L322 4.4 TDv8 Westminster

[surveyor]

When one is not enough..



More later if it makes it home without throwing an engine light!

[macron]

Excellent!

At least with 2 there's a fighting chance one will work!

[surveyor]

macron said:

Excellent!

At least with 2 there's a fighting chance one will work!

True. Unfortunately, the double trouble cannot be a permanent condition...

[ferret50]

But do you back black or red?

[surveyor]

ferret50 said:

But do you back black or red?

That is the question! Don't know the answer yet though...

[surveyor]

A little more detail. The original photo came from when I took my brother to buy the black one.

It rewarded his purchase by being a little 'Range Roverish", with a flat battery one day (he thinks maybe not the cars fault) and a limp mode due to a full DPF.

He had a massive paddy and decided the car had to go, and offered it to me at a price that I could not say no to. - I did try actually, twice and told him to get it fixed, but he made it clear if it was not me, It would be someone else.... In which I decided it to be me.

A specialist managed to get it to do a regen so DPF no longer full - we will see if that sorts it, or if there is an underling problem. So far it's a big step up from the 3.6, quieter, not a lot faster (which is odd), better gearbox... 99,000 miles with a decent history and too many owners.

I've yet to have it off-road, but it looks pretty capable.. Need to get Car Play fitted somehow..

[Mr Tidy]

That's double jeopardy, but they do look great in that first photo.

[daqinggregg]

Do you know if S&L Motors, are a ‘public company’ could be time to acquire a few shares ‘every cloud’ and all that. Red one does look rather spiffing.

[surveyor]

daqinggregg said:

Do you know if S&L Motors, are a ‘public company’ could be time to acquire a few shares ‘every cloud’ and all that. Red one does look rather spiffing.

Not a clue. Was not there to visit them..

[Paddymcc]

surveyor said:

A little more detail. The original photo came from when I took my brother to buy the black one.

It rewarded his purchase by being a little 'Range Roverish", with a flat battery one day (he thinks maybe not the cars fault) and a limp mode due to a full DPF.

Its likely that he was just doing short journeys and not able to get a chance to regen itself? Altho a weak battery wont help DPF regens.

If you lift the engine cover off you should see the 4 x intake pipes coming off the central doughnut.

Check around those pipes and the back of the engine cover you lifted off for signs that the rubber on those pipes is split and leaking. If they are you should see some oily soot marks. They're a common failure point and i had the same red dpf full warning before one of those pipes completely split putting it into limp mode.

Easy enough to take it off and replace with some silicone pipes but cleaning the crap out of that central doughnut is a very very messy job as the EGR is vented through it.

[Kevin-y9fs3]

Interesting to read what you said about the 4.4 not feeling faster than the 3.6. I felt this too, and Harry Metcalfe made a similar comment about the smaller engine feeling punchier at lower rpm.

I also think that the ZF6 matches up with the 3.6 better than the ZF8 with the 4.4. Perhaps fewer gears tends to allow you to access a bit more of the stonking midrange more often.

[eliot]

there’s another common fault that presents like a flat battery but is actually a wiring fault - you just get a light click or nothing when trying to start. If you charge the battery right up it will start, but if the battery gets lowish then it won’t start (bearing in mind these things draw 15amps with just the ignition on, so. 12.8v battery will pull down to about 12.2v at key on)

Anyway, it’s caused by a bad/failing wire between the starter relay (offside rear engine bay) to the starter motor solenoid - i just ran a new wire in parallel between the two points and it’s been fine ever since (after wasting money on a new battery and new starter to no avail)

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic31909-75.html

[surveyor]

Fingers crossed the car appears to like being used. No more flat refusing to start and no more full dpf’s

Today’s 230 miles saw a respectable 33mpg.

[Patrick Bateman]

When you were looking for these how many were you coming across that had structural rust issues?

Any time I check the MOT history of advertised cars corrosion to the rear subframe in particular seems to get mentioned a lot.

[fogbank]

Patrick Bateman said:

When you were looking for these how many were you coming across that had structural rust issues?

Any time I check the MOT history of advertised cars corrosion to the rear subframe in particular seems to get mentioned a lot.

I went to jack my 2007 plate TDV8 up, the jack went up, up and the Range Rover didn't. The chassis was a total write off less than 8 months after its last MOT (I bought it just after that). I sold it to a chap who needed a good engine for his which had grenaded with turbo failurie.

[ChocolateFrog]

I looked at 3 or 4 at the bottom end of the market a couple of years ago and they all had very rotten looking subframes.

TBF didn't see any actual holes but was enough for me to give up the search.

[surveyor]

Patrick Bateman said:

When you were looking for these how many were you coming across that had structural rust issues?

Any time I check the MOT history of advertised cars corrosion to the rear subframe in particular seems to get mentioned a lot.

Only one - but it persuaded me to move from the bottom end of the market.

[Hereward]

Sorry to hijack but are the L405's holding up better than the L322's with regards to corrosion? I understand the L405 made more use of aluminium so in theory they should be less susceptible?

I have been looking at late L322s for a few months but there do seem to be corrosion issues. Or one pays a massive premium for a good 'un.

[Rowe]

Hereward said:

Sorry to hijack but are the L405's holding up better than the L322's with regards to corrosion? I understand the L405 made more use of aluminium so in theory they should be less susceptible?

I have been looking at late L322s for a few months but there do seem to be corrosion issues. Or one pays a massive premium for a good 'un.

They hold up better because there's less steel components, but those parts which are still ferrous suffer the same fate as the L322's.
My pal has a 2014 L405, and the steel tank guard on it is basically a sieve at this point.

[Patrick Bateman]

Surely there's a lot to be said for spending a few hundred quid and getting the underside structural areas covered in Bilthamber.