Jocklandjohn

Ah ok. Was unsure whether the internals were similar.

Grand stuff! "Agricultural" sounds just perfect! Thanks for the confirmation. I think thats a really useful thing. And its NOT what I thought - some uselessly elaborate and complicated device - rather a very simple and elegant solution to a right old faff!

I think I've answered my own question! This (?): https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220537042109?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&itemid=220537042109&targetid=1279902197659&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=1007311&poi=&campaignid=12125451035&mkgroupid=122158445709&rlsatarget=pla-1279902197659&abcId=9300480&merchantid=115638756&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI19no27Sr8wIVg_XVCh3RlQ6MEAQYBiABEgIcjPD_BwE

Just came across this thread (missed it previously) and its very interesting! Where did you get this controller Mo? Are they engine-specific or one-size-fits-all? Seems like a more civilised way to adjust/manage boost than with the threaded rod which has an inherent desire to destroy your finger nails!

Ah ok - thats a good tip. As an aside does the alloy breather/separator work better than the plastic one? Heard various observations that the plastic one's internals are less than useful?

I remember there being considerable discussion about the way to achieve this, and someone else mentioned that the fuel FIP) pump was able to 'pull' sufficient fuel through itself (but someone else warned there was no free lunches and the FIP might suffer!). Ah the intrigue!

Thanks all. Well it seems simple enough, reduces the arc of travel so not reaching the stressing limits and (in theory) not failing so easily. Interesting! I think I'll swap out the lift pump, I carry a spare one under the seat after the last one dumped me on the Pentland Hills 130 miles from home one night! I did look at electric pumps (I think I followed your how-to guide from several years ago) but the fiddly solution to having it ignition-switched & pumping when the engine was actually off got my head frazzled. You had a solution though?

The Glencoyne spacer? Never heard of it so just looked. Seems like a good idea, but I never knew the lift pump arms were failing too (groan!).

Saw this this morning all about dealerships, parts manuals (Bosch and BMW global networks): https://expeditionportal.com/ineos-grenadier-updates/

I had something like this years ago, it was resolved by a new starter motor.

Good point - will do. I'm really intrigued to see whats afoot.

Well its a well looked after engine, must have 200k on it with no real issues, run very sympathetically and never thrashed, it has fresh oil & filter religiously every 4k miles, valves checked every year, air and fuel filters regularly, injectors pulled and serviced etc and I even change t.box, g.box and diff oils at regular intervals too, and I have added magnetic plugs wherever I can fit them to pull out cooties and try my best to keep it in good nick. It was eating lift pumps for a spell - I went through 4 or 5 in as many years- their diaphragms were failing, but this one has lasted quite well. But to be honest performance with each of them until they failed was similar, with poor hill pulling ability. I'll await the experts opinion - the lads who are going to look at it have their own LR's (numerous of them in fact!) and do loads of specialty builds and servicing so I'm pretty sure they can eliminate the obvious. Its due a timing belt change anyway so we can start with that and once we know its all timed up, and the FIP is bang on too, take it from there.

🙂 Very generous of you!

Aye agree with the simple things procedure, starting with timing check & belt replacement in a week or two, meantime I'll check hoses and connections, lift pump and all those bits that are easily accessible. Re turbo - hybrid as I understood the explanation is same size/housing as standard but has slightly larger compressor wheel, upgraded bearings generally higher quality materials, polished interior etc but as it retains the standard sized 'snail' all associated piping etc. can be left in place. I'd read about them on here over a decade ago and they were explained as a good way of increasing the flexibility of performance without over stressing the engine too much. As I'm not interested in thrashing my engine and intend keeping it forever this seemed like a good way to provide some overall improvement for longer runs and carrying the extra weight of camping stuff and family, bikes and dog etc. with the addition of the disco gearing, all of which was discussed with Roland before going ahead. His thoughts matched yours re gearing, as did Ashcrofts when I briefly spoke with them prior to ordering the boxes, so I'd not gone into this blind, rather read up, had seen opinions, got those opinions confirmed! I may contact Roland again to see if he can give some more technical details re curve etc which may help going forwards.

Can get some pictures when I get home - currently away for several days. Afaik its not a VNT just a 'hybrid'. When I was resolving the fuel pump issues and trying to establish some baseline settings I emailed Roland who supplied/installed it to get some details and he replied:

Yes thanks, I've had a look at the various posts on here about that recently. I was really surprised at how much difference a VERY little rotation makes to engine performance, but also the EGT's. Very helpful Mo. Especially the 92-94 deg. I rarely see that! This is curious because my heater (cab) temps have been low too for some time as well, and despite following Western's tips for heater adjustment, including removing the heater assembly and flushing the matrix, replacing foams on the flaps and lubricating all the pivoting bits, its still been somewhat down on temp, suggesting (I now assume) it may be as a consequence of the lower engine operating temps? I'm not sure who did it but my turbo boost was wound way back, to the point it was actually barely working. It may have been the Bosch guys trying to solve the excess smoking and REALLY carp performance (which we finally discovered was the stuck-out fuel pin which occurred during their overhaul of it and which escaped their notice) but once I'd fitted a boost gauge it was easy to spot what was (not) going on. So I then started to increase the boost a bit at a time and got to the (current) point where 5th gear was actually usable (!) again - running 1.1 BAR . I tried a tad further but although it went a little bit better, the EGT's were easy to get ott so I came back down. But even so, despite these improvements on the flat, hill hauling was still not great. I also get a 'restricted' sensation when accelerating - almost like a rev limiter. It 'feels' like the engine wants to keep going but it just hits this wall and I have to change up. Noticeable in 2nd gear pulling away, hit the 'dead' zone and have to change to 3rd but finding 3rd is not quite providing enough 'oomph' to haul it on as I'd expect. I can hear the turbo whistling in lower gears as I amble about, and altering as I'd expect it to with throttle movement etc. so this might be a fueling issue.

