2002

This page is intended as a historical/hysterical record of the the past breakages/new breakages and soon to be breakages....and other bits that have happened to Cartman (and fallen off) since we first adopted him. This record is in the order of most recent happenings at the top to the past at the bottom.

Work still on Cartman's ongoing to do list....!!!!!

Fit air intake snorkle. Advance the distributor timing a tad. Currently 6 Deg. TDC Aquire some spare rear half-shafts :) Steering guard being slowly fabricated. ETA 2005! :) Waxoyl the whole chassis after a steam clean.

December 2002

• Alternator bearing is packing up. Obvious really when you hear the loud rumbling :) Another ordered from Paddocks (£22) . That's what happens we you keep imersing it in muddy water.

• Modded the rear panels behind the rear wheels with the grinder to allow the mud to fall out easier and more efficient jet washing. Originally I had considered doing this but decided against it so as to 'not ruin the original looks of the LR'. But stuff it, it needs to be used so mod as nec. :)

• Weird wiring problem saw the failiure of all the headlights and sidelights after some energetic jet washing over Xmas. The unusual fault turned out to be a corroded +12vdc connection at the battery which acted as a high resistance point under load. So without load there was +12v to the lights and when under load it dropped away to zero. Most confusing. Rewired and increased the cable CSA. Then coated with vaseline - so hopefully that won't happen again.

• Engine oil flush and oil change. It is only about 2k miles (if that) when I last swapped it but a persistant leak from the oil filter needed resolving and this would kill two birds with one stone, as it were? The oil was clean before I dumped it but after 15 minutes with STP engine flush resulted in a black oily mess deposited in the collection bin. Refilled with halfords 'standard' 10/40 this time. Filter leak was due to me poorly fitting the last filter.

• Re-grease all prop UJ's and check OD/gbx/tx/diff box oil levels.

November 2002

• Nothing much happened this month :)

October 2002

• Sodbury on the 26th yielded the 90 door wheel mount for £10 I was after and a new set of Raydot spots. Fitted the spots and tyre mount over the weekend. As the tyre is now mounted slightly further out than before I took the oppertunity to fit the third hinge that I had had for a while and then to weld up some cracks found in the re-inforced door frame. Due to poor 'slug scattering' in the past. It might not be pretty now, but it is strong.

• Managed to find some time to check and top up all the transmission oils and hubs after the dunking incident. The only sign of water ingress was around both hubs which were completely drained and refilled with EP90. Also pumped all prop UJ's and sliding spline with fresh LM grease until clear.

• Washed the LR down three times starting with the hose and then the pressure washer to thoroughly clean the chassis inside and out etc. Ideally I need the chassis steam cleaned and then give it another Waxoyl and Dinitrol inside. It had been 2/3 years since this was last done.

September 2002

• Now the No.1 rule of green laning is never to go out alone, and have the necessary recovery equipment. So what do I do? Pop out for a few minutes straight onto the Plain and the lure of mud then takes hold (the brown mist?). Find a muddy hole and drive through a few times, which was nice. Then decide to go in a bit further and a bit faster and 'slikkkk' I'm stuck. No one visible for miles and Carty is stuck past the diffs with muddy water lapping against the bottom of the passenger window (I'm pleased I sorted those door seals out now). Luckily I managed to extract him after 20 minutes of working the groove/rut down to firmer soil/mud with the aid of the Guyanes. And reversed out of the hole. If it wasn't for the Guyanes I would be there now. So I have learned that though you may have nover been stuck before -- IT WILL HAPPEN eventually so take precautions! Carty now needs a thorough going over as the exhaust has taken on quite a different tone (mud in the baffles?) and the handbrake don't work too well :)

• Fitted the new speedo cable and it was bad enough trying to route it over the gearbox but then the three 'silly little' screws that secure it to the speed drive assy on the gearbox were a complete bunghole. Either the transmission barke ot the overdrive seemed to be in the way, but I managed it in the end - lost one screw though. Topped up the gearbox and transfer case while I was at it and added some Wynns gearbox stop leak in the main box. Maybe that will reduce the EP90 deposits ?

August 2002

• Picked up carty with the replaced short drivers side rear half-shaft replaced. The original one had failed at the differential end. At the same time Mark had spotted that the oil seal on the diff output to the prop was leaking and replaced that as well. I knew it was weeping and it saves me doing it. Then on the way home the speedo cable bust. Turned back to West 4x4 and picked up another to fit later. Price £6.50.

