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40 days and 40 nights

Hello everyone. Now, where was I?

Well, I was blocking the inside lane of the M42 with a dead Discovery during Monday rush hour, on my way to an unmissable appointment.

I was rolling down a hill in a Series 2 - with the handbrake on.

I was trying to start the same Series 2, with a dead (two month old) battery.

I was trying (and still am) to cure a sodding misfire on the Discovery.

I was working out how to put the 2 grand (or thereabouts) that I have spent on the Disco in the last 4 months back in the bank so her ladyship might not notice.

I was being told by the locksmith that this time they can't fix the jammed ignition barrel on the Discovery, so I'll have to fork out £100 plus to Land Rover for a key-matched new one.

I was flicking through AutoTrader, and not the Land Rover section either...

These have been dark days of Land Rover ownership, during which time I have really wondered if I wouldn't prefer to sell all my Land Rovers and get a 'nice' motor and perhaps a kit car. Actually, I bought the kit car last week whilst drunk - must get round to going and finding out what it is!

I still have a stuttering Disco (both on LPG and petrol), a Series 2 that might roll away at any moment and a very sore cheque book.

So today, for the first time since 2003, I went outside, put the keys in the 101 and turned. It started first time. So I then checked the tyres and wheelnuts. All perfect. So I drove to work. Everyone stared as I rumbled past. A small child waved (no, really!). I parked up blocking in an S-Type R and a Golf VR6 and sat in a sunny window and watched my staff do most of the work.

Good to be back! I hear there's a Land Rover show or two coming up...

Reply to
Tim Hobbs
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Does this mean we get to drink the Pimms this year?

Reply to
Mother

On or around Sat, 17 Apr 2004 20:49:54 +0100, Tim Hobbs enlightened us thusly:

what have you already replaced on this one?

Reply to
Austin Shackles

If you mean the Disco, the chain of events is thus...

Engine running generally 'a bit pants' - nothing too bad, but feeling tired. Booked in with Warren for LPG fitting and cam / timing change at the same time (135K engine).

For various reasons, cam change was held off but LPG was fitted. Ran OK on petrol and gas for a week - achieved about 15 mpg on gas so fairly happy. The LPG was fitted without major changes to the ignition, apart from timing obviously. Cap, rotor, coil and amp were all less than 6 months old. Leads perhaps a year or so old.

Then about 10 days after conversion I was on my way to an exhibition at the NEC. I'd been cruising at up to 90 mph without any bother then hit traffic on the M42. Suddenly I lost power. I thought I'd just run out of gas - switching to petrol made no difference. I managed to roll through the cones in the roadworks as the engine died.

After a bit of messing (and cursing) I found that I could restart on petrol and it would run as long as I kept the engine above 3000 rpm. I managed to run about a mile to Tamworth Services and called the RAC.

Warren spent 4 hours fiddling with it that very afternoon and went through all the wiring and so forth with a fine tooth comb. ECU showed no faults, but it ran like crap (really rough tickover). Wouldn't run on gas at all. The ignition amp checked out OK and putting on his 'known good' one made no difference. After 4 hours he admitted defeat and ordered a new ignition amp, which cured the problem! Very bizarre, and I'm still not sure we really fixed it.

Then the new cam and timing gear went in - engine a good bit 'tighter' in terms of fewer rattles and ticks. One big mighty tick has now taken its place - Warren reckons the y-joint in the exhaust is loose and didn't have a clamp to fix it there and then. One for next time, but it sounds like a bag of spanners just now. At the same time he found that one of the oxygen sensors wasn't totally plugged in, which might have explained the previous breakdown.

Since then it has run 'OK', but not great. On LPG there is a pronounced stutter on mid-throttle at 2500 rpm. It isn't there on petrol, but on petrol it doesn't deliver power smoothly either - a big flat spot about the same place. I've got new plugs and leads ready to fit, but I don't hold out much hope. Next thing to try is an RPI variable timing ignition amp and see if we can optimise the timing for each fuel, rather than the current halfway house which is basically wrong for both fuels.

Reply to
Tim Hobbs

Hi Tim

Try checking the vacuum advance - may cause the sort of problem you are describing if it's 'sticky'

Reply to
Graeme

On or around Sun, 18 Apr 2004 10:58:13 +0100, Tim Hobbs enlightened us thusly:

which LPG kit?

plugs and leads might help - I'm chasing an off-idle flatspot/dying on mine ATM, and more or less traced it to ignition, as all faffing with fuelling settings doesn't make it go away.

replacing plugs improved it, regapping 'em smaller (about 25-30 thou) made it better, hopefully new leads will fix it. The word on LPG is that it's harder to make a spark in an LPG/air atmosphere than in a petrol/air atmosphere.

in the course of messing with this one I've tried many substitutions, none of which make a lasting difference. It was previously running fine, the cam looks reasonable. What leads has yours got on it ATM?

I assume yours is a closed loop LPG system, and that it's been tuned and indeed retuned following the cam work correctly?

I further assume it's running standard airbox and filter.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

On or around Sun, 18 Apr 2004 11:20:10 +0100, "Graeme" enlightened us thusly:

and, too, the mechanical advance. Once had one of them sticking. squirted WD40 allover the place, and after a few days it freed itself off.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

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