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I used 80w-90 GL4 in the entire drive train of the Series as it was what my local motor factors had on the shelf. I had read that the gearbox had bronze components so needed GL4 spec oil. I decided it would be simpler to only have to buy one type of oil.

Is the ballast resistor needed for the parallel plugs? I have read conflicting opinions on this before. My 2 1/4 engine had parallel plugs wired to the ballast resistor when I got it. When I rebuilt it, I wired it up again as it was before. The orange light on the dashboard was still wired...

Thanks for the replies. I have heard of cutting them from cardboard packaging before. Will that stand up to being exposed to the coolant? I wouldn't want to waste time fitting something that started leaking again. While on this subject, the parts diagram also shows an o-ring above the...

They are modern nitrile rubber seals on both diffs. I can live with it as long as the oil level doesn't change. About 2mm below the plug threads seems to stay in there. Anything above that will leak out again until it drops to that level.

I have fitted new seals before, the flanges were also fine. The same thing still happened when the new seals were in place.

In my opinion it needs to be quite precisely spaced. After normal road driving, my front differential drive pinion will leak a few drops of EP90 when I stop. This is with the oil level up to just above the bottom of the front diff pan plug threads. This stops once enough has dripped out to...

You would have to drill holes (at correct height) in the diff pans and weld short threaded tubes to the outer face of the pan over the holes. The original plugs were tapered BSP threaded types, but any suitably sized thread would work.

Where is the cheapest place to buy these? I'm sure I paid about 20p last time I bought one back about four years ago. The cheapest I can find them now is about £1.50 each with free postage from various ebay sellers. I know that they could be cut from gasket paper, but for the old price of...

That was in reply to kermit's post about going by the oil colour. The oil is now changed for the 15w-40 mentioned earlier in this post. The old oil had been in there two years and about 2000 miles. I only ever take the Series out on sufficient runs to get the engine properly warmed up, it is...

The cab heater pipes seem to both feed into the heater matrix from the top. Is it best to disconnect and unbolt the matrix and flush it out of the vehicle. I fitted a used but good condition matrix when I rebuilt the vehicle. I flushed it with a hose before fitting it, so would hope that it...

It seems like a good method for flushing would be to remove the top thermostat housing and thermostat to get a good flow of water into the block with a hose. Is that the normal way to do it? As the engine was newly rebuilt to as-new in 2014, I would hope that it had been well cleaned out...

I meant to type 800ml Antifreeze to 1200ml water. That is a 40% mix as the container recommended. As far as I know, 50% is the highest percentage of antifreeze that should be used, as water is apparently better at transferring heat than the antifreeze.

It's not muddy brown as such. It loses the blue and becomes clear with a slight brown colour when drained out into a clear container. Unfortunately I can only get over to it about once a week as its not stored at home. Looking back I now regret not more of these jobs while I was off work...

Thanks for the replies. I used to be able to get de-ionised water for free so preferred to mix it myself to save paying money for water. I simply pour 600ml of concentrated coolant into a 2 litre plastic kitchen jug, then add water up to the 2l mark. When checked with an antifreeze tester this...

I find that new oil seems to turn black very quickly. Even though the engine was fully rebuilt, this is said to be normal with these old diesels.

Thanks for the replies. On a Series engine which is only used on average of once a week for two or three hours, is time between oil changes or actual mileage covered considered more important? Most modern vehicle manufacturers recommend changing oil every six months if the recommended mileage...

I have had a recurring problem with the coolant used in my Series 3 diesel engine soon losing its blue colour. When refilled with fresh coolant (40% concentrated antifreeze mixed with de-ionised water) it will soon lose the blue colour altogether and look clear with a slight rust brown colour...

Thanks for the responses. As far as I know the container is sealed well enough to hopefully stop much condensation being drawn in. I have read before that the additives in the oil can lose effectiveness with age. This is the supposed problem, not the oil itself breaking down. Obviously oil...

I have 12 litres of Shell 15W-40 that has sat in a tightly closed (but not sealed) container for around three years. In that time the container has been stored in a dry but unheated building. The plastic container itself is marked with a manufacture date of 2014, so the oil cannot be older...

Most don't have emissions compliance issues yet due to age exemption. This could well change for the worst if rules change over the next decade.