• A bit after it started running rough I had stopped off at a recent neighbour to pick up some mail and reported to them it was running rough but I would make it back all right. 100 yards down the road I pulled gently away from an inter-section and a rear half-shaft snapped. After a slow realisation of the problem the free-wheeling hubs were re-engaged and I put it in 4WD and drove it 6 miles to West 4x4 in Swanmore for the fix. I could have made it the 40 miles back with the front wheels fixed but I didn't want to risk possible damage and I don't have the time after the house move to fix it at the moment.

• After the house move to Wiltshire I had to return the trailer to one of its rightful owners back in Hampshire so I started the South bound slog one Saturday morning. The sun was up and the engine was getting warm (but the newly adjusted Kenlowe and coolant system was running fine). Once I had done around 40 miles it started idling badly. It was now lumpy but ran fine once I started accelerating. No pinking was noticed but the engine was running hot. Once the engine had been left for an hour it ran fine on tickover. It sounds like it has been too far retarded. I'll adjust it back 3-4 Deg. to start with and see how we go (3 Deg. TDC recommended by R.Turner on LRE Forum for 95 Octane fuel).

• Though the ignition seemed to be set close to what it should be after setting it by ear (just starting to pink on heavy load) I thought I would get it set 'professionally' just in case. We were moving house in a couple of days and as we were pulling a 1 tonne trailer it would be wise to give it a check over. The mobile tuning guy (Shire club member) reported that the timing was 24 Deg. too far advanced!!!! So why was it only just pinking? Reason unknown. So he set it to 6 Deg. before TDC as the book recommends. It seem to recall several comments on the LRE forum regarding the inaccuracies of the crank timing marks anyway. The CO was also around 8% and after adjustment it was down to 3.5% at tickover. The first run after adjustment revealed that we now had better 'bottom end' pulling power but downhill it was popping badly and had started overrunning badly, just as it used to. Too far retarded?

July 2002

• Major oil leak from the transfer box was narrowed down to an access plate on the transfer box that I had not fixed a gasket to. I had only used blue Hylomar. The sealant had eventually dissolved allowing oil to get by under pressure. Fitted a card gasket coated with 'blue' and refitted. Transmission still leaks but it is only around 30% of the original leak :)

• Fitted the Pertronix ignition and the Lucas gold coil. Starts easier and runs a tad smoother. Old points and condenser are held in the cubby fo safe keeping :) Timing set to TDC as recommended by Aldon/Pertronix and then retarded slightly to avoid 'pinking' under load. Bosch 4 probe plugs cleaned and each electrode gap opened up to 0.9-1.0mm using a paper clip as a go/no-go gauge. The Aldon/Pertronix Ignitor for the Lucas 45D4 distributor costs £70 delivered in the UK and can also be sourced in the US as either an LU143 or 144 at $70 (around £50 in UK money!).

Before, after and after the mod was installed

• For a cheap method of fitting electronic ignition to a 45D4 distributor click here. £5-£10 and a few hours labour will save you around £40.

• To circumvent the points (and prob condenser) prob I will install an electronic ignition module inside the existing distributor (Aldon/Pertronix Ignitor) along with a 42kV Lucas gold coil (Aldon/Pertronix FlameThrower coil is the same spec but costs £22 more!). The other benefit being a larger spark (plugs opened up by an additional 5 thou. over std 32 thou. gap) and improved 'timing' of the ignition spark. Ordered 16/7/02.

• So I decided to carry out a few changes and fit the MSD Blaster 2 coil and open up the points by 5 thou. Initially it ran well (on the drive) but after trying to move towards the road it started to miss and then ran on 2 cylinders. After a lot of searching the fault was the points which showed evidence of excessive surface arcing and were sparking when the engine was wound over. Managed to get the engine running after opening up the points and replacing the coil with the original std one. After investigation the MSD Blaster primary was found to be only 0.7 Ohms and the original was around 5 Ohms - so all lot of extra current for the std points to cope with? Both the points and condenser died though, the condenser was probably on its way out that is why we were having all of the problems?

