Tristan H Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 Hi everyone ,I've just recently gotten a Classic , bit of a "mongrel" , it's got a Motor and Diesel MAzda 3.5 TDi conversion, FMIC , Bilstein and Koni suspension with poly bushes , uprated LSD in the rear , and a tweaked autobox that changes up atlower RPMs (cruises at 70mph/2000rpm) . And I have tosay...I love it! First query , the back axle is leaking both sides onto the brake discs and hence the pads, are the seals much of a job to do? Secondly , the heating inside is poor, is that normal? The heated windscreen , I've 12v going to the 2 wires behind the rear view mirror and into the elements , where does the circuit go? I'll think of more , but they're the main minor annoyances. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishbosh Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Rear hub seals are easy enough, but it might be a sign of worn bearings too. As the truck is new to you I would suggest changing the bearings whilst you have it apart. Timken are the brand to go for. If you look in the tech archive you will find guidance on how to do the seals. All the coil sprung axles are ostensibly the same prior to P38/ Disco 2 so pick a thread and get stuck in! The RR heater is normally excellent. However, as someone has committed the cardinal sin of putting a diseasel in her, your loss of heat is probably down to something not quite right in the conversion. Simplest fix (obviously) is to put a proper engine back in, then you'd have a lovely toasty heater!! :P Alternatively, you could try flushing the heater matrix out with a hose - take the two hoses off the engine that feed the matrix (they go through the bulkhead so are easy to spot) and flush through in both directions. If after that you still don't get any heat and the hoses are hot then your matrix is toast which is a bugger to replace (dash out ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tristan H Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 Rear hub seals are easy enough, but it might be a sign of worn bearings too. As the truck is new to you I would suggest changing the bearings whilst you have it apart. Timken are the brand to go for. If you look in the tech archive you will find guidance on how to do the seals. All the coil sprung axles are ostensibly the same prior to P38/ Disco 2 so pick a thread and get stuck in! The RR heater is normally excellent. However, as someone has committed the cardinal sin of putting a diseasel in her, your loss of heat is probably down to something not quite right in the conversion. Simplest fix (obviously) is to put a proper engine back in, then you'd have a lovely toasty heater!! :P Alternatively, you could try flushing the heater matrix out with a hose - take the two hoses off the engine that feed the matrix (they go through the bulkhead so are easy to spot) and flush through in both directions. If after that you still don't get any heat and the hoses are hot then your matrix is toast which is a bugger to replace (dash out ) Many thanks. TBH , the diesel was what attracted us! Both dad and myself go rallying , so the RR was bought as a cool , nice tow-car . 30-35mpg all day long! Where does the needle sit in the temp guage normally? Mine is a shade under half. The coolant looks clean , but you're dead right , the matrix may still be clogged.... I'm a mechanic with a garage at home so I don't mind ripping into the seals and bearings , I must look up them threads . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Heater could be absolutely fine if the engine is over-cooled, does it have a fixed, viscous or electric fan? Converting to electric could help warmup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
q-rover Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Flush the cooling system with water and a tablespoon of dishwasher powder. Then flush again with clean water, and refill with a 50% coolant/ water mix. You´d be surprised at the amount of cack comes out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tristan H Posted January 3, 2011 Author Share Posted January 3, 2011 Heater could be absolutely fine if the engine is over-cooled, does it have a fixed, viscous or electric fan? Converting to electric could help warmup. Electric , a Kenlowe adjustable actually. I've turned it back a bit too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willfromsussex Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Sounds like a nice vehicle! First port of call should be thermostat, check the top hose isn't getting hot until the engine itself is toasty and ready to let water out into the radiator. Check the heater hoses are hot. Check the flaps in the heater are moving ok, and like the other chap says, if all else fails, flush the matrix , i do it back, forth, with garden hose until clear water flows in both directions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tristan H Posted January 4, 2011 Author Share Posted January 4, 2011 Sounds like a nice vehicle! First port of call should be thermostat, check the top hose isn't getting hot until the engine itself is toasty and ready to let water out into the radiator. Check the heater hoses are hot. Check the flaps in the heater are moving ok, and like the other chap says, if all else fails, flush the matrix , i do it back, forth, with garden hose until clear water flows in both directions. will do , trying to find out what stat to get , I might just change it anyways while I'm flushing it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tristan H Posted January 4, 2011 Author Share Posted January 4, 2011 Flush the cooling system with water and a tablespoon of dishwasher powder. Then flush again with clean water, and refill with a 50% coolant/ water mix. You´d be surprised at the amount of cack comes out. as in a dishwasher tablet crumbled up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will C Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 as in a dishwasher tablet crumbled up? Hi Tristan, I've run a number of Mazda's over the years - the are a fantanstic motor for towing...stick with it. My own heater was acting up recently turned ou to be a worn hose which had kinked on the feed from the thermostat housing to the matrix input. I replaced it and hey presto car's warmer than ever. The heat output fromthe mada is normally higher than the tdi's etc ut it does take a verylong time to warm up being a big cast iron lump. Make sure there are no air locks in the system between the engine and matrix and the guage sounds about right at a little below half way for normal running. Cheers Will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quagmire Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Check