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After the disaster that was the Dolomite fire I was without car for returning to uni in September until I was offered a 2002 Nissan X-Trail 2.2 DCi Sport. I seemingly sensible, reliable, non retro every day car that could be relied on and should go forever. Which it did until 2 weeks ago. Gave it a service and a good wash and in return it exploded. Cracked camshaft, bent valve, destroyed vacuum pump and me without a single roadworthy car and only 3 days before having to drive back to uni. After much careful thought (and wine) I decided that the best possible solution was to have more wine and get on eBay. My criteria was simple. Must be easily and cheaply fixed, be as practical as the X Trail and be 4WD. If everything, even modern boring cars can destroy themselves with no warning I figure that it's best to have something that will break a lot but can at least be fixed. Clearly what I needed was a Series Land Rover. I couldn't afford a Defender and fuel costs meant that petrol was off the cards. And here is what I won.  The bodywork and interior are ratty as a ratty thing, it is monumentally noisy and slow, it's not very comfortable, it has more seats than I have friends and it's brilliant. 2.25 litres of naturally aspirated diesel brilliance and a selection of 20 possible gear ratios to choose from during the long and laborious journey from zero to terminal velocity. 55. I love it. Despite appearances it's actually very sound with an extremely solid bulkhead and chassis, recon gearbox and Fairy O/D and fully serviced brakes and axles. The engine runs well and it does go in a basically straight line, which is nice. It's very smokey on start up but there is no smoke after that so I think the engine is basically sound, just in need of a decoke and new stem seals. The tyres are going to need replacing soon as they are starting to crack and the glow plugs take an age to get hot enough to start. I've been looking at a parallel conversion but they get mixed reviews with regards to effectiveness and reliability / build quality. I should also add that apart from what I've learned over the past week from tinternets I know curse word all about Land Rovers so all advice and comments are very welcome! |
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Last Edit: Jun 2, 2014 20:30:02 GMT by metroman
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i think the term you are looking for is "slightly less disastrous fuel economy than the petrol version"  love it, if i was to dip my toe back in the landrover gene pool again this would be the vehicle, series III 109 station wagon, perfect |
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skoze
Part of things
Posts: 382
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What a beauty! What are you mostly going to be doing with it? Should be able to offer some tyre advice if you have that in mind  Some of my favourite driving memories involve a clapped-out 2.25 diesel. We used to run one on veg, used engine oil, kerosene, anything that'd burn - great engine. |
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They almost all smoke on start up don't worry about it unless its (very) embarassing, My sIIa had original ex mod tyres on which were rock hard so it would go sideways surprisingly well if you allowed sufficient run up before a corner. Cracks have to be surprisingly bad before its MOT failure time. Top speed seems low though mine would hit an indicated 60 without overdrive (only use it in 3rd and 4th gear or it will fail and try not to use it as a splitter box when doing heavy towing) I honestly don't think there is much difference between the fuel (un)economy of the diesel and petrol units. Can't remember glow plugs being a problem isn't it standard to pre-heat for about 30 to 40 seconds anyway? Oh and get ear plugs before any motorway journeys  |
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Cool, I like it, that much cooler than a nissan.
I have a swb series 3 with a 200di conversion, its pretty good on fuel. I love it but unfortunately I am going to be putting it up for sale this week, Boo!
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 old fords never die, they just get faster!! |
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Thanks for the positive comments. It's so nice to be in something retro again. I feel proud to drive it and actually look forward to even the most mundane trips. There is something great about driving something technically terrible. I've managed to get the heater to work today which is nice. The regulator on the engine was seized which was fixed with WD40. The drivers door also decided it preferred being open and started to fly open when turning at random. This was fixed with 3 in 1 on the locks which was been applied to all the doors and hinges. While I was at it I covered all the electrical terminals in WD and went over her with a pressure washer. I'll get some photos up tomorrow. darrenh - After a week I've been getting 25-30 mpg which is okay in my book (driving very carefully. It's not too far off the Sex-Trail but I do miss the 50 - 60 mpg I used to get from the lovely Metro... skoze - A very sympathetic rolling restoration is the plan. Basic servicing and keeping her going is #1 for now followed by cleaning up the interior and a top end rebuild on the engine. Everything works and I like the rough bodywork. Polished Land Rovers look wrong. In my book they should be dented and a bit worn out from now. I'll be doing a fluids change at the weekend so I'll maybe bung the old oil in the tank! As for tyres I'm going to contact the local Land Rover dealers and see if I can get some stock Defender steelies with tyres from a car that's been upgraded to alloys. I know a few people have been able to get good deals from MINI garages that way so it can't hurt to try. I will be using her mostly on the road to reduced tyre noise/better fuel economy would be great. dodgerover - It does seem a bit excessive and a top end rebuild can't do it any harm. In fairness it probably would go faster but I'm not trashing her. I've got some ear defenders in the car but after some Redex it's got better and is positively tolerable at 50. I didn't buy her to go fast so I'm happy. After looking today the glow plugs are a non-original parallel conversion so I will investigate further. adcoupe - I agree. The Nissan was comfortable, fast, seemingly well made, civilised and dull as a dull thing. What is the 200tdi like without a turbo? Did you have to do anything with the fuelling to compensate for the lack of boost? Thanks all James |
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After a week I've been getting 25-30 mpg which is okay in my book (driving very carefully. It's not too far off the Sex-Trail but I do miss the 50 - 60 mpg I used to get from the lovely Metro... Thanks all James Thats absolutely stunning every other one I've had anything to do with struggled to do more than 22 mpg on a run! 18mpg used to be normal for my commute. |
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adcoupe - I agree. The Nissan was comfortable, fast, seemingly well made, civilised and dull as a dull thing. What is the 200tdi like without a turbo? Did you have to do anything with the fuelling to compensate for the lack of boost? James I don't find the landy bad at all without the turbo, obviously its not as quick but then my old girl wasn't bought for speed. As far as the fueling goes I just wound the pump back a bit to reduce the fuel. Pretty simple conversion.   And my old bus did suprisingley well offroad as well. |
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Last Edit: Feb 5, 2014 16:00:35 GMT by adcoupe
old fords never die, they just get faster!! |
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skoze
Part of things
Posts: 382
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If you're going to the trouble of putting a 2/300 in, leave the turbo on. More economical, more powerful and you don't have to pay for anything. Makes 10000% sense and they really aren't the drivetrain destroyers they can be portrayed to be by some people. I run mine lightly tuned through a 2a box with the original 1952 back axle - never had a problem and it does get a boot full!