• After the Beaulieu 4x4 Show the engine started to 'pink'/pop on down hill sections and generally have a lack of power. All last week it had been running brilliantly. Checked the distributor for movement and the points - both were fine and no evidence of change there. Once it had cooled down though it seemed to run better. So next I stripped the carb and checked for anything that could be causing a weak mixture there - no problems found.

• The two aluminium mud shields I bought at the last Sodbury Sortout had to be fitted at some point so I decided to get at least one completed as the sun was out and I hoped it would not take too long. Luckily it didn't and the passenger side one was off and a new one in in around 1 hour. Coated it with black underbody gum to deaden the sound of flying mud.

• Carty had developed a rather course pop on overrun. Also if you hit a puddle a speed the ignition system will baulk where it had never baulked before. He wades 2ft. without a prob, or at least he did. Returned home from a short run on evening with the engine nice and warm to regap the valves (20 mins. all in there) and thought I would take a look at the distibutor. Took off the mud shield I had placed around the dist and looked at the cap - what do I see but a hairline crack from the base of the cap to the top. Luckily I had, on that day,purchased from Bearmach in Maidstone a new cap, points, condenser and rotor arm - pure coincidence? Fitted the lot and it purrs now (after I remembered to fit the rotor arm back in-Duuhh! ). No popping on overrun and no run-on (yet, but I have said that before); ticks over much smoother as it was erratic before; and is not suffering from moisture probs. Superb !!!!

• The ongoing tweaks and fiddles with the carb have resulted in the first mpg figures for the consumption page. After two tank fills with the 170 main jet in the Weber on 205's have revealed a fuel drinking rate of 19.2mpg. This was after the full carb strip-and-rebuild that had not originally envisaged after starting the main jet investigations. The main has now been increased to a 175 (the original US suggestion) and we will try another couple of tank fulls to see how this performs.

June 2002 (78100 1/7/02)

• We have now got to the point where I have to get the Speedi-Sleeve fitted to the transfer box rear output shaft to reduce the leaks. Bought the (CR99162 BSL ref.) sleeve repair device from Blue Diamond for £18+vat (BSL do it for £16.50+vat) but are a 15 mile round trip. Drained the transfer box and dropped the rear shaft and removed the transmission brake drum and output shaft assembly together. See fig.# for the scoring on the shaft. Removed the shaft seal and refitted a new one (took two attempts as I completely butchered the first) with blue hylomar sealant around the edge to take up any scoring around the transfer box face. NOTE:- When fitting the seal use the round end of a hub nut box spanner as it fits nicely when pushing the seal home. The Speedi Sleeve went on over the shaft and then re-assembled with 2.5 litres of fresh EP90 GL4. Guess what..................there is still as much of an oil leak as before (or such a reduction as makes no odds:) It appears that the leaks are coming from higher up the tx box and gbx. Selector rods again? BU***R!! Just have to keep topping it up then ?

• Modified the gearbox/overdrive/tx box and back axle breather runs so that they now go into a communal manifold under the centre seat box and then vent into the rear cab area. This reduces the pipe run which was leading to blockages and allows the line to be blown clear with far more ease.

• Replaced the jamming choke cable with a new one from the local motorists discount centre Les Smiths of Eastleigh at £3.99. Blow the expense (original Weber version £19 from Paddocks). At the same time the Weber choke flap return spiral spring had insufficient tension to close the flap fully once the choke was pushed in. So the carb was removed again and the spring tension increased by one additional turn. Works a treat now. I now need to run the S3 for a couple of tanks of fuel to determine how much improvement there is with the rebuilt carb while running on the 205's. Once this has been determined I will switch back to 7.50 AT's for comparision then the mud spec. Guyanes.

• Engine has now started to run on again after a fast hot run. So the problem was not just the carb. If I leave the engine ticking over for a while after stopping the run-on does not happen so it may be due to exhaust leaks still - even though the manifold is not showing signs of leakage.

May 2002 (77728 21/5/02)

• Seems to be running very rich after the LRE ramble and runs rough. This happened while on The Plain and intermittantly had trouble ticking over. I initially thought that it was due to dust blockage of the K&N and the new 175 main jet, but it turned out that it was not. The K&N was thoroughly cleaned and re-oiled and it ran well at first, but the then problems started again. So carb out and stripped. The first item found was the air intake tract was blocked with a piece of silicone from around the edge of the K&N which was limiting the air intake - so it allowed the engine to run rich when the piece was jammed. So all were jets removed and the body and jets cleaned with carb cleaner. Left the 170 jet in for the moment (may go back up to the 175) and re-assembled with new gaskets. The carb is now back on and its going well (even have the rear wheels squealing off the lights now but better stop doing that or it will be goodbye half shafts) . I have no-longer had any problems with run-on for some weeks now so all this re-jetting and carb mods must be doing something right?

