Is it time for a Diesel ? Bl**dy V8’s

[pugwash]

Would that be a mint serp front cover with a dizzy hole in it so it's at least nearly fixable.

later type- no hole for water to dribble into!

Megasquirt is only reliable untill you drown the ecu, then your going home on a rope.

nah you just carry a spare ECU in a waterproof box- it's all of two minutes to swap out. My ECu will sit in a roof console- if i drown that then i will hvae more important things to worry about anyway.

Su's and a points type dizzy and you might be able to get it going again,

The only problem with all these electronics is they cannot be fixed in the field.

that is true, but most of these electronic components are very light, cheap, and very quick to swap. To carry spare parts for the whole of my ignition system i would need- 2 leads (£10), 1 coil pack (£15 s/hand), 1 EDIS 8 Controller (£25) and a spare ECU pre-mapped for current setup (£100). This will all fit in a very small waterproof box.

[Turbocharger]

You'll rarely see a diesel running badly. They run well or not at all, and when they don't run it tends to be £££. Petrols seem to need more tweaking but will generally 'get you home' eventually.

I personally find diesels more elegant, since there's only one variable - fuel. Throw in spark timing, advance, fuel mixture etc and it's a recipe for something that works but needs constant attention.

Can't argue that they make a nicer noise though...

[Bull Bar Cowboy]

Well, I took the left hand head off last night and sure enough the head gasket had blown ‘big time’ into the valley…….the ‘classic’ mode of failure for the RV8, even though I had just filled the holes with the outer row bolts which is supposed to lessen the effect of tipping the head away from the valley.

There is some minor damage to the head …….. a small leaching of the aluminium right at the front edge of the gasket compression seal ………just a very thin line that is about 2 thou at its deepest…………. ideally I would get the head skimmed again, but in this instance the head is reasonably straight so I will refit and see what happens.

A careful check of the head, using 2 engineers ground straight edges, revealed distortion of slightly less than 1 thou ……….previous experience tells me that distortion of up to 4 or 5 thou is about the most that can be tolerated ………. So tonight the head will get refitted.

There has always been some debate as to the method of tightening down the head bolts …….. the traditional method of tightening down to the required 70ft/lb by doing a 20ft/lb first followed by a 45ft/lb, followed by the final 70ft/lb is favoured by some, however others seem to had good success with going straight to 75ft/lb and then doing a final check………….. I’m traditional ……….. I’ll think about it.

I am at meetings today, in fact I am in a meeting right now, so I will post up some pictures tonight.

Ian

[dollythelw]

Just to be the antichrist

Buy Isuzu 2.8 engine for £140 - add to Rangie, drive to Slovakia non-stop x more times than I care to remember, minus 30 degrees C (no prob), +40 C (no prob) compete in Hungary x lots, knock around the Tatras, the forests in Pecs and everything in between - dump car in Danube during snowy season ('kin cold brrrr). come home sell car - now being hammered around Morocco (engine mileage unknown when I bought it)

buy Isuzu Trooper for £120, remove engine - sell gearbox and axles for £250

change cambelt

fit to range rover

drive to France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Finland, Russia, do Ladoga, break radiator, come back with temp needle breaking the bump stops via Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Back to Hungary, back to Slovakia, Austria, Germany, Belgium, France and England ....... in the middle of a heatwave fix radiator - sell car - now competing around the UK. (210,000 on the clock when I bought it)

Buy another 2.8 - fit to old landy, repeat above pushing "rather large" tyres, subtract damaged rad - drive home.. contemplate selling/cutting up car (god knows how many miles on that engine)

IHI water and oil cooled turbos, capacity to run without wastegate, intercool and tune easily, short engine length, water to oil cooler as standard, cam belt change in about 5 mins

mmmmmm reliable, cheap, torquey - go like stink

(I shall be borrowing Mr Marshallsays tin hat and coat - its way to big for me but I cant find mine at the mo )

[honitonhobbit]