As for tyres, check on ebay - there are always take-off deals to be had but try not to get anything smaller than 7.50s (think it's about 235/85 for the metric equivalent, though they come up a little wider)
I'm running Michelin XZLs with no problems at all, though they can be a little slippery on the road... BFG A/Ts are the way to go if you can find some.
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great buy, as a student you are now have to paint it some completely not land rover colour!
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Last Edit: Feb 5, 2014 16:10:27 GMT by TerraRoot
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As promised, another photo of a bit of mild green lane-ing. Excellent fun, that!  There is definitely something not quite right with the injectors still, I think one of them is worn out and not creating a proper mist, there is a lot of diesel in the exhaust. I've no intention of doing an engine conversion, I like the simplicity of the original engine a lot and would much rather maintain it and get it running as well as possible. Thanks for the advice on tyres skoze, I've been watching them on eBay and they do go for reasonable money every now and again but the prices really fluctuate. Still, no hurry. TerraRoot - I really like it in it's faded, chipped and multi-toned green it means I don't have to worry about parking! James |
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bortaf
Posted a lot
Posts: 4,549
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Nice ! i do like the "does what it says on the tin" look utilitarian for the win |
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R.I.P photobucket
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skoze
Part of things
Posts: 382
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As promised, another photo of a bit of mild green lane-ing. Excellent fun, that! TerraRoot - I really like it in it's faded, chipped and multi-toned green it means I don't have to worry about parking! Best part about 'em. I really do love the quirks of beaten up old Landies, so much so mine's currently made up of 8 or 9 different ones. Meccano motoring FTW! |
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Last Edit: Feb 6, 2014 1:29:42 GMT by skoze
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Cheers bortaf! skoze - I think that is probably true for this one too... I've done some more work over the last few days. Started with an oil and filter change which was a pain because everything had been over tightened. The filter was disgusting! I used Halfords 15W40 Semi-Synthetic. I also cleaned up the K&N that's been put on at some point. Still crazy smoke on start up but she's running smoother. I then attacked the paintwork with oil and cloths. Before (from the eBay ad)  After an hour or so...   The dash came up nicely with some WD-40  The old engine oil has been put to good use and been used to lubricate all the springs and coat the chassis and steering linkages. Unfortunately the prop shaft gaiter and swivel gaiter are both damaged so are going to need replacing. The prop gaiter looks almost brand new which is a shame. The engine does leak oil which has been traced to the breather on the rocker cover. The seal is missing so I've ordered a new one. James |
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Last Edit: Feb 9, 2014 1:48:44 GMT by metroman
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Injectors used to be very cheap exchange from Paddock (about £10 each last time I had some, which was a while ago mind) they certainly aren't worth messing about getting tested
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No they're dead easy from memory, just 2 nuts clamping them down one each side, undo injector pipe and bleed off pipes undo the nuts and they should come straight out with a bit of a wriggle. You will need a new copper washer to go underneath them or re anneal the old one.
Thats only £17+vat each just testing them used to cost about a £10 a time, it should be easy to check which one is faulty, even at the new price thats still pretty much of a bargain.
Have you tried advancing the injection pump timing slightly? if its retarded you'll get a bit of white diesel smoke and a quieter engine, advancing it will make it sound a bit harsher but may help.
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Okay, thanks. The engine is fine when warm with no smoke at all but makes a large cloud of blue smoke on start up and then coughs a series of smaller white smoke clouds until warm. I'll try advancing the timing a bit and see if that helps.
James
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Knackered new parts? Welcome to the wonderful world of britpart
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Nice, very very nice.
One thing to check would be the axle breathers. If they are still the standard series ones, they have a tendancey to get blocked up if not looked after,resulting in blown oil seals in axles.
They have a ball bearing type affair in them,so it needs to be free to move, just unscrew them from axle,and wash them in thinners/petrol/turps etc etc.
Even better would be to fit later 'defender' style ones with breather pipes attatched.
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