Thread: 95 v8 running a bit rough

They are timed the same as all "Old school" motors

Timing light connected to *1 lead ...
Point timing light at harmonic balancer ...
Vacuum advance hose disconnected .....
Turn distributor to adjust

got to the bottom of it all guys and thanx for all ya help

in the end i end up taking the feul filter off and tooo my horror found a brown mud throught the fillter but also found the filter to be rattling

by this stage we emptyed the feul tank and nothing but brown petty came out
feul system clean out and freash batch of 98 feul flush went throught nice
and a new filter so far she at 90-95% good health again

will continue to try clean it more over a long drive


last try to be sure the feul where you fill up from is clean , i think what happen is the guy stird the tanks before i came and filled up
and as a resault screwed me over

once again thankx all

matty

Hope this helps somebody, just been through all of this with a customers car. Have had it for over 4 weeks now working on it in between jobs. Started losing money on it about 3 weeks ago! Its now a matter of pride but I hope some of the things I've learnt will help somebody else.


Dual fuel, 3.9 1998 disco. Running really poorly, cutting out at stop signs, running ok on gas, rough on petrol.

I disconnected (temporarily) the LPG system as the customer wanted the petrol side to run as well as the gas.

Shot gunned the motor with the usual: cap, button, leads, plugs, fuel filter, amp, checked timing, air gap.
Checked fuel pressure, cleaned / checked injectors.
Checked stepper motor, checked for air leaks etc etc.

Here's some of the lots I learned.


14CUX, OBD2 plug under the dash is a red herring, I bought a s/hand unit before finding the real plug behind the drivers kick panel. (Special lead required for Hawkeye).

Fuel pump should buzz for a couple of seconds when the ignition is switched on.

Buy/borrow a pressure gauge to monitor rail pressure

Fuel cut off switch hidden under bonnet, under passenger side windscreen.

Almost no slack on a new timing chain and gears. Old one had up to 25mm. Didn't have anything to compare it to on initial inspection, only when the new one came did I know it was badly worn.

If you leave the keys in the car and the battery goes flat, don't try and charge it without taking the keys out, the vehicle locked itself when the charger was applied and no spare keys!

Check out Bee Uteys amplifier conversion on this site, brilliant! and will save a lot of tears and bloodshed. Bought the coil and amp from Cov's, about $70 each trade. Well worth a read of this post, some great info.

Check out the post on here re the MAF voltage check, this one was running far to rich, easily fixed.

Check the vac advance, this one cactus.

Try non Resistor plugs and low resistor leads (gas leads).

Check rotor arm removal doesn't pull the shaft away from the advance weights.

Noticed some posts saying not to rely on timing marks when using a timing light, not sure about this one, I haven't got that far yet but.. My marks were all over the place at the beginning of the journey, the crank keyway is at TDC though, no harmonic balancer rubber to fail so hoping the cam chain replacement will steady the ship.

Check reluctor / pick up gap with a non ferrous feeler gauge (not sure why, I'd really like to know).


And... lastly (so far) check that the reluctor on the dizzy shaft doesn't turn independently of the shaft found today that the plastic dog under the 8 point trigger was broken and the reluctor could move at will.

Tomorrow I hope will see the antichrist leave the building and we'll get our loan car back, if it is all really over, I've learnt a huge amount and better for the experience, my faith in Landys has never been shaken and this one just confirms they have soul...its just that some have darker souls than others.

Hi, had the same prob with my 95 disco 1 3.9. check valve clearances as you might have faulty lifters. Do a compression test, my prob was compression rings were shot. Check also the fuel pressure in your fuel rail.
hope this helps

Originally Posted by thevroomroom@bigpond.com

Hope this helps somebody, just been through all of this with a customers car. Have had it for over 4 weeks now working on it in between jobs. Started losing money on it about 3 weeks ago! Its now a matter of pride but I hope some of the things I've learnt will help somebody else.

Dual fuel, 3.9 1998 disco. Running really poorly, cutting out at stop signs, running ok on gas, rough on petrol.

I disconnected (temporarily) the LPG system as the customer wanted the petrol side to run as well as the gas.

Shot gunned the motor with the usual: cap, button, leads, plugs, fuel filter, amp, checked timing, air gap.
Checked fuel pressure, cleaned / checked injectors.
Checked stepper motor, checked for air leaks etc etc.

Here's some of the lots I learned.

14CUX, OBD2 plug under the dash is a red herring, I bought a s/hand unit before finding the real plug behind the drivers kick panel. (Special lead required for Hawkeye).

Fuel pump should buzz for a couple of seconds when the ignition is switched on.

Buy/borrow a pressure gauge to monitor rail pressure

Fuel cut off switch hidden under bonnet, under passenger side windscreen.

Almost no slack on a new timing chain and gears. Old one had up to 25mm. Didn't have anything to compare it to on initial inspection, only when the new one came did I know it was badly worn.

If you leave the keys in the car and the battery goes flat, don't try and charge it without taking the keys out, the vehicle locked itself when the charger was applied and no spare keys!

Check out Bee Uteys amplifier conversion on this site, brilliant! and will save a lot of tears and bloodshed. Bought the coil and amp from Cov's, about $70 each trade. Well worth a read of this post, some great info.

Check out the post on here re the MAF voltage check, this one was running far to rich, easily fixed.

Check the vac advance, this one cactus.

Try non Resistor plugs and low resistor leads (gas leads).

Check rotor arm removal doesn't pull the shaft away from the advance weights.

Noticed some posts saying not to rely on timing marks when using a timing light, not sure about this one, I haven't got that far yet but.. My marks were all over the place at the beginning of the journey, the crank keyway is at TDC though, no harmonic balancer rubber to fail so hoping the cam chain replacement will steady the ship.

Check reluctor / pick up gap with a non ferrous feeler gauge (not sure why, I'd really like to know).

And... lastly (so far) check that the reluctor on the dizzy shaft doesn't turn independently of the shaft found today that the plastic dog under the 8 point trigger was broken and the reluctor could move at will.

Tomorrow I hope will see the antichrist leave the building and we'll get our loan car back, if it is all really over, I've learnt a huge amount and better for the experience, my faith in Landys has never been shaken and this one just confirms they have soul...its just that some have darker souls than others.

As far as I know the point of the non ferrous feeler gauge is so the magnets don't grab it and give the illusion of a snug fit.