• Fitted a 'new' rad (£10 from Dave) and flushed the cooling system through. Refilled with 40% anti-freeze. The old rad was 30% blocked with mud and was falling apart (crumbling) on the cooling vains so a swap was a good move. Running cooler now at around half way up the temp. gauge.

• LRE ramble saw both spots 'disappear' somewhere on 'The Plain' after a rather deep pot hole on the byway. So I need a couple of those- pooh.

• Jets changed on the Weber. Currently a 165 main jet as supplied with the carb as std but as it is now fitted with a K&N and the additional breathing that this provides it was felt that an increase in size was required. So both a 170 and a 175 size jet were sourced from BHB Engineering in Southampton and we then fitted the 175.

• A spare flexi Friday saw a lot of odd jobs sorted on Carty:-

Front shock rubber replaced; Overdrive drained and filled with Semi Sythetic gear lube; Cubby box fitted with stereo and cigar lighter socket for the cool box; Hubs/gearbox/tx box/diff oil levels checked and topped up; Prop UJ's checked and re-greased . All ready for the LRE forum Salisbury plain ramble.

• Cartman is running very well at the moment but hopefully he will be running even better soon. After the last trip to the USA and meeting up with another bunch of LR enthusiasts in the CT./RI. area I have now found out what main jet to fit to the existing Weber 34ICH carb to compensate for the fittment of the K&N filter. Apparently the std fittment is a 165 jet and it was upped to a 175 (.0165 and .0175?). I have ordered said jet and hope to get it fitted this month and give it a go so watch this space for an update.

• I was also given two 'one piece' door seals from a '97 90 and set about fitting the to the S3.

1. Remove the original seals by drilling out the rivets retaining the original seal strips and chuk 'em.

2. Grind/cut the outer lip around the door seal mounting strip (galv and ally) down to about 2mm.

3. Place masking tape behind each rivet hole and seal the holes with quality silicone (high temp solvent type prefered).

4. Seal the groove between the windscreen top and door frame etc.

5. Coat the edges of the door seal mounting with quality silicone RTV/sealant.

6. Tap the new seal into place (raw hide mallet) and trim the new seal at the latch point and windscreen hinge with aircraft snips or similar.

7. Leave the silicone to set.

8. Remove the masking tape.

9. C'est finit :)

It is now quieter inside and doesn't leak - as much :)

• Aquired an original LR cubby box in mint condition for the S3. It's grey and doesn't match the black seats but one cannot be too fussy can one :) After 2 years I have acheived at least one of my goals and got that item fitted.

April 2002

• Front Bearmach sidelamps had finally corroded to such I point that I have given up with them and have ripped them out. Ordered a replacement set from Paddocks - and the ones that arrived were also Bearmach. The new ones were of a different design though with a condensation drain and less 'corroding' metal. Fitted new lamps and improved the cable seals with self-amalgamating tape and silicone.

• Crack found in the front drivers side (RH) dumb iron just behind the front spring hanger. This had been 'repaired' by a previous owner and was now very corroded on the underside and had eaten through. So a morning of other planned jobs resulted in cutting out the corroded material and re-plating the section of 2mm steel plate.

• Carty is still running better after the vac advance pipework change but the running on and popping on hill decents has returned.

• Replaced the front section of the exhaust to discover that the evidence I had seen around the manifold/downpipe joint of leakage was not due to a damaged exhaust section but a previously brazed in stud that had pulled through (therefore working loose with expansion contraction). The new exhaust section was only £12 so this was fitted along with an 6mm SS bolt as a temporary replacement. I am planning to fit a new manifold gasket anyway so when that is off I will thread the exhaust manifold to 8mm and fit an SS studs and lock nuts.

• Transfer box breather found to be blocked after a green lane day around Salisbury. That's why it was pressurizing - again. Could not find the blockage so the only option was to run a new pipe section through.

