If the alternator had an internal fault, the battery would be running on reserve charge and may not have been fully charged when fitted which didn't help your diagnosis ...
That is an interesting thought. would what WoodO suggest show if this is the case? if not how should I test it?
 
Today was a busy day. Towing, mechanic, taxis, etc. but finally after several hours of opening and cleaning fuel pump, carburetor, dis cap and co. adjustment, goofing around with a lot of electrical wires and every hose in between stuff we got the truck fixed. I say we but actually I was just switching on and off mostly. In the end I checked the alternator. It was exactly as it should have been 12 off 3.8 on 14.2 at high rpm (I think).
Oh, what a feeling to drive a land rover that is driving trouble free. I should enjoy this 15 minutes while it last!
Thanks everybody for your suggestions and help.
 
Since the last items that were worked on were carburetor and dist. cap I think that must have been the problem. But a lot of little improvements to spark plug opening, wire connections, pump, checking hoses, etc etc ..... must have improved the situation in general. After all that work towing cost more than the mechanic!
 
Hi,its good you have got it going,just for future reference your first post could possibly have been a sign of it tightening/seizing from lack of engine oil,
Atb,
Ryn
 
Don't worry about the fuel filter not being full, mine always looks half empty. I guess we will never know the exact cause, these old landies can have several things wrong with them and they'll still run so your mechanic probably found and fixed half a dozen of such problems and may not know which of them was the culprit. It's always a good idea to fix one thing then test drive it to see if that solved the problem, if not fix the next thing and test it again and so on. I had a similar issue suddenly appear, the engine would splutter and almost conk out. It was the contact points in the distributer, a simple adjustment and it was good again but it helps if you know what to look for when the problem arises. It sounds like your mechanic was reasonably priced, it will pay you to keep in his good books.

Col
 
Don't worry about the fuel filter not being full, mine always looks half empty. I guess we will never know the exact cause, these old landies can have several things wrong with them and they'll still run so your mechanic probably found and fixed half a dozen of such problems and may not know which of them was the culprit. It's always a good idea to fix one thing then test drive it to see if that solved the problem, if not fix the next thing and test it again and so on. I had a similar issue suddenly appear, the engine would splutter and almost conk out. It was the contact points in the distributer, a simple adjustment and it was good again but it helps if you know what to look for when the problem arises. It sounds like your mechanic was reasonably priced, it will pay you to keep in his good books.

Col

Fuel filter being not full, various heights are available, may be attributed to the lift pump, I believe ...
 
Fuel filter being not full, various heights are available, may be attributed to the lift pump, I believe ...
Yes I think you are right. I placed mine in the fuel line close to the carb so that I could see it clearly and access it for service etc. But that meant it was in an uphill section of the fuel line. Virtually all of the fuel line from the lift pump to the carb is uphill in a series so to get the fuel filter to face down hill would mean extending the fuel line.

Col
 
sign of it tightening/seizing from lack of engine oil,
That's an idea but I think if that was the case I had a blown head gasket by now, no?
contact points in the distributer, a simple adjustment and it was good again
Dist. cap was the last thing mechanic changed before the truck started to work.

Actually I have both the mechanical pump and an electrical which I added for when it is too hot (mechanical ones bubbles up and truck stops). When there is a trouble I switch back and forth to check. At the beginning electrical one was installed too high in relation to top of the gas tank and would stop pumping fuel when tank was half full! I discovered that problem the hard way (60 km out of nearest point of assistance where mobile phone was not getting network and just 20 minutes before sunset on a Saturday :) My truck knows when to go wrong.
 

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