Folks - had some real fun this weekend gone. Kat and I took Matilda away to the Border Ranges to camp, which was the first time we have really gone any real distance and used the little truck for camping.
It was really lovely. The last time I had an issue - the infamous water pump debacle, I could smell the vehicle getting hot - this time, it was odorless! The vehicle went as it always does, but I thought I'd ask a few questions and report on what I found.....
1) We have done 260 km on just over half a tank of fuel - that seems very good to me. What do you think?
Depends upon what size the tank is - better to quote actual consumption (l/100kms) after filling up.
2) When we left home, the dipstick showed the oil level about a quarter below the full mark. It had dropped, when I checked it again, (120km later) - it was now about a quarter above minimum.
That's driving it about 120km, some of it flat out.
3) I added oil to around the max line the next morning, checked once cold at home again - it doesn't seem to have used hardly any coming home?
It's been quite a while since I've had the pleasure of owning/driving any of the Series Landys but in my experience if the engine oil level was kept at the max indicated level (or even slightly above), then oil consumption was minimal.
4) When powering up hills etc, the engine makes a rapid clacking/clicking noise - I think this noise is the valves (or valve stems) - will an additive help with this? It does it to a much lesser extent just cruising along and has always done so.
Sounds like pinging to me - try retarding the ignition timing slightly and try it out under load again.
Knocking (also called knock, detonation, spark knock, pinging or pinking) in spark-ignition internal combustion engines occurs when combustion of the air/fuel mixture in the cylinder starts off correctly in response to ignition by the spark plug, but one or more pockets of air/fuel mixture explode outside the envelope of the normal combustion front. The fuel-air charge is meant to be ignited by the spark plug only, and at a precise time in the piston's stroke cycle. The peak of the combustion process no longer occurs at the optimum moment for the four-stroke cycle. The shock wave creates the characteristic metallic "pinging" sound, and cylinder pressure increases dramatically. Effects of engine knocking range from inconsequential to completely destructive. It should not be confused with pre-ignition (or preignition), as they are two separate events.
5) It doesn't seem to blow any smoke - even chugging up hills. It always starts very easily. It doesn't seem to have much power, but seems to pull up hills, even in top gear, albeit slowly. I did have to drop back to 3rd from time to time, but it is a torquey engine.
Result of an 'undersquare' (??) engine - longer stroke than bore. Made for torque characteristics not speed! We also had all our camping gear so it was loaded up. My iPhone suggests top speed is about 80-85km/h.
Do these observations sound about right? I worry I should investigate the clicking noise from the engine under load, but no one who has driven it had really made mention of it - and these are folks who are used to driving these vehicle.
Maybe they didn'yt subject it the load you did when travelling up hills with a load aboard. And - how do I check the transfer case oil level and top it up if necessary?
Filler/level plug on rear near handbrake drum. The gearbox has it's own dipstick and filler.
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Originally Posted by Scallops
Folks - had some real fun this weekend gone. Kat and I took Matilda away to the Border Ranges to camp, which was the first time we have really gone any real distance and used the little truck for camping.
Good job I checked, as it needed a top up. Not that LR made it easy to check - got to remove the middle seat box panel to get at the filler and bung.
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