Newbie (Sort Of) Question

[Bill in Nova Scotia]

As a newbie to this forum, please let me express my thanks in advance for the help that these forums provide. It is and will be greatly appreciated.

As the auto-knowledgeable father of son who has just bought a ex-MOD BATUS '95 110 3-door, I have been ask to consult on his up-coming restoration of this rig. I got "talked" into this role because I had the barn with the room for the work and because I've had three Rovers off and on over the last 30 years (Series2A (petrol), Disco (V8) and a '94 RR). All of my Rovers were dirt-ready and no mall queens but I've be doing Volvos for the last 10 years, so like this 110, I'm a bit rusty.

Any road, this 110 is a 2.5 NA diesel, has discs all round, a Salibury rear axle and appears to be the basic MOD spec. It does have an arctic heater and a weird 110v power port just aft of the drivers door feeding the heater and a 4 plug 110v distribution box which in turn has a plug for a block heater. From the underlying paint colours, I am lead to believe this may have been a range truck at the BATUS base in Alberta.

While I wait for my son to start on his tear down, I've been driving this rig around a bit and that is what has created my first question. Its been years since I had my S2A and I remember that it was loud and slow; this 110 seems similar. I realize it's only a 68hp diesel and is good to do 110km/hr on the flat, but I am force to go down to 3rd gear to climb any kind of hill and on the motorway, its like I'm standing still. Does this sound normal and I'm just undergoing culture shock, or do I need to add to our task list a complete go-over of the engine? The previous owner did mention he had tried running a veg/diesel mix, possibly a fuel filter needs replaced?

Thanks again in advance for any help provided.

Cheers,

Bill

[Les Henson]

Mixing veg oil does tend to clean the fuel system - with the result that the filter gets clogged. Partially blocked filter will reduce top-end revs.

Check for slack in the throttle cable too - slack in it means you can't achieve maximum revs. Timing belt on this engine - does it need replacing? Slack in the belt will alter the timing and therefore engine power output. Check the tappets are correct too - a closed gap will affect the valve timing. Does the engine smoke at all, if so - when and what colour is the smoke?

Les.

[TheHarv]

Sounds like mine...   ...   ...   

- replaced the fuel filter and sedimentor AND drained dubious fuel out of the tank

- had injectors cleaned and serviced

- replaced timing belt and tensioner and set up injector pump timing

- finally found out the headgasket was blown between #2/#3 and the pushrod holes   

However unless smoke / hard starting leads you to suspect poor compression I'd do as Uncle Les says and check the easy stuff first - might want to add checking the injector pump timing (pins in the flywheel slot and inj pump hole) cos I think they sometimes come over retarded from BATUS (or in case the PO played with it for the veg oil) - in fact imo you should be able to advance it slightly past the factory setting, I did mine 'by ear' until it sounds a bit clacky at cold idle but quiets down warm idle. Good luck.  

[Bill in Nova Scotia]

Thanks, guys. Now I have a checklist to go by. As far as smoking, it doesn't...well, not any more than the VW diesels we have had over the years but the smoke is what I would call your typical start-up smoke for a diesel. Its got fairly good low-end grunt so I'm suspect timing at this point but I also have to wonder if the tappet clearance is where it should be. Any road, off to do some checking!

Thanks again,

Bill

[TheHarv]

Bill I'm a complete newb but you'll find some VERY knowledgable (and helpful) folks on this board - it's been a godsend for me

[Bill in Nova Scotia]

Bill I'm a complete newb but you'll find some VERY knowledgable (and helpful) folks on this board - it's been a godsend for me

Thanks for the tip. I used to know Discos and RRs (Gen 1) pretty fairly well, but too many Volvos have pass between then and now. Plus I'm not use to working on something so basic. A bit of a break though from all the computerized carp that Volvos, and others, have now. I just need to get in the vein on "basic". As it is, the 110 isn't even mine, but my son's. He's the one who should be doing all the work. Guess I'm just an old "redundant" computer guy looking for something to keep busy and have a bit of a kick doing. Have to admit, busting around in and working on this thing sure is a lot more fun than coding or managing IT staff.

Cheers,

Bill

[mike4444244]

Welcome to the forum, surely in your part of the world a big v8 is easily and cheaply available?

Mike

[Bill in Nova Scotia]

Welcome to the forum, surely in your part of the world a big v8 is easily and cheaply available?

Mike

I would think so as there has not been a new 4 cyl Land Rover sold in this market since about 73 or 74. With that said, the market for used diesel Rovers is amazing with even pretty tatty examples commanding what I think are outrageous prices. And this is for examples that are either 25+ year sold in the US or 15+ years old here in Canada (at least the legal ones). In any case, this rig that we are working on is my son's and he's a diesel freak. He's had diesel VWs ever since he has learned to drive and has done the bio-diesel thing off and on as well. So we shall see as this project moves along how it goes in regard to the old 2.5NA.

Cheers,

Bill