G'day all,

After taking the Landy for several drives now, the brakes are well up to scratch and also fixed my indicators which happened to stop working all came down to a broken connector on the flasher relay! replaced the connector and cleaned the other connectors with some contact spray and wulla! it works!

Now i have noticed the temp needle on the dash goes up to red while driving and goes down just under the red bar when stationary. Is this signs of an out of tuned motor? i did check the thermostat and gave the engine a good flush prior to filling antifreeze/coolant! Is there a possibility of an air lock in the cooling system? I also noticed there was a tap on the left side of the eng block under the exhaust manifold? i didnt use it!

I think i need to give the engine a good tuneup as i havent done that yet. I have noticed that once the engine is warm it picked up in revs on idle. also theres a bit of ticking noise aswell. Im assuming tappets need to be adjusted.
sometimes when sitting at the traffic lights and i take off i can see puff of Black smoke come out of the exhaust. So can an out of tune motor caus the engine to run warmer than the normal operating temperature?

So this weekend i plan to adjust the tappets and tune the motor.
i will replace spark plugs, cables and points.
i will also do a compression test.

So far work done on the engine are;

oil change + oil filter
replaced camshaft gasket
replaced sump gasket
new thermostat
new radiator + hoses
new exhaust manifold + gaskets
x2 new fan belts.
Empty & clean oil bath filter and re fill with 20w50w oil.

I have never adjusted tappets before, im still awaiting for part 1 workshop manual in the mail. If any of you have any good tips before i proceed will be great to know from all you experts out there......!


cheers,

Chris

__________________
chris1983rangie
LROCV #646
REMLR #250
LRSOC #5368

The actual reading of the temperature gauge on these is notoriously unreliable. It would be useful to know what temperature this really indicates. The most direct way to do this is to remove the sender from the thermostat housing and connect using extension wires long enough to put the sender in a container of water that can be heated with, for example, a camp stove (make sure no petrol is about). The reading with the water boiling will give you a reference point - normal operation should be somewhat below this (80C which you can check if you have a known good thermometer.

Having established this, boiling point should be about the start of the red. If it is in the red before boiling it suggests either a faulty sender, or more likely, a faulty or badly earthed voltage stabiliser. If it is a badly earthed or faulty stabiliser, the temperature reading will vary (with a lag) as the charging voltage does, and this would agree with the your observation. You can check this by warming the engine until it is at operating temperature, then note temperature reading with it idling. Switch headlights on to drop battery battery voltage - if the temperature drops after a minute or so, you have that problem.

If the engine really is getting hot, assuming that the coolant is full, look for a loose fanbelt, cooling fins on the radiatior blocked, retarded spark, either static timing or siezed centrifugal advance.

Black smoke from the exhaust indicates a rich mixture, and will (probably)be a carburetter fault (which carburetter?). But is it black? In that situation the most likely is blue smoke from hardened valve stem seals.

The tapping noise is almost certainly tappets. Easy to adjust following instructions in the book. Only precautions are to make sure that the end of the rocker does not have a hollow worn into it by the end of the valve stem, which will give an incorrect clearance, and check the clearance after you have tightened the locknut. This engine, with tappets correctly adjusted, is almost soundless when idling.

Your list of replacements for a tuneup looks about right, but you need to make sure the points gap is correct and that the ignition timing is correct.

The tap on the side of the block is the coolant drain for the block, and is the only way you will get out the sediment in the bottom of the waterjacket - in fact it may be necessary to remove the tap and probe the hole to start the flushing.

John

__________________
JDNSW
1986 110 County 3.9 diesel
1970 2a 109 2.25 petrol

Thanks John,

Is it best to adjust the points and set the timing after adjusting the tappets?

also my Carburettor is a Solex......! i only get blue smoke when starting the vehicle up first time which is probably the valve stem seals?

Chris

__________________
chris1983rangie
LROCV #646
REMLR #250
LRSOC #5368

I always used the 'rule of nine' when adjusting tappets on the 2.25 motor - adjust number 1 with number 8 fully open, adjust 2 with 7 open, adj 3 with 6 open, adj 4 with 5 open, adj 5 with 4 open etc etc.

__________________
Roger

Land Rover Owners Club of Australia (NSW Branch) Inc.

"Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it."

Does not make any difference what order you do the tappets, but points must be set before timing, and idling speed and mixture adjustment should be last, as the idling speed will be affected by just about everything else.

Blue smoke when starting up first is almost certainly valve stem seals, probably also appear when starting off after idling for some time.

Solex carbie should perform well provided it is in good shape, but parts seem to be a bit harder to get for them. A difficult problem is likely to be a worn throttle spindle and bushes - this is not simply a matter of replacing parts, you need to bore out and rebush the hole the throttle spindle turns in. Probably expensive unless you have the facilities to do it yourself. There are still carburetter specialists about, but may take a bit of finding.

Hope this helps,

John

__________________
JDNSW
1986 110 County 3.9 diesel
1970 2a 109 2.25 petrol

the only value in doing the tappets in the order suggeted is that you only have to turn the motor over 2 revolutions to adjust them all. The book (that I have anyway) is quite good in it's description.

HTH Paul

__________________
Paul

REMLR 256 / MVCA VP / SLOw 4

2A W/Ss & GSs
S3 Workshop (M/V)
W/S trailer
48 P3 (type 2 vehicle)
84 RRC (D.D. & tow pony)

G'day Chris1983rangie

It is best to set the timing after setting both the points (0.015 thou inch) and the plugs (0.32 thou) then you can set the timing 6 deg BTDC, for 91 octaine fuel, the puff of black smoke on take off(1--2 seconds) could just be the rich mixture after burning, indicating that the carby accelerator pump is working, if it continues longer, then it could well be running rich,if so the mixture screw adjustment is :IN=Lean OUT = Rich

Tappets are (0.010 thou Hot or Cold) I set them at a loose .010 as in todays traffic the motor can be run hard at times to keep up with traffic,
I have forgotten what model you Landy is, if it is a late 2a or S3 with the electric temp gauge in the instrument panel,the hotter than normal reading could be caused by a bad earth, either dash panel to firewall or,engine to chassis,or body to firewall,as that will make a gauge read high,as when you first turn it on(ign) it travels from hot to cold, also have you replaced the thermostat, as that could be faulty.


hope that is of some help


cheers

__________________
68 2a GS 6028D 172-484
Aust No5 trailer 2wheel 1/2 ton Ch 1974=173-489
REMLR No 003

hi UncleHo,

my Vehicle is a 1969 model.
Yep, changed the thermostat, i also test it in a pot of hot water to see if it opens and closed while hot and cold. worked fine.

what is the operating temp of the Engine?

the temp gauge climbs up after 10-15 mins of driving. it doesn't go up straight away when ign is turned on.
today i took out the thermostat and the temp gauge does the same thing.

i have also noticed the Fuel gauge going up slowly then comes down to the right level after 5-10 min of driving.

where and what does that Voltage Stabiliser look like?


Cheers,

Chris

__________________
chris1983rangie
LROCV #646
REMLR #250
LRSOC #5368

Voltage stabiliser is a small metal box with two terminals. It should be screwed to the bulkhead behind the gauges, visible when the panel is taken off. It relies on the mounting screws for earthing, so this is a potential trouble spot.

John

__________________
JDNSW
1986 110 County 3.9 diesel
1970 2a 109 2.25 petrol

thanks i'll have a look at it tomorrow.

Chris

__________________
chris1983rangie
LROCV #646
REMLR #250
LRSOC #5368