Just to be the antichrist

Buy Isuzu 2.8 engine for £140 - add to Rangie, drive to Slovakia non-stop x more times than I care to remember, minus 30 degrees C (no prob), +40 C (no prob) compete in Hungary x lots, knock around the Tatras, the forests in Pecs and everything in between - dump car in Danube during snowy season ('kin cold brrrr). come home sell car - now being hammered around Morocco (engine mileage unknown when I bought it)

buy Isuzu Trooper for £120, remove engine - sell gearbox and axles for £250

change cambelt

fit to range rover

drive to France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Finland, Russia, do Ladoga, break radiator, come back with temp needle breaking the bump stops via Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Back to Hungary, back to Slovakia, Austria, Germany, Belgium, France and England ....... in the middle of a heatwave fix radiator - sell car - now competing around the UK. (210,000 on the clock when I bought it)

Buy another 2.8 - fit to old landy, repeat above pushing "rather large" tyres, subtract damaged rad - drive home.. contemplate selling/cutting up car (god knows how many miles on that engine)

IHI water and oil cooled turbos, capacity to run without wastegate, intercool and tune easily, short engine length, water to oil cooler as standard, cam belt change in about 5 mins

mmmmmm reliable, cheap, torquey - go like stink

(I shall be borrowing Mr Marshallsays tin hat and coat - its way to big for me but I cant find mine at the mo )

Listen to Jez. Yes the 200Tdi is God's Engine, but if mine breaks, then it's 2.8 Isuzu time. Had a couple before - one in an isuzu! - they are superb. Oh and unlike another make of 2.8, you can get parts!

Luckily I have a suit of armour on under my coat and a pair of roller skates on.

[dollythelw]

Im starting to regret nicking Andys coat............ it has a funny smell and Im not sure what these stains are..

[Bull Bar Cowboy]

Im starting to regret nicking Andys coat............ it has a funny smell and Im not sure what these stains are..

It was the coat you was supposed to get ............. not the rubber latex suit

Ian

[dollythelw]

one and the same Ian - she he says he likes the comfort

[honitonhobbit]

I thought it was just a well lubricated wet suite that was three sizes too small

[dollythelw]

3 sizes too small for him = 4 sizes too large for the likes of us - just found a label "Goodyear shareholders would like to thank Madam M for the continued patronage" eeeeeek

[honitonhobbit]

I am now very, very scared!

When ever I go over he is always telling me about the cellar under his garage...

[callum]

Just to be the antichrist

Buy Isuzu 2.8 engine for £140 - add to Rangie, drive to Slovakia non-stop x more times than I care to remember, minus 30 degrees C (no prob), +40 C (no prob) compete in Hungary x lots, knock around the Tatras, the forests in Pecs and everything in between - dump car in Danube during snowy season ('kin cold brrrr). come home sell car - now being hammered around Morocco (engine mileage unknown when I bought it)

buy Isuzu Trooper for £120, remove engine - sell gearbox and axles for £250

change cambelt

fit to range rover

drive to France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Finland, Russia, do Ladoga, break radiator, come back with temp needle breaking the bump stops via Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Back to Hungary, back to Slovakia, Austria, Germany, Belgium, France and England ....... in the middle of a heatwave fix radiator - sell car - now competing around the UK. (210,000 on the clock when I bought it)

Buy another 2.8 - fit to old landy, repeat above pushing "rather large" tyres, subtract damaged rad - drive home.. contemplate selling/cutting up car (god knows how many miles on that engine)

IHI water and oil cooled turbos, capacity to run without wastegate, intercool and tune easily, short engine length, water to oil cooler as standard, cam belt change in about 5 mins

mmmmmm reliable, cheap, torquey - go like stink

(I shall be borrowing Mr Marshallsays tin hat and coat - its way to big for me but I cant find mine at the mo )

i'll second that, although i dont have such extreme or exciting cases.

buy trooper rust bucket for £100 (and admittedly drive it 200 miles straight to its resting place)

273000 miles on the clock.

fit to land rover,

drive home along the motorway with hole through radiator one night.

replace radiator, continue to use as before.

still working on the intercooler bit, could do with a bit more power. i do get 30mpg though in a 110, which is nice.

[bill van snorkle]

I have to disagree here. In your part of the world the landrover diesel engine might be expensive, but here its the way forward. a conversion set for a japanese diesel is usually more expensive than the engine. So most people go for the landrover option. It cuts fuel bills in halve compared to a v8 and with fuelprices for diesel and petrol about £1 a litre, that is a big difference.

