New to me Series 3

Morning all.

As it was father's day yesterday my missus and I went out for a lovely drive, and came back with a 88" Series 3!

Admittedly I had bought it off eBay the night before. (eBay and Fosters doesn't mix!)

Now, having got it home I have given it a good look over, and have noticed a couple of little things that need doing.

It's a 2.25 diesel.

The idle speed seems quite high. Is this common? It also smokes a bit at idle. Now having owned various Landys over the years I'm not a total noob, but the smoking does seem excessive. I dont really want to go messing around with the injection pump, would it be worth pulling the inlet manifold off and giving it a good clean. I'm also gonna give it a service, and run some of that injector cleaner stuff through it.

The brakes need bleeding. There is a pedal, but it is quite ineffective. Is it worth investing in one of those easy-bleed thingys? Whats the best tecnique for doing it?

The O/S/F side light, indicator and horn don't work after a quick inspection it appears they share a common earth point. Is this correct?

There is a sort of grinding/rumbling noise on the over-run. I've checked the U/J's and they appear fine. I'm goning to drop all the fluids at some point and renew them. Would it be worth putting some thicker/slipperier gearbox oil in to quiet things down a bit? What else could it possibly be?

As I say I'm not a noob to Landys but I've never had a series before, so any pointers would be gratefully recieved

noise on over run is a symptom of worn dif pinion bearings check for endfloat in diff flanges ,and for contamination of oil when you service it ,adjust brakes before tackling hydraulic system ,is throttle on pump returning to idle stop ,are timing marks aligned on front face of pump mount to block ,what kind of smoke ,high idle speed may be a result of someone trying to cure smoke ,wear in drive train to pump and pump it self can retard injection ,injectors can be poor at idle but better when revs increase , some light also earth through mount as well some solely rely on earth wire ,new light units are cheap ,and earthing issues are common worth going througfh all not just for lights

Thanks James, I knew you'd be the man for this job.

I'm going to spend the day going through this stuff. I've got a mechanic friend of mine coming tomorrow to give me a hand.

Hoping to have it MOT'd and taxed for the weekend, ready for Bristol and West Show. (fingers crossed)

Yeah, what James said, (of course!!), but what colour smoke??
There is a hoooge thread somewhere on bleeding brakes etc, and if we don't see some pics soon, we don't believe ya got one anyway

Haha. I'll add a piccie as my avatar later on.

Right, had abit of a shufty, and a tinker just now. It seems the throttle arm is not returning to idle. Have adjusted the idle stop, but the arm will move no further than where it is now. I can physically push it to lower the idle speed. It almost seems that the cable is too short, thereby not allowing the throttle arm to return fully. (does that make sence?)

Sorted the lights. It was a scotch block that had come apart, so have crimped that properly.

But in typical Landy fashion it appears that the alternator is held on with good wishes! It is literally flapping about in the breeze. I'll sort that this afternoon.

The smoke I'm getting is a blueish haze, so I'm just guessing it's an old diesel engine thing. I'll give it a good service and whack some of that aerosol injector cleaner through, and see what happens. I'm guessing the high idle isn't helping matters, either.

I presume you have a return spring on the throttle linkage, a good strong one?? It should be well able to pull it back, make sure the cable isn't kinked, and allow a little slack when it is fully back.

A "blue" haze, it could be burning a little oil, a bit of wear on the rings maybe.

Right. Sorted the idle. Ended up adjusting the linkage on the bar that runs across the bulkhead.

Got a lovely idle now.

Mine is sometimes a bit smokey on idle - a little excessive perhaps at times but smells just a bit rich rather than oil burning smell but it does have a grey almost blue-ish look to it. Might be worth checking that the hand throttle is set up correctly and the butterfly in the intake is closing off ok / opening as it should. Also check the oil bath air filter is clear - they seem to like to breath well these diesels.
I've found that some redex or comma diesel treatment makes a difference to smoke levels. I know of another guy who drives his series diesel lots of miles as a daily driver and uses Shell V Power fuel. He started using ordinary stuff an gets much more smoke. I believe it possibly runs a little hotter with additive or premium fuel which might help with this. Many may ridicule this idea but I would reecommend trying it and seeing what happens. Mine definitely starts quicker in sub zero temps with some redex or similar added. Have you changed the fuel filter?