Yes I certainly will. One other thing I read when looking for solutions (on here, but cant recall author) was the actual symptoms of advanced/retarded timing. Author remarked that if the FIP pump is retarded the engine sounds smoother but EGT´s go up a lot, you lose power (and get worse MPG). Author noted also that running on the flat might be fine but hills will be where the lack of power is revealed, and also that with retarded timing the actual engine running temp. can be noticeably 'cooler'. When advanced, the engine sounds noisier or with a knocking sound when revving it from idle but runs 'hotter' and the 'sweet' spot of FIP timing will have some knock, lower EGT's and correct coolant temps, but good power delivery. Is this correct ? Am I right to assume that this is because incomplete combustion in the bores means less power, which = less heat, but the fuel thats not burnt will when chucked into the exhaust manifold cause some temp increases there? I have exactly these symptoms, engine is smooth as silk, my EGT's can get high very quickly when off boost; and once engine is warmed up properly and running along at 50mph the engine coolant temp gauge (digital type) drops from 80/83 deg to a steady 73-75 deg. I've read that these engines are known to run 'cool' but this seems rather cooler than is normal. So might this suggest FIP timing anomaly?

Thats a good list to be going on with! Thanks for the pointers.

*noted! I'll get an expert opinion in a couple of weeks - timing belt was due for change anyway so its a good time to have the whole thing timed up and work from there. In the meantime I can check al the hoses and see if there's anything that my previous poking about has missed.

Before I had the work done I spoke with Roland at ACR and explained I'd wanted a more relaxed cruising than the 1:4 box but was concerned the 1.2 Disco gears might be too tall, given I was sticking some camping gear inside (mostly light ply and plastic boxes to be fair) so not really adding much more weight than a CSW would have with additional seats and doors. My lifting roof gubbins is pretty much the same weight as a roof rack & roof tent, so I'm pretty much in the normal weight range for a 110. He advised the hybrid turbo as being appropriate. I also had a word with Ashcrofts about it because when the engine was overhauled I got a recon transfer & gearbox from them and chose the Disco gearing, and they too were of the opinion this would be a suitable option. Possible though that the gearing is the difference. Maybe I'm going to have to go back to the original gear set. I'm getting the expert to look it over and give me an opinion in a couple of weeks so I'll report back on the outcome.

I've always been wary of the timing because its one of those things thats easy to get wrong (as my experience with 'proper' mechanics has revealed!) but may result in dire consequences! But I guess its not much harder than swapping a head! The lad who I've spoken to about doing it for me is a small operation so I may be able to watch and learn as he does it. I seem to recall getting into this years ago and finding that there was more than one slot and got thoroughly perplexed as I realised it was less straightforward than I thought and I could be 180 deg out! Watch this space...!

Hybrid turbo (recommnded by, and fitted by Roland Marlow at ACR when he overhauled the engine a decade ago, and who at that point judged everything to be in tiptop condition as it had been carefully used and serviced by me with regular oil & filter, every 4k miles). Dont know much about the type or spec of turbo though, although he assured me its good for significantly higher BAR than standard, up to 1.25, I'm running just on 1.1 currently. Its always been sluggish, and as I've added various camper-related bits and incresaed its weight its not helped. I did the various alterations along the way to try to resolve it, new intercooler, hoses, injector service, Turner performance head etc, and recently fitted a boost gauge and discovered turbo boost was set far too low (I think it may have been altered by the Bosch pump service folks when they were trying to resolve the mad smoking after the pump overhaul which turned out to be the stuck out fuel pin) and I've upped boost to its current setting which has helped a lot but has still not fully resolved the issue. I actually have a spare one under the seat as I went through 5 in 7 years, and now carry a spare one just in case although this one *seems* ok, but you're right its a fairly cheap test to see what happens. Will certainly do that. I'll need to get back in about the air intake hoses as maybe I've missed a delaminating one. The ones from base of snorkel to intercooler are still original as far as I recall. I'm going to get the timing belt replaced and all the timing checked over next month, and in the menatime I'll check over the intake tract in fine detail, and also as previously suggested disconnect inlet stuff before the turbo and take it for a short run and see whether the full flow air helps.

Indeed!

Ah ok - I wondered about that. All good stuff. I've checked air intake. I was concerned it was the snorkel so checked it out and hoses were clear. Done valve clearances (I do them regularly) Not checked push rods (but were ok when I swapped head) but performance was poor before head swap. Can pull and check though. Did check the lift pump & it was fine (replaced it three years ago), and seemed to be getting plenty fuel at injectors too. But thats worth redoing. I replaced the intercooler several years ago (Allisport double thick job, but in same space on rh side), and have had it out a couple of times to flush it. Also replaced all the hoses with new silicone ones all over. Air filter changed two months ago, fuel filter at same time. Oil change last month & filter as well. Its worth going back over some of these though, so I'll get in about that.

Just one other observation - all the time its been poorly running, its never ever failed the smoke test on the MOT, nor even come close to doing so, always been judged as very well within the limits. FWIW!