Newbie seeks advice

[Spearos]

Hi there! Great forum, I've been a Landie owner for a few months now and so far I'm really enjoying it! I brought a E reg 90 V8 County with a LPG conversion, all has been well so far but I plan to give it a good seeing to soon - I mean change all the filters, fluids and ignition componants, nothing perverted!

First query is regarding oils. I understand the main gearbox takes engine oil, is this correct? I only ask as after reading some good things about Difflock oils I took a look at their site and see they recommend gear oil for the main box, but in my Land Rover manual it states to use engine oil? The gearbox on my vehicle is the LT85 I believe... If it does require engine oil, has anyone a recommendation for which oil to use? I plan to replace the transfer box oil with Difflock's Evo 2 which should be ok, yes?

Also why I'm on the subject of oils, has anyone a recommendation for which engine oil? Are synthetic oils suitable for the V8? Are cheap oils ok as long as I change them reguarily? Or should I go for quality mineral oil, Castrol for instance?

Next query is about the LPG conversion. I have a switchable system with a TD5 style underslung tank, it was converted by a company in Devon professionally - I have certifates. I can't remember the name of the company off the top of my head. Anyhow I understand that with LPG the ignition system needs to be in tip top condition and the rover V8s have a weak ignition system anyway. So am I better off buying OEM leads and replacing them regularily or spend a bit more on some performance ones? Again, with plugs what am I better off buying? Also is there a better/performance coil available? If there is, is it worth it? Or, again, am I better off with an OEM item and change it often?

Long post and lots of questions I know - apologies for that! Any help/suggestions much appreciated,

Mark

[JST]

Hi Mark welcome to the Forum, sorry i cant help V8s not my thing..... petrol and all that - ref gearbox oil alot highly recommend Difflocks oils on here, io haven't heard of any disadvantages (bar ££) of using them.

EP90 for the g box isint it? (or ATF i always forget which way round it is!)

[western]

Engine oil for a LT85 4 speed box, don't use any EP [extreme pressure] type oils you damage the box. I'd stick with the recommended engine oil.

[JST]

Oops - told you i didn't know V8s

[alantd]

Hi Mark - welcome to the board.

V8 uses engine oil ASAIK. With oil, you should always use the best that you can afford. Remember: Mineral oil is worse than partially synthetic, which is worse than fully synthetic. It doesn't matter which engine you have.

I don't have a v8 myself so can't tell you what the recommended synthetic oil viscosity is but any merchant will be able to look it up for you. The V8 is fairly unstressed so you can probably get away with A1,A3 or A5 service category.

[Spearos]

Cheers for taking the time to reply guys. One thing though, my gearbox is 5 speed - I thought the LT95 was the 4 speed unit? Either way I'm guessing they both require engine oil?

Mark

[Mo Murphy]

LT95 = 4 speed mainly Rangy box

LT85 = 5 speed Santana box which you should have

Mo

[FridgeFreezer]

Fer gawd's sake don't put runny synthetic engine oil in the engine though - V8's like thick oil, 20W50 or 15W40 and regular oil & filter changes.

Transfer box & axles take EP90 gear oil, which you should check after going through deep water as it can find its way in through breathers. I tend to buy it in 25L drums and use a 3 or 5L pump-up plant sprayer with a lance minus the spray nozzle to get it in as the filler plugs are not the most fun to try and maneuver a bottle of oil to.

Oh yes - and make sure you buy GENUINE LAND ROVER ignition components, I've lost count of the number of posts in the Range Rover forum relating to badly running V8's that have been solved by replacing new non-genuine bits with genuine ones.

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

Hi and welcome

I run a LT85, you need a decent grade of 20/50 engine oil for the main box and ep90 for the transfer box.

DO NOT put a semi synthetic 20/50 10/50w type oil in the LT85 Primary box, you'll find it a piggy to then change gear as the oil is too sticky

On the engine there are some threads on here re oils, with a V8 the oil you use is about as importnant as regular changes both together, again a decent 20/50 if its not a newly built tight close tolerance engine, late V8s DO HAVE DIFFERENT PUMPS ON THE SEPRENTINE ENGINES, BUT THESE ASIDE A good QUALITY 20/50 LIKE DUCKHAMS CLASSIC, (B88ger just looked up and seen I've hit caps lock oh welll:LOL:) or as I use Valvoline VR1 Racing 20/50 mineral, which has made a HUGE difference to the V8 I have - with quiter start up and 8 psi more across the range - recomended bu several people as "THE 20/50" inc Mr Eales

HTH

Nige

[western]

Cheers for taking the time to reply guys. One thing though, my gearbox is 5 speed - I thought the LT95 was the 4 speed unit? Either way I'm guessing they both require engine oil?

Mark

OOps, sorry slip of the typing finger, Mo is spot on, sorry to cause any further confusion, I'm a 2000Tdi fan so not 100% clued up on V8'S

[Spearos]

Thanks again to everyone who's replied, my mind is at rest now regarding the oils and I feel I've learnt something. I thought I had read somewhere before that V8s don't like synthetis stuff, so thick oil it will be. My engine has covered 83k so I guess it wouldn't be classed as a newly built tight close tolerance!While we're on the subject of mileage I see in the latest Land Rover Monthly someone by the name of Western who's covered almost 400k miles in their Landie - is that the same person as the one on here???

That's a good idea with the plant sprayer, although I have a 1 litre syringe which I used on my Trooper a few years ago. I'm hoping that should do the job. Out of curiousity, where do you get the 25L drums of oil from?

Right time for a dumb question about the ignition parts (or any parts, I suppose), How do I identify genuine parts? Have all genuine parts got Land Rover written on them or, for instance would Lucas parts be considered genuine parts?

Cheers,

Mark

[FridgeFreezer]

25L drums of oil from the motor factors, I tend to buy Comma as it's decent quality and the price is right.

Genuine ignition parts should be Lucas, plugs should be NGK BP6RES, don't buy fancy plugs. HT leads Lucas or Bosch.

[alantd]

Seems I've learned something too - received wisdom doesn't match good old experience

No synthetics for Rover V8s then. I'll stick to my diesels and modern engines (until I can persuade my wife that a re-build V8 project is a really good way to keep me out of the way).

[Spearos]

Cheers Fridge. What a great forum this is, I've been on other forums for various things and most the time I'm non the wiser, or even more confused! Whereas here, I'm all clued up after one thread and I know what I need to buy. Great stuff guys!

[FridgeFreezer]

Just re-reading your bit about LPG, if you want a big spark then fitting a GM amplifier gets you a long way for not much money. You can then fit a coil of varying silliness dependent on budget, but beware that a really silly one will eat standard leads.

[Spearos]

Hmmmm, very interesting! I've had a quick look, seems like a good mod. I will study it a bit more later. I'm sure I'll be spending a quite a few hours on that site in the future as well I'm sure there'll be plenty of info on there about up-rated coils too.

You're a top man Fridge, thank-you.