simonr

This is more what I was imagining

I decided I'd like to go - so have bought a ticket. We ought out of the worst of the Pandemic by then - but who knows. I decided it's one of the things I've missed the most and at the very least will give me something to look forward to! Hopefully some of the clubs (like Shire?) will be there, along with some familiar faces! Si

As far as I'm aware (proven accurate for me, so far), any C or E will work with a 12V switched line, without any W-Bus input. E's are rare as they are lower power than C's though the only difference is the ECU. You can put a C ECU in an E and it will run at the higher power. Unless you really need a Webasto timer, the ECU's from the guy on eBay are cheaper than the OE Timer. The only real advanage of (some) timers is they give diagnostic info. The last one I bought, on eBay was a BMW X5 Aux Heater - for £35. It was just a bare unit, without the fuel or water pump. I mostly bought it for spares / experimentation. I bought a £10 chinese fuel pump and a Chinese water pump (search "Auxiliary water pump parking") - £20 to £30 is typical. The bare plugs to make up my own loom proved more expensive than just buying a ready made loom. Bottom line is you can be up & running for under £100.

This was the first thing I tried - and it helped a lot. One pump lead connects directly to +12V, the other via a MOSFET to Gnd. Cut the lead going to the MOSFET and connect a diode in series (with the arrow / white line pointing to the Webasto). Connect a second Diode to the pump lead in series with a switch, connecting to Gnd (Arrow / Line pointong to Gnd). This means that the pump will run either when the switch is closed, or when the webasto thinks it should be running - or both. (A Diode OR Gate in effect). I just decided I could do better - so I did!

That's a clever, simple mechanism! I like! On my last van, I looked at options to do just that - fitting between the axle & Chassis - but it had so little suspension travel and space was so tight, I couldn't see an easy way to achieve it. On my new van, there's even less space - so I went for a self levelling bed and a shower tray deep enough that it doesn't matter if it fills up a bit. Eggs in the frying pan is a different matter though!

You could improve matters by having a bigger reservoir of water in the heater / PHE loop. Then, even if the heater shuts down (which will take longer), you still have a bigger store of heat to warm the PHE so long as you keep the webasto circulating pump running. Somebody, before I decided on my solution, said I needed 20l or more water in the webasto loop. At the time I only had 4l I increased it as much as space would allow to about 10. It helped the short-cycling a lot (maybe 10 min cycle time) but not enough for my purpose. One of the 'inspirations' I found on line was actually a webasto shower: https://davidmcluckie.com/arduino-webasto-shower-project/ I figured I could re-purpose the code & make a better job of the controller. I'd like to completely re-write it as there's a lot of junk code in it - but, as I have a version which has worked well for 8 months, I've not bothered.

For a quick look, I've uploaded the code to GitHub which includes a link to the PCB https://github.com/SimonRafferty/Webasto-Heater---Replacement-Controller

I don't see why not! Let me write it up and I'll send out the PCBs I have to those that are interested, once they have an idea what's involved in building a controller. It's not hard, but does involve soldering & using the Arduino IDE to at the very least, upload code to the microcontroller.

Thanks John - I shall!

Looks an easy thing to draw, then 3D Print? Let me know if you'd like help with either - I'd be happy to oblige. Si

Would one of the many rear-door mounted bike racks do the job? Even Halfords sell them - might be worth a look in the flesh even if just for ideas. I've seen ones with rubber suckers plus straps to hold on to van doors - again might be an option? Si

You may have missed your calling - both for this and the original post. Sounds like you ought to be in Movie Special Effects, where at least you get paid to do stuff like this! Last week we were trying to (safely) remove a tyre from a 747 wheel (as you do!) but couldn't find the valve to deflate it. It felt like the pressure was quite high - so we were discussing using a shaped charge to blow a hole in the tyre - from a distance. That sounded a way-cool solution to me! Unfortunately somebody found the valve under a cover. Last year I had a small incident with a disc cutter which just brushed over the back of my (gloved) hand. I didn't expect it to have done anything much but it had left a fairly deep cut across the back of 3 fingers. I was just about to close the wound with Gaffer tape having cleaned it with Alcohol when my Wife (who's a Doctor, luckily) pointed out that the shiny thing in the wound was a tendon - and we had a little outing to (her) hospital. I was kind of hoping she would get preferential treatment, and I'd be whished in to have it stitched up - but insteasd we waited like everybody else. Several stitches from a very friendly male nurse - and I was back to cutting up bits of metal, a bit more gingerly this time! I was very grateful that we have the NHS, and that I married a Doctor. To my surprise, there are some things Gaffer tape can't fix!

If you PM me your address, I'll mail you one of the PCB's for free. The minimum order was 5, so I have 4 sitting in my Drawer. I need to write up the whole thing anyways - so it might as well be for you. The current version of the software has been working really nicely for 6 months. Originally, I used a Huzzah32 controller, but discovered the analog ports were unreliable so swapped to an ADAFRUIT Feather M0 Basic which has almost the same pinouts, but the Analog, for sensing temperatures, works nicely. If the Mods are agreeable, I could write it up here - it is potentially useful if you want to use a Webasto for more than just engine heating. Si

OK, I have to admit, I'm impressed! It looks much better on 35" Tyres - and clearly performs well. I love the aesthetic of original Defenders - but one of these with some mods ticks some boxes for me. I sold my 110 a few months ago (first time since I passed my test, I've not owned a proper Land Rover) and I've noticed I've started looking at both these and original defenders with a sense of longing.