Would you include the TD5 engine as the way forward when comparing overall running costs? I ask this because I did a gearbox rebuild and synchro reface on a TD5 Defender with 105000kms on the clock last week. While I had the box out I checked the clutch and sprung flywheel which was knackered and probably caused the gearbox carnage. the cost of clutch/flywheel components alone AUS$1800 would buy an awful lot of petrol to offset the larger thirst of a V8.

Bill.

[dollythelw]

Callum - SAAB 9000 intercooler and a few bits of scrap heap blaggery and its cooled for about £30 you will certainly notice the difference when you cool it and ramp the baseline up a touch B)

[jules]

Everyone has there own expiriance..

I have only ever played with a RallyART race tuned 3.2 diesel which was amazing and untouchable by anything I have ever driven before...

with somthin like 260 bhp and 750nm or somthing power

thats a lump that I would be intrested in having in a LR

Remember all you diesel boys I have a fully race tuned td4 Ex Dakar car that won the super production class in the BORC last year..

and my every day car is a Td5....

I just like V8's in toys there much more fun than Diesel's

[dollythelw]

thats true Jules - I never stop laughing when I see a V8 in a lake

tin hat (AGAIN)

[jules]

thats true Jules - I never stop laughing when I see a V8 in a lake

tin hat (AGAIN)

Me too but the truble is I'm normally sat in the sodding thing

[Daan]

Would you include the TD5 engine as the way forward when comparing overall running costs? I ask this because I did a gearbox rebuild and synchro reface on a TD5 Defender with 105000kms on the clock last week. While I had the box out I checked the clutch and sprung flywheel which was knackered and probably caused the gearbox carnage. the cost of clutch/flywheel components alone AUS$1800 would buy an awful lot of petrol to offset the larger thirst of a V8.

Bill.

see your point about td5, I personally wouldn't go near them due to their complexity and driveability. Also conflicting storys about fuel consumption. Comments anyone?

daan

[jules]

see your point about td5, I personally wouldn't go near them due to their complexity and driveability. Also conflicting storys about fuel consumption. Comments anyone?

daan

Td5 (auto D2)

Mines good as gold

I drive like an arss everywere and it still gives 27 ish mpg

[2drdan]

So is this a good time to offer my 80000 mile 3.5 V8 up for grabs...........just finished putting in a 200 tdi........??? or not ??

Love driving it!... so far i'm fully converted, so to speak....

[callum]

Callum - SAAB 9000 intercooler and a few bits of scrap heap blaggery and its cooled for about £30 you will certainly notice the difference when you cool it and ramp the baseline up a touch B)

there-ish already, mine's a £18 ebay cooler from a saab 9-3. brand new as well. it was alittle bigger tan described, but i spent the weekend making it fit.

i'll stick some piccies in a new thread i think as its raining and working in the driveway sucks

[dollythelw]

been there mate - you have my sympathy

[FridgeFreezer]

Megasquirt is only reliable untill you drown the ecu, then your going home on a rope.

Try again Dan - last time I "flooded" mine (water up to the low range knob in the cab) I poured half a pint of water out of the megasquirt (my fault for "mounting" it between the seats for tuning that day) and turned the key. The only weak link was the dizzy which had by then filled up too, but that can be overcome with EDIS. As soon as the water went below dizzy level it fired up and I drove out, inside of the cap looked like a pot of yoghurt but the Lumenition + silly coil + magnecor leads means it will get a spark through a lot of carp.

Also, PCB lacquer or potting compound means you can run your ECU in a bucket of water if you want to. B)

The only problem with all these electronics is they cannot be fixed in the field.

Not quite true - you can bodge anything all you have to know is how it works. I wouldn't fancy my chances getting a dead diesel running but give me a dead V8 EFi and I could probably do it. How often do they go wrong though - apart from drowning ECU's through being mounted in silly places there's not much to fail. Sensors can be ignored/shorted (with MS you can re-set the map to ignore most of the sensors to get you home).

Trainspotter - So you had a carp V8, there are carp TDi's out there too but you can buy a running V8 for ~£150. As with anything if you have something poorly maintained with cheap parts then what do you expect - it will fail.

The Lucas EFi is a bit of a weak link but that's easily remedied.

Edited to add: Most LR owner's wiring skills are the weak link - sparky tape, tap connectors, twisted wire, re-used bits of loom, cracked insulation, nails as fuses and mains flex / doorbell wire are inadmissable as failure modes in this discussion.