the axle breather is not blocked if it is spewing oil onto discs. I have found in the past that if you catch it early then once you clean up the breather and it can do its job you might get away without changing any seals. This has always manifested itself on one side only though, so the fact you have leaks on each side could mean seals are dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tristan H Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Hi Tristan, I've run a number of Mazda's over the years - the are a fantanstic motor for towing...stick with it. My own heater was acting up recently turned ou to be a worn hose which had kinked on the feed from the thermostat housing to the matrix input. I replaced it and hey presto car's warmer than ever. The heat output fromthe mada is normally higher than the tdi's etc ut it does take a verylong time to warm up being a big cast iron lump. Make sure there are no air locks in the system between the engine and matrix and the guage sounds about right at a little below half way for normal running. Cheers Will That's great to hear Will , thanks! What mpg did you get? And do you know what truck/van the engine came out of? Check the axle breather is not blocked if it is spewing oil onto discs. I have found in the past that if you catch it early then once you clean up the breather and it can do its job you might get away without changing any seals. This has always manifested itself on one side only though, so the fact you have leaks on each side could mean seals are dead. Cheers for that , you could be on to something , I topped it up with Gearoil before Christmas , I've done a fair bit of driving , and it hasn't dropped below the filler since . Tempted to do the seals anyway , they are probably well worn now regardless. TBH I could live with a faint leak , if it wasn't making the rear brakes so poor! On the cold running issue , I noticed the other day when I turned the ignition on I had no dash lights and the fan(s) in front of the rad came on? And the RR was cold . Starting to suspect the wiring... must start looking for a few dodgy earths... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Range Rover Blues Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 I've found in the past that leaky seals involve pitted or scratched stub axle journals, when you fit a new seal they don't tend to last long. Have a good look st the stub axle whilst you are doing the seals and remember that most should be set 4mm below the surface of the hub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g&t Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Secondly , the heating inside is poor, is that normal? Thanks in advance. You don't give the model year of the RR but the heating was allegedly 'improved' in the summer of '84 & my '87 has good heat output to the footwells & (given the lack of a/c) decent de-misting as well. If yours is below par I'd suggest either a build up of crud in the heater system or a something to do with the engine conversion. One clue could be in your desciption of 'poor' - is the output lacking in heat or the volume of air flow? If it's the latter check that the flap (under the dash, directly above the transmission carpet) is opening when you select 'fresh air' as from the '87 model year (late '86 on) this was controlled by a vacuum device which replaced the earlier straightforward rod operation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will C Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 I've had my engine for a while - it came out of an M&D converted 88 rangie. The MPG tootling around is 24-26 (I live in a hilly area) heavy towing will range 19-21mpg bepending on speed. If you are towing at motorway sppeds make sure your gearbox oil cooler is in good nick and has unobstructed air flow. Will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karoshi Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Secondly , the heating inside is poor, is that normal? Something I've noticed with my 300tdi RRC is that the heater is almost useless until the engine gets up to just under halfway on the temp gauge. My problem is that mine never gets that warm unless i'm at motorway speed for about 5 minutes, on my town commute in the current cooler weather my temp gauge never really gets above the bottom mark on the gauge. I'm beginning to wonder if my thermostat might be stuck open, or the viscous fan seized on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 The fans in front of the rad are for when the air-con is on, they cool the aircon heat exchanger. Chances are they're just linked to the A/C button. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 I think that the air-con fans are also tied into the cooling system as on several of the RRCs I've had with A/C the fans come on when the engine gets hot. Also when the engine switches off they can come on for a while to cool the rad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 AC fans on an RRC are controlled by an extra switch in the thermostat housing, this is only given a live feed when the AC is on of course, this switches the fans on when coolant temp is above a certain value and the AC is on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishbosh Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 AC fans on an RRC are controlled by an extra switch in the thermostat housing, this is only given a live feed when the AC is on of course, this switches the fans on when coolant temp is above a certain value and the AC is on. IIRC the RR hand book says in extreme conditions the A/C fans will come on to help cool the engine, regardless of the state of the A/C, as Clive says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Hmm, maybe you are Occasionally right.....sorry, I hadn't read Clive's reply.... I will check RAVE in the morning (not at my PC at the moment....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Doh, found it, sorry Clive, I'd played with them at some point and drawn my own conclusions about their operation: Condenser Fan Operation (Petrol) The Condenser Fans Motors (M113, M121) on vehicles equipped with Petrol engines operate when any of the following conditions occur: 1. Coolant temperature exceeds 100C (212F). 2. The air conditioning system is operating and heater fan in position I-IIII 3. The Engine Control Module (ECM) (Z132) determines that fuel temperature exceeds 70C and coolant temperature exceeds 110C after engine shutdown. When this occurs, the fans are turned on for approximately 10 minutes after the engine is shut off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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