March 2002

• The result of replacing the advance pipework and dumping the 'black blob' has resulted in a transformation of Cartman into 'Sports Cartman' Only kidding. Smoother/quicker/quieter, plus its now running on road going 205's. No running-on/no popping on foot off hill decents (see above!). I suspect that this was fitted by a previous owner along with the 'Catalyser' unit that was bolted in the fuel line to 'allow you to run the vehicle on unleaded without additives etc.' - not that I do. I use Castrol additive on unleaded. They were probably under the misguided idea that this would work.

• Polyurethane pipe fitted to replace the vac advance pipework and I also removed the small black one way/damping valve to the distributor which was fitted in-line with the pipe. The unit was marked 'Ford' (Eeeh) 'Distrib' on one end and 'Carb' on the other. No-one on the LRE Forum could give me a suggestion as to it use or even whether it should be even fitted. Seems to run fine with it removed but I will give it a few days to check it.I could find no reference to the valve in either Haynes or the 'Green bible' either.

• Aquired a set of 5 new Mangles grey modular rims. Four of these came with 205's fitted. Not a lot of tread left but legal. So for a change I fitted these instead of the 7.50's to see what difference these make to the 'performance' and gearing. Initially the acceleration is much better (it would be with smaller dia. wheels-duuh) and the gears are used a lot more. I have had the larger 7.50's on almost since we bought Cartman and I was going to lob the 205's and fit the spare 7.50 AT's but its an interesting comparison none the less. Now I expected a gearing difference for their 3-4" reduction in diameter but the transformation along with the vac pipe replacement is amazing. It may well be the pipe change (above) as well but I can now accelerate and the reduction in tyre sidewall height has made bends and roundabouts much less of a wobbly 'manouver' :)

205's V 7.50 Guyane's

• Fixed the draft through the bulkhead which turned out to be the seperation of two aluminium plates that were originally spot-welded. Drilled and pop rivetted with non setting window frame sealant in the join. Black Waxoyl to go on next weekend.

• 

February 2002

• Following on from the carb adjustment thread the exhaust is now 'popping' on downhill road inclines with my foot off the throttle, but run-on is almost non-existent. So it must be close to the mark? It still seems to be lacking at the top end though. So I am going to replace the distributor vac advance pipe from the inlet manifold. It still has the original copper tube type fitted with loose 'rubber' ends. I'll replace this with 6mm OD Polyurethane.

• Brickiln Farm Challenge on the 24th. A few pics from a very wet and muddy day.

• The windscreen wipers are now 18 months old and the blade rubbers stripped on the drivers side (luckily, when there was no rain:). Replaced with rubber wiper blade sections from Halfords for £4.50.

• After the probs below I decided to reset-up the Weber following advice logged on the LRE forum. Wound the carb mixture jet carefully in until it bottomed out. then wound it back two full turns. Started the engine and set the tick-over for as slow as possible. Adjusted the mixture until it ran as smoothly as I could get it then reduced the tick-over and repeat. Once I was happy with this I adjusted the idle back to around 800 RPM (no tacho) and took it for a run. I no longer have the run-on problem that I previously had and the engine is running cooler but its pinking under high load. Richened up the mixture by 1/4 turn and it no-longer seems to pink but it ran on this morning (a little though). I'll try it for a few more days and see how it goes.

• Not running very well after I noticed that the K&N was not fitting tightly to the Weber and replaed it with the original oil bath filter for a day. The oil bath unit had been lying on the floor of the garage for around 2 years and had collected its fair share of insects. So not cleaning it out first the first 20 miles had it running very erratically at tick-over. One can of carb cleaner; some Wynns fuel system cleaner in the tank with a new tank of fuel and the K&N refitted (plus new Champion plugs) saw the problem go away after 60-70 miles. Dirt (spidey legs) must have become stuck in the idle jet?

The old Valeo plugs after removal - mixture looks about right?

• Shire LRC green lane day on the 10th saw Dave's hybrid throwing a wobbly after a 45 Deg. climb. It did not want to fire at all and had to be towed half way home - then it decided it had had a rest and ran.

January 2002 (76500miles)

Any comments regarding manufacturers or suppliers parts or services are only from my personal experience. Those items I find to be less than satisfactory I will state that they are not up to scratch, and if they're good then I will say so. I am not associated my marriage, employ, or money (unfortunately) with any of those companies mentioned.

Paul Maidment - 11 June 2000

Updated 13 January 2003

me at pjboomer@freeuk.com