You're right - but, other than walking, what's the alternative? Every alternative (probably including walking) is a form of damage. Some EV's at least just provide a better damage to utility ratio than some ICE vehicles. Personally I like them, but for all the wrong reasons! The same reason I like V8's & Td5 Engines (strangely enough). They all make a great sound (none in the case of an EV) and have loads of torque / power. I love how hackable they are at the moment - I'm much more comfortable playing with HV Electrics than most modern mystery box engines! Si

Thanks Mr Drumstick! I love these Jimny's - I tried in vein to get a test drive - and then they were withdrawn! Hopefully I'll get to drive on one day though - I still want one! The Jimny is much closer to what I hoped the new Defender would be, styling wise at least. My plan was actually to put a Tesla rear drive in it, replacing the transfer box - and fill the rest with batteries. Then see how well it handles with best part of 500BHp

Another vote for Ulefone Armor X8. I have one as a backup for my S10 for when I'm working outdoors or abroad. It's a pretty good phone, all things considered - and cheap too. Camera is OK, it's reasonably fast, screen is good - though any screen is better than a broken one. I know you're not interested in cases - but I used to use Otter Boxes for my phones. One of them survived being dropped on a busy road and driven over by dozens of cars before I could retrieve it. It was badly scuffed - but inside it was fine. Unfortunately, they are only available for a small selection of phones - and a rugged phone doesn't cost much more than the box, so that's the way I've gone. Si

I've sent him this instead: https://www.whatcar.com/land-rover/freelander/4x4/used-review/n747/advice Which gives what sounds reasonable advice. Never as good as from actual owners but better than nothing.

Thanks John - I'd already done this strangely enough. There are several threads and almost all of them have you replying saying "There's been tonnes of threads onbuying advice if you look back through this section of the forum. Budget ~£300 for replacing the VCU & bearings regardless." As GarryCol noted, the Td4 is a Freelander 2 which doesn't have a VCU. There are tons of threads but most of the replies are about Freelander 1's - so not exactly useful or helpful. I can see I'm not going to get a useful answer - I'll just tell him I have no idea.

That's kind of happy & sad! I really liked Peter Lamb - so hope he has fun (and time to build cool stuff for himself). Sad because they made my favorite parts and there will be no more! Si

>b. Could the valve from the fuel pump to the fuel filter via the distribution head be faulty, or blocked – should I crack it and see if fuel is coming out? (Pipe 7 on diagram) Yes! That's where I'd start. If the pump is wirring, but there's nothing at this point, it could be the gause filters on the pump being clogged. You have to remove the pump to find out - and if it's not the filters, it must be the pump! While the pump may have a 20A fuse, it's unlikely to draw more than a few amps. I'd try it with your 10A meter which will likely have a 10A slow-blow fuse inside. If it reads over 10A, so long as you disconnect quickly, it won't blow the fuse. If there is pressure at Pipe 7, change the filter. It's possible it's no good (particularly if a patterned part)

Someone at work asked me this, figuring I know a bit about Land Rovers - and looked a bit crestfallen when I said I know almost nothing about Freelanders! Less than that about Freelander 2's (though I do quite like them - so might be useful for me to know too). What are the obvious, expensive faults to look out for. I suspect the vehicle will have over 100k on the clock. Also, what are the common, cheap to fix faults one might use to haggle a better price Thanks in advance, Si

That's a pretty comprehensive list! Check the easy / obvious things first. Low battery is the most common. Check the battery earths while you are at it. Personally, I run a heavy (35 sqmm) cable straight from the battery -ve to one of the starter motor mounting bolts. The earth via the chassis is a terrible idea - they always corrode badly. No fuel is the next most common -and you've covered most bases other than air in the fuel. This can be hard to spot / diagnose. I eventually diagnosed mine using a length of clear hose so I could see the bubbles. I replaced all the fuel lines back to the tank - figuring that if one was drawing in air, others will soon, so replace all. I didn't expect air to be drawn in through the pipe fittings as they are under pressure. I can only figure a tiny hole acting like a venturi & sucking in air as the fuel flows past. Point 4. After you've cleaned the plug & socket (remembering to remove the plastic terminal cover inside the plug, fill the interior with as much petrolium jelly as will fit. When you plug the two halves together, it should extrude out of every hole under pressure. This largely stops the oil from getting back in to the connector or ECU. Did mine 15 years ago and never had a problem since. Crank position sensors, particularly cheap patterned ones are affected by heat - so not starting when hot is often a sign of the sensor. That could be part of your original problem. I would fit the old one and swap it out if it won't start when hot.

Not a fan of Generators! Some of the super-silenced ones are OK but my heart used to sink when someone nextdoor started up their bag-o-spanners diesel generator in the evening! I just used an Inverter + batteries. Most of us have a couple of tired batteries sitting around that will give enough extra, in addition to the car battery for everything you need to run. I used to run my fridge (all important) from a solar panel + battery. So long as the sun shined, it worked great.

The 'Culpret' is that it's working as it's maker intended - unlikely as this might seem in the context of Land Rover! Si