Series III NW London service help!

Trench Rat said:

Yep, check the battery. If you have a battery charger that would be good. Since it fired up I would suppose you could rule out problems with the starter motor, though sometimes a gummed/rusted up starter will struggle to engage which can cause issues with it firing up quickly.

A general rule of thumb is that if you can start the engine on the crank handle, nothing catastrophic has failed.

My general troubleshooting for engine not starting would go as follows:

Check battery, if bad replace, if good...

Check the distributor cap, mine cut out a couple of times and struggled starting before, i found that wiping excess condensation or damp (around this time of year through to Feb or so) helped sort this.

It could be that the condenser is on it's way out, they're cheap and not hard to install. Mine went.

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Condensers, now known as capacitors, fail for a pastime. Only a few quid, and you need a small Phillips screwdriver and a small spanner to change them.

To deal with electrical problems, you should invest in a multimeter or test lamp (I prefer the multimeter) and a Haynes manual because they contain a circuit diagram.

Col

Moorhouse2 said:

Am I the only person who finds this very unwelcoming to the original poster - someone who looks fairly new to the forum and LR ownership. I'm not quite sure what your intention is with this answer but basically condemning someone for not currently having the skills to do what you consider simple maintenance is hardly the way to encourage them to ask again for help on here to maybe learn how to do it as they go forward. I know I still learn things about fixing our equipment and myriad old and new vehicles every day - and I'm a middle aged farmer with plenty of experience of "in field" repairs - still resort to specialists when I need to. My message to the OP is to maybe join a local LR club member or similar - most of these owners are happy to spend some time with newer owners who are enthusiastic and keen to learn more and can show you the ropes. Or maybe even a general classic car club if there isn't a local LR specific one - some of the clubs have facilities which are shared among the club members and they help each other out. All the best.Ian

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Thankyou Ian

Seriesiiilandy said:

Thankyou for your reply. Thats a good idea. maybe i should sign myself up too, because i do ultimately want to be ablt to fix it.

If i start 'looking under the hood tomorrow does anyone have any suggestions on where to start - it was running well and starting every time, then it didnt start - absolutely dead (although lights still worked) but it started straight away when i used jump leads, this happened twice and the third time it started with the jump leads but not immediately, and by the time id been around the block the horn and front dials had stopped working and shortly after the engine stalled. I want to get to the source rather than just e.g replace a fuse and it happen a week later. Does it sound =like the battery is dead? I have to check the files on how old the battery is..

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This does sound - as everyone else has said - like a battery problem.

What hasn't been mentioned so far is that you need to make sure a new / newly recharged battery is going to stay healthy

If you feel rich a brand new battery will probably get you going again. However - I think you need to truly get into the Land Rover ownership and become stingy with your money!

If you want the following steps might help

1) Look on the battery - sometimes there is a date / date code written on it. Anything that is about 10 years old or older is probably going to cause you more charging related trouble so it might be worth changing - but - it is always worth checking.
2) A local garage (even Kwik Fit again - I know I'm eventually gonna get in trouble for mentioning them!) will be able to test the battery for you - but only take it when there is some charge in it
3) A modern "transistor" battery charger is a must. Look on the interweb for CTEC chargers - those are the nice gucci ones. HOWEVER I have one that looks a bit like the gucci ones that I got from the Lidl (eeek! it is getting worse!) and that works just fine.
4) Get yourself a multimeter so you can measure the voltage of your battery

Loads of money can be spent on multimeters. I personally would avoid the cheapest as the connections in particular the leads are usually dreadful - meaning you end up chasing problems with the measuring the instrument more than problems with the vehicle.

If you can afford a multimeter that has the ability to measure "dwell angle" (I encourage you to look this up as a way into your continuing automotive education - sorry - https://www.howacarworks.com/ignition-system/checking-the-dwell-angle) - in other words one that has a selector that has "4-cyl" - "6-cyl" etc on it then that will help with future investigations. These are more expensive mainly because modern vehicles have computers that give fault codes and these kind of "analogue" shenanigans are hardly ever done any more.