Not changed any filters yet.

was going to bung some diesel treatment/injector cleaner through it any way.

So, sorted the flappy abouty alternator.

Bled the breaks. But now the o/s/r/ is binding. Read on here that it might be worth champfering the leading edge of the shoes.

Took out and cleaned the inlet manifold, which was full of gunge. Also the air pipe from the air filter was holed in a couple of place so as a temporary measure I taped it up.
Engine still smokey though.

Also, the washer motor is fubar'd, well it LOOKS burned out, but ive just realised I dont know where the switch for it is!!

Good day all in all, might get it MOT'd by Thursday!

The switch for the washer is on the wiper switch, push it in

Bloody, bloody, bloody thing!!

Had a go at sorting the binding rear brake. Stripped it all down. All seemed OK, but the wheel cylinder wasn't returning, so removed it and took it apart. There was some gunk behind the 2 rubber "bungs" that push the actual cylinders. Happy days thinks I.

Re-assemble it all. Mrs comes and helps with the bleeding. Just as I'm nipping up the bleed nipple, the ruddy thing shears! F%^K it!!

Not to worry, I think. I've a couple of spare bleed nipples in the garage.

Strip it all down again, re-remove the offending wheel cylinder, and head into the garage.

Start to drill a small pilot hole for the stud extractor, but my little battery drill has not got the guts.

So I nick the Mrs's car and leg it to a mate's in the vilage to borrow his leccy drill.

On my return, I very carefully drill a pilot hole. Next, I get one of my stud extractors, and gently wind it into the hole until it starts to bite. Once it has bitten into the remains of the bleed nipple, I grip the extractor with a pair of pliers, and start to try and wind the whole lot out....Then the bloody extractor snaps!!!

Once I have calmed down a bit, and retrieved various tools from the back garden, roof of the shed and the front drive, I phone a mechanic mate of mine and ask his opinion. "Buy a new one" he says!

So, I now have a Series 3 on three wheels, and a wheel cylinder on order for tomorrow. I thought I was doing so well!

sprogthedog said:

Bloody, bloody, bloody thing!!

Had a go at sorting the binding rear brake. Stripped it all down. All seemed OK, but the wheel cylinder wasn't returning, so removed it and took it apart. There was some gunk behind the 2 rubber "bungs" that push the actual cylinders. Happy days thinks I.

Re-assemble it all. Mrs comes and helps with the bleeding. Just as I'm nipping up the bleed nipple, the ruddy thing shears! F%^K it!!

Not to worry, I think. I've a couple of spare bleed nipples in the garage.

Strip it all down again, re-remove the offending wheel cylinder, and head into the garage.

Start to drill a small pilot hole for the stud extractor, but my little battery drill has not got the guts.

So I nick the Mrs's car and leg it to a mate's in the vilage to borrow his leccy drill.

On my return, I very carefully drill a pilot hole. Next, I get one of my stud extractors, and gently wind it into the hole until it starts to bite. Once it has bitten into the remains of the bleed nipple, I grip the extractor with a pair of pliers, and start to try and wind the whole lot out....Then the bloody extractor snaps!!!

Once I have calmed down a bit, and retrieved various tools from the back garden, roof of the shed and the front drive, I phone a mechanic mate of mine and ask his opinion. "Buy a new one" he says!

So, I now have a Series 3 on three wheels, and a wheel cylinder on order for tomorrow. I thought I was doing so well!

Click to expand...

thats the thing with series landys more often than not anything you do will require bruit force and ignorance getting to the underlying problem wich will require patience finesse and a touch like a midwife to rectify

all you have to do is remember the brew rule
once youve got the hard heavy stuff out of the way
stop and have a brew and a calm think ( weather you think you need to or not )
this will ensure you get away with murder as far as reconditioning ancient parts goes

wise words Johnny!

Ha ha, you're having fun then!!
Them bloody stud extractors!! I hate 'em wiv a vengance, I've snapped a good few in the past . Unless they've got teng or snap on written all over 'em in BIG letters, fire 'em into the neighbours hedge!!
A little dab of copper grease on bleed nipples is an absolute must in my book, new or 50 years old, once they're out, clean 'em up and daub 'em