Ronbox, Pierburgh MAF and dash switch ordered.

Now looking to integrate the switch behind a factory dash switch.

Ronbox materialised today, so without a second to lose, I got about fitting it.

I went for the Ronbox 2a with a new Pierberg MAF and 3 position dash switch.



A quick flick through the instructions and off I went with ratchet in hand. I took off the airfilter housing to expose the Bosch MAF. Took out the retaining screws and unplugged the MAF wiring. Plugged the Ronbox MAF connector onto the new Pierberg MAF and refixed the MAF back onto the recess.

Then plugged the male end of the Ronbox MAF connector into the engine loom