'74 Land Rover shed - back on the road for £1k

[stainless_steve]

Fuel consumption is poor but i'm planning to fit a 200 tdi in the summer,that should improve things.
I have also put it back on standard wheels this transformed on road driving quite a bit.

[timolloyd]

stainless_steve said:

Fuel consumption is poor but i'm planning to fit a 200 tdi in the summer,that should improve things.
I have also put it back on standard wheels this transformed on road driving quite a bit.

They both sound like good ideas. I think if I can pick up some cheap replacement wheels with lower profile tyres (as in 'normal' cross country tyres instead of the tall cross ply types I have now) then I will, because the slightly reduced height will mean it can squeeze into my garage.

[Cliftonite]

timolloyd said:

Doesn't seem to be too bad on the smoke. However, after a 10 mile trundle along A roads today, it seems to have developed a bit of a misfire, at highish revs when getting ready to change gear, or under load. It isn't too bad for the most part, except at one point when turning right at a junction and the engine died completely. Was difficult to start again and has knocked my confidence a bit.
The fuel filter just before the carb looks very old - could that be causing problems?
In other news a very noisy tappet has been cured, and the engine is now incredibly quiet by comparison.

Dirty/(partially) blocked fuel filter can easily cause this problem!

(Don't ask me how I know. Just bear in mind that some vehicles have more than one fuel filter!!!).

[hidetheelephants]

timolloyd said:

That looks nice - like the alpine roof.

Mine has been deployed on tip run duties this weekend. Still a bit hesitant driving up steep hills, which is worrying but am having to live with it for now.

Fuel consumption is also rather worrying - worse than my V8 Jaguar in fact. Either that or the gauge is consistently pessimistic.

At the risk of telling granny how to suck eggs; possible cures for hesitancy in order of rising cost-

- check the breaker gap/condition(even giving them a wipe with a bit of cardboard can help) and reset if necessary.
- adjust timing.
- clean carb innards and reset mixture as necessary.
- clean air filter; the oil bath ones often get neglected.
- memory fails me, I can't remember if these have a vacuum advance thingamajig; if it does, check it's sucking itself in appropriately.
- New plugs/HT leads/distributor cap/condenser/contact breaker.
- check the throttle and choke spindles as the standard carb seems to be prone to wear(the spindle just runs in the pot metal of the body), if it's sloppy this can give poor running. Curable by having the existing one refurbished with inserted bearings or splash out on a new one. A popular DIY method is to squidge some filler into the worn bearings and then drill it out carefully.

I've probably forgotten something, but that should cover it.

[timolloyd]

Thanks for the tip @hidetheelephants. Will work my way through that lot, starting with a new fuel filter to replace the disgusting looking old one.

Started the shed for the first time in a fortnight. Fair bit of fast cranking but it fired easily enough, eventually.

I spent an hour being really tight and repairing the rear number plate lamp, which had stopped working. After removing a completely ruined retaining screw, it was clear the innards were shot, but I didn't think £7 for a replacement was worth it. Some time with a wire brush, new connectors and lamps and all seems to be well.

I'm beginning to wonder if fuel consumption isn't as bad as I thought, actually. The fuel gauge plummets to empty quite quickly, but when I put £25 in this morning, it raced back up to 3/4 full.

Once I have a lock for the fuel filler I will be brave and brim the tank, and a jerry can, then go for a long drive!

[timolloyd]

Longest trip so far, today. 40 miles round trip with a mix of country lanes and fast A roads. There is a fair bit of coughing and spluttering on some hills, but I seemed to have developed a knack for keeping the old thing going.
However, I have invested £5 in a fuel filter, and the longer run did it some good. Will report back this week...

[medieval]

A friend of mine who rebuilds Landies advised me to remove the modern in line fuel filter completely as this was often, in his experience, the cause of rough running issues.

Regards all

[timolloyd]

The constant rain and not being able to fit the Land Rover in the garage yet, means that the has been little progress.
I ordered an ignition service set, which only served to tell me two things:

1. My Land Rover doesn't appear to have the distributor cap that it should. The one I ordered just could not be clipped to the dizzy.
2. The condenser, points and existing cap look to be in good condition and fairly new. The rotor arm was a bit rough, so I swapped that for a new one.