{Note:- the link above is not something that is necessarily needed to get the engine running again - but is something you need to consider later on}

5) Check the tension on the alternator belt

Rule of thumb:- Longest length of V-Belt => Try to twist it 90 degrees with strong fingers - if it goes further it is too slack. Better to use a certified tensioner that measures but then they cost a lot of money...
6) Check the charging function of the alternator - measure with your multimeter (Now you're really getting into it)

I'm sorry to say this Claire but attempting to run a Series Landrover (or any classic car) with little 'spannering ability' will result in monsterous garage bills. This of course may not be a problem for those with deep pockets. A series Land rover of any kind, 1,2 or 3,if driven daily, will require maintence of some kind almost weekly. There are numerous grease points that require the attentions of a grease gun and numerous other oil levels that need checked regularly and that's just the small things. I reckon on average to spend at least 3 to 4 hours a month on basic maintenance of my S3. If I had to pay a professional to take care of business I'd be spending thousands a year. They are of course a real hoot to drive!

Nathan is quite right but luckily, if you don't mind getting dirty and lying underneath it every now and then they are not complicated to fix. Having said that, I'm having a right nightmare changing my alternator, if I had know how bloody difficult it is to do, I'd have taken it to the garage.

Col

Ah yes, that lower bolt is fun

nathanglasgow said:

I'm sorry to say this Claire but attempting to run a Series Landrover (or any classic car) with little 'spannering ability' will result in monsterous garage bills. This of course may not be a problem for those with deep pockets. A series Land rover of any kind, 1,2 or 3,if driven daily, will require maintence of some kind almost weekly. There are numerous grease points that require the attentions of a grease gun and numerous other oil levels that need checked regularly and that's just the small things. I reckon on average to spend at least 3 to 4 hours a month on basic maintenance of my S3. If I had to pay a professional to take care of business I'd be spending thousands a year. They are of course a real hoot to drive!

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Very true especially if your use is close to national average (what's that about 12K miles a year these days?). However as the OP is in London perhaps it is used as more of a week end warrior?

Last time I was in London and wanted to go down to Southampton I made the mistake of saving some money by travelling with National Express. It took 50 miniutes for the bus to get out of Victoria Bus Station! Took two hours to reach the south circular - bloody nightmare driving in London. M3 near the M25 was arse as well. I personally can't see why any one would want to do it...

...the bus driver was very surprised when I shook his hand when I got off the bus saying he was a 'king hero putting up with that ****...

...I got the train on the way back.

nathanglasgow said:

Ah yes, that lower bolt is fun

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Yes, I've got the bolt lined up but I can't get a spanner on the nut. I'd tackle it from underneath but I've got a shaft driven winch and guess where the shaft is

Col

Lock down makes everything hard. Any other time i would say find the next Land Rover even, go and start making freinds. Lots of people will be happy to show you the basics and you may even get a few simple jobs done while you are there. Most routine jobs are simple once you get a feel for how it works and get the correct basic tools. Its best to stay away from steering and brakes but oil levels, greasing, oiling, fan belt, tyre pressures are all basic owner skills. There is huge scope for getting ripped of by garages who don't want to work and this type of vehicle and it is very easy to get into a place where your pleasure of ownership is killed by the costs. Again pre-lockdown you could go to a car boot sale or autojumble and pick up the key tools for £20 and have good quality - becuse so may are getting cleared out and they last forever.
Make a decision:
1 I'll master the basics and ask for help at every turn. You will get drity and annoyed and happy and spend very little and become a better driver and become part of a community.
2 I'll use a garage
If you opt for 2 I strongly suggest you sell the Series, it will cost its value in bills every 2 years and you will come to dread every noise it makes (there are many).
Therre are some jobs that are a right of passge - there are those who fear them and those who have conqured them (I'm not saying enjoy..), the bottom alternator bolt, the chassis suspension bushes, the spring in the steering relay, the front output shaft nut, (I'll stop now, I can feel the fear building up..)

Claire - I use a Aylmer Motors who are located in Potters Bar for MOT, Annual Service & other repairs. Martin & the team have been looking after my Series 3 for the last five years. I have always found the team to be knowledgeable & helpful & reasonably priced. I must admit I do have a go at most things myself, but, if beyond my limited skills I defer to them.
Link - http://www.aylmer.co.uk/index.html
Hope this helps & have fun.
Regards
John