper than £80! I can find out details if they are suitable. Also for some of the imps we use motorbike cables - most good motorbike garages can make up custom length cables. HTH Ed