The net result? Runs fine everywhere as normal, except for steep hills where it dies and then is a total pig to keep running. Worried I am seriously damaging the clutch trying to get it around the North Downs.
I'll have to return to it when the weather cheers up: properly check the timing, points and also the fuel supply - I'm convinced this isn't right, combined with the appalling fuel consumption.

[Super Slo Mo]

Don't they only achieve low to mid teens mpg in general anyway? Economy was never their strong point.

[Red Firecracker]

There's two types of distributor, Ducellier and Lucas. Ducellier ones tend to look like;



and Lucas tend to look like;



Been there, (Eurocarparts) done that.

[V8 Fettler]

timolloyd said:

Longest trip so far, today. 40 miles round trip with a mix of country lanes and fast A roads. There is a fair bit of coughing and spluttering on some hills, but I seemed to have developed a knack for keeping the old thing going.
However, I have invested £5 in a fuel filter, and the longer run did it some good. Will report back this week...

What happens if you try full acceleration on a straight in 3rd gear? If you fit a fuel filter then make sure it is transparent.

[MoggieMinor]

My Series 3s have all averaged around 20-25 mpg, sounds like yours needs a good service and tune up. Are the compressions ok?

[joshc]

Just a heads up, your fuel gauge is most likely completely inaccurate - I think they are in most cars. The gauge in my '08 Ka jumps around quite a bit - and sometimes the needle goes up even though I haven't filled it up more, so I don't rely on it all - I gauge my true MPG by always running it until near empty/fuel light comes on - and then I reset my odometer every time I fill up with petrol (always full) - I record the miles I travelled, the total spend, and the cost per litre - I then use http://www.fuel-economy.co.uk/calc.shtml to tell me the true MPG figure for that run. Let us know how yours comes out

[LewG]

Honestly I can't advocate a SimonBBC ignition or distributor enough, they are a piece of cake to fit, and I've had absolutely no problems with mine in the last few thousand miles. That, a well sorted carb, valve clearances adjusted, decent leads and plugs and it should run sweet as a nut. Perhaps it's worth trying a compression test too just to ensure there are no further problems. Running a Zenith carb I'm lucky to get 18mpg out of my 2.25 with no overdrive, but that's all part of the fun...

[timolloyd]

V8 Fettler said:

What happens if you try full acceleration on a straight in 3rd gear? If you fit a fuel filter then make sure it is transparent.

It's absolutely fine on a level-ish road, flat out in 3rd. There is only ever an issue on steep hills. I replaced the fuel filter with a clear type, and all looks to be OK there.

[timolloyd]

LewG said:

Honestly I can't advocate a SimonBBC ignition or distributor enough, they are a piece of cake to fit, and I've had absolutely no problems with mine in the last few thousand miles. That, a well sorted carb, valve clearances adjusted, decent leads and plugs and it should run sweet as a nut. Perhaps it's worth trying a compression test too just to ensure there are no further problems. Running a Zenith carb I'm lucky to get 18mpg out of my 2.25 with no overdrive, but that's all part of the fun...

Thanks for the suggestion. Am feeling mighty tempted to go down that route...

[timolloyd]

@redfirecracker thanks for those pics of the dizzy caps. Think this confirms I have the Lucas type (without the hole in the side?)

[Hooli]

timolloyd said:

V8 Fettler said:

What happens if you try full acceleration on a straight in 3rd gear? If you fit a fuel filter then make sure it is transparent.

It's absolutely fine on a level-ish road, flat out in 3rd. There is only ever an issue on steep hills. I replaced the fuel filter with a clear type, and all looks to be OK there.

Daft idea time - is the carb the right way around? I think I've heard of problems where the 'pickup' is at the front of the float chamber so pointing uphill means it runs dry.

[timolloyd]

All ideas welcome @hooli, but it was running OK until recently so presumably this would not be so if the carb has always been on the wrong way round? Will take a look anyway.

[V8 Fettler]

timolloyd said:

V8 Fettler said:

What happens if you try full acceleration on a straight in 3rd gear? If you fit a fuel filter then make sure it is transparent.

It's absolutely fine on a level-ish road, flat out in 3rd. There is only ever an issue on steep hills. I replaced the fuel filter with a clear type, and all looks to be OK there.

If the tank is contaminated with rust then some should work its way through to the filter for you to see.

Can you safely create the fault on a steep hill, stop the car and look in the float bowl?