Quirky things unique to your Landy..

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JonnyP

Well-Known Member
Posts
1,918
Location
Sunny Cornwall
I bet most of us have things on our Landy's that don't work quite right, or has to be done in a different way to how it was designed, but its not really a problem and gives the car more character..
Not talking major issues here, just the little things..

My Disco has a few..

To get out of the drivers door, you have to pull the door handle twice.

The indicator stalk does not return, so you have to remember to turn it off.. This is made worse by the green flashing light not often working, so there is no visual of the indicators being left on..

The drivers side wiper does not go all the way across..

Front side lights often go dim, but then ok again if revved.

Horn works well but alarm does not always sound.

Also the lights don't always flash when the alarm is activated/de-activated.

Think thats it, not too bad..
 
My Alarm has a mind of its own, it has paddys when starting sometimes ( A.K.A its called Paddy)

The passenger door can only be opened from inside by lifting lock up then pulling handle whilst holding it

Gears are abit temperamental no one can seem to drive it without getting moody and stopping in middle of road because they cant change gears so everyones banned now :p

It leaks in from 7 places, im good at dodging them but love it when passengers dont expect it :p

I dont think thats too many problems for a defender :D
 
Mine slips into reverse to easily and scares people at the traffic lights as I have no reverse light.

Sometimes my side repeaters fall off and I have to silicon them back on.

My antiluce catches on the tail gate are quite worn and if you drive fast over washboard type surfaces the tailgate works itself open. I put carabiners through to stop it lol, might replace them.

Water comes in EVERYWHERE
 
rangie classic lights rewired to the disco on/off on the indicator arm. for some reason won't start unless you dip the clutch. drivers side elecy window got a mind of its own.
the mind of its own leaky sun roof seal. leaks like a *******in summer but not a drop in the winter. and the obligatory useless heater for a landie
 
Mine kicks out a mahoosive white cloud when I start it (series 3 diesel), you need to wiggle the key in the lock to open it, the indicator doesn't auto cancel and the aftermarket steering wheel blocks the tell tale light....
 
I can lower my tickover by a couple of hundred RPM approx by putting my foot under the accelerator and lifting it a little.
Starting needs key turning against spring for glows then a separate button to turn starter. (Petrol ignition I think but original 2.25 diesel engine). Cold mornings = space shuttle take off levels of white smoke. All very dramatic and kind of satisfying I find.
 
shhh but my old disco always starts every time.
been like that for near the 5 years I`ve had it.
then all of a suddon, it not wanting to go, as if the Imobiliser was locking it out...
strange I thought, I looked at the keyring fob to make sure it was still there, tried it again, it started - thoughts now of starter relays, worn starter £££££££....
then It dawned on me.. on the same key ring was my daughters KA ignition key, and yes, it had the red chip imobiliser in it ;)
took the key of the ring, put it in my pocket, discos been as good as gold ever since.

mine has the passenger door trick of lift the door lock button to open the door by its door lever too.
tailgate locks each time you slam it.
its heater blower motor melted/caught fire/years ago now, not bothered me since, as I put 2 little 12volt fans into the screen demister pipes, one of which stopped working 10 minutes later now a few years ago, so the drivers side window has a good 12volt screen heater mounted on the dash wired throgh a fused supply from ignition - all works well...

you wont believe this but - it hardly ever uses oil in the near 250000 mile engine, and it runs quite hot with half the rad blanked off..

it starts - it stops,
it keps going, all in a days work for my landie..
(it self cured at stiff steering the other week too) :)
 
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Passenger window you need to pull it like hell whilst winding it up as one of the teeth have snapped off, have to pull the bonnet catch in a curtain position and angle, drivers door need to nudge slightly when pulling the inside handle to open, after you've run the screen wash on the wipers park vertically, have to blip the throttle first thing when starting for the alternator light to go out, grease nipple on front wide angle prop is impossible to get at unless you unbolt the prop or spend half hour rolling truck forward/back getting it mm perfect
 
Sometimes my driver's side door won't latch properly, and you need to push the lock button down and then up again to get everything working. It happens occasionally, but not often enough to inspire me to dismantle the door to get the mechanism out. To get into 1st or second you have to push the gear lever quite hard over to the left so you can easily find yourself trying to pull away in 3rd or go straight from 1st to 4th of you're not careful. Again, not quite bad enough to inspire me to do any dismantling. Not all R380s are like this, so maybe a bit of work on the selector mechanism could help. It also has the ability to hide about a litre of oil, so sometimes it looks low on the dipstick and then the following day it's back up again. This is even if the engine hasn't been running and it has had time to settle. At first I used to worry and top it up, but then it would end up looking over-filled on the next check.
 
GLU (74 88) wont start for anyone but me and once it is started if some one else drives she automatically pops the transfer box to neutral and it first shakes you then says ok I want to be driven and goes smooth and steering precise but when you set off loads of slop and square tyres, the disco indicators don't self turn off the drivers door has to be closed delicately from the right angle or it wont shut properly the central locking sometimes locks the rear doors sometimes not they just pop up and down and the drivers door must be done with the key I could probably find more
 
Haha, some good ones there.. Got to love em eh..

I had forgotten about the gearbox on mine. All the gears will select, but its easy to find the wrong gear. First n reverse are the worst. Much gear crunching when anyone other than me drives..
Keep them coming :0)
 
Passenger window you need to pull it like hell whilst winding it up as one of the teeth have snapped off, have to pull the bonnet catch in a curtain position and angle, drivers door need to nudge slightly when pulling the inside handle to open, after you've run the screen wash on the wipers park vertically, have to blip the throttle first thing when starting for the alternator light to go out, grease nipple on front wide angle prop is impossible to get at unless you unbolt the prop or spend half hour rolling truck forward/back getting it mm perfect

rolling it back and forward.just jack front wheel up and spin it round..;)
 
Not really a quirk but I have to use the illuminated vanity mirror as an interior light because the interior light bulb was in the ashtray when I bought the car and I've convinced myself there is a dark and mysterious reason why it was removed and the electrics will go into fibrillation if I put it back in!
 
On Drover, you have to give the passenger button a press before locking up or you will find you can jiggle the outside handle and it'll pop the button and open.

The interior lights don't work despite me checking fuses/earths/blubs etc. The rear one will light on the button but the front point blank refuses to work - still working on a fix!

If you put the passenger front seat forward (3 dr) the seatbelt clicker dives under the seat and you then have to wrestle it back out to use it.

That said - I find I miss driving Drover if I'm out of him for any length of time and into SWMBO's '04 passat. Dun't even like driving FiL's DII wiv all its mysterious elecktrickery.
 
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