V8 Cold Start Problems

[Johnny]

Hello All Ive just joined you as a new 4 x 4 lover The new love of my life is a 1988 Ranger Rover 3.5 V8 Ive paid £500 for (her) and to date worth every penny. Its main roll is to ferry me around some private land as a shoot motor ie pest control. up untill now we hav been using a Suzki the improvment in ride is beyond words. and now further to settling in its time to look at the little problems she has come with namely not starting without the aid of a can of easy start. This im told is to do with the Cold start injector and the Pienum chamber. Should I Strip it down or is it likely to a be electrical problems ? in a word where to start??

I have plans to cut the rear quarter off leaving the tail gate with the addition of a roll bar from where I do not yet know and o also fit high lift springs all of which will be a first for me so any helpfull notes would be greatly accepted

regards to all

Johnny

[paintman]

Disconnected my cold start injector - take the electrical connector off - when I bought the car. Starts better without it.

As for poor starting, the V8 is very fussy about genuine dizzy cap & rotor arms. What are the leads & plugs like? Is the inside of the dizzy cap clean & dry? is the timing OK? Any airleaks on the induction side between the air flow meter & the plenum chamber?

Usually worth changing the temp sensor ( the one behind the easy one) on top of the inlet manifold that tells the ECU to alter fuelling according to engine temp.

[FridgeFreezer]

Welcome to the forum!

For EFi problems have a search round, there have been reams posted on the subject in the RR forum and Nige (Hybrid_From_Hell) has posted up a PDF document of the complete fault finding guide - read it and work through it, the system really isn't that complex once you get over the "OMFG electrics!" mental barrier that many LR types are afflicted with

If that fails, search for "MegaSquirt" as it's often the quickest option when faced with temperamental Lucarse EFi

For hi-lift springs you could do worse than buy a set of HD police-spec ones from Paddocks, about £8 per corner. Lifting the suspension massively leads to problems with bushes, props, and angles. 1-2" is about the happy max as far as I can tell. Fitting larger than stock tyres is a better way to gain an inch as you gain clearance under the axles not just under the body, again I think 235/75 R16 are about the happy max before you have to cut bodywork although it sounds like you're not so bothered on that count

[Bull Bar Cowboy]

I doubt very much that the fault is due to the cold start injector and its associated thermo time sensor ……. Those were the only reliable components on the flapper system.

Sounds like a combination of stuff …………….. the coolant sensor fails with monotonous regularity (cheap… about £12) and this will cause a starting problem……………especially from cold.............. even more so if the dizzy rotor arm, cap & leads are not in tip top condition. The other option is the plugs ……………if they are old & tired a change of plugs can work wonders…………

Ian