Thread: 93 Hard Dash, Spark Plugs and Fuses

Thanks, that'll be the same sensor Phillip mentioned earlier. I still haven't got to it.

A large reason I'm finding this gutless is my frame of reference.
This thing should have 320Nm and 135kw. But weighs about 2 ton and has a slushbox.

My other rover has about the same power but over 200Nm more and a manual box.
One work car has 320Nm and 103kw but weighs 1.4 ton and is 6sp manual.
The other work car has 250Nm and 80kw and is manual. Power/weight is similar, but it feels nippier.
The Q7 4.2tdi and RRS I drive occasionally also make it feel a bit lacking.

I've had a look through the distributor on this one now.
The cap had some moisture showing, so that's been wiped out. I also cleaned the rotor contacts and it seems a bit better.
The vacuum advance appears to work. I plugged a syringe on the end of the hose and it would pull about 1-2mm. But the hose is a loose fit on the barb so I'll clamp that.

Under the rotor is a clear plastic shield with the warning "do not remove, this has been factory set and does not require adjustment". Screws holding this cover are still filled with wax type stuff so it appears to have not been tampered with in 20 years.
There is some rust visible under and I presume the centrifugal advance is hidden down there too.

I'm still waiting for the old man to find his timing light and check the advance. But what should it have been factory and what is a good number for running 91 octane?
Jilden is the 10 deg you mentioned good for 91 or is Aussie unleaded better than NZ unleaded?

I also noticed the original plug (from the loom) into the side of the distributor is unplugged and hanging loose. An indentical plug has been added afterwards with a lead headed over to the LH gaurd behind the battery and a circuit board behind the coil. What's the deal there? Another poster has mentioned the same setup on theirs.

I got the distributor right apart, checked and back together again. Significant rust on the trigger star thing, but the centrifugal advance and vacuum advance are all smooth and good.

The points in the cap look far worse than they did 2 days ago. So what's the story with replacements?
Do I need to match a new cap and rotor or can parts from different suppliers be paired without drama?
I'm finding a lot of listings for caps, but very few for caps and rotors. Does the rotor arm outlast several caps?

What counts with cap and rotors is the condition of the plastic, ie freedom from carbon tracking, cracks and blemishes, and the air gap between the tip of the rotor and the cap contacts. Replacement caps and rotors should in theory all be compatible but there's plenty of low grade rubbish out there, some of it packed in brand name boxes. I've refused to fit customer supplied caps due to their inaccurate fit.

You can check the tip to rotor clearance by laying the rotor sideways in the cap, line up the carbon brush with the wear mark on the rotor. Your air gap should not exceed 1mm. You can close up the air gap by peening the end of the brass strip of the rotor. If your rotor looks manky you can use a Bosch GB864 XF Falcon rotor. It looks quite different but is functionally equivalent. It has more overlap with the cap contact which can help in some cases where the OEM rotor is burning at a corner because the pickup alignment is poor.

As for petrol, I haven't the foggiest if its different here or NZ, I prefer not to buy the stinking stuff. Anyways, I think it all comes from Singapore or somewhere like that.

Bit of an update.

New cap and rotor (lucas from my local independent rover specialist) made a big difference, I'll throw a set of leads at it next as the current set are mismatched. Any recommendations?

New gas struts are preventing headaches (literally) and a new thermostat means the heater is working.

Now I've got the occasional issue when coming to a stop the engine will occasionally conk out or drop revs and then recover about the point the oil light flickers. Any common cause for that one? I still haven't checked that temp sensor, before the thermostat change this problem either didn't occur or I didn't notice.

It's had a few decent offroad jaunts now. EAS is great for keeping the body up and mostly out of 2 feet deep icey puddles. The combo of V8 auto is a completely different experience to the 4BD1T and manual. I can see why some love it, but personally I still prefer the diesel monster.

Bosch do a factory OEM replacement-look set of leads, part no. B8027i which has good quality boots that are quite water resistant.

Idle dropping could be the idle stepper, at the back of the plenum. Remove and clean carefully with carby cleaner, don't force the plunger as it will strip its plastic gears. Also you can raise the base idle by inserting a 3/16 allen key in the little pocket on top of the throttle body, turn out a bit at a time to get a smooth idle.

Thanks again, new leads fitted. It's a bit of a puzzle when the old leads don't match but all sorted.

While I was in there, I found the compression ratio markings. I've got 9.35.

Now I've got the occasional issue when coming to a stop the engine will
occasionally conk out or drop revs and then recover about the point the oil
light flickers. Any common cause for that one? I still haven't checked that
temp sensor, before the thermostat change this problem either didn't occur or I
didn't notice.

This is usually caused by a slow stepper motor, and/or the kerb idle being too low.
First pull out the stepper and clean the cone on the end and the housing with cotton buds in metho or carby cleaner. Do not pull it apart.
To set the kerb idle,take the pipe to the stepper off teh throttle body , block thestub and the pipe and set the idle to 550-600RPM using the grubscrew on top of the throttle body.

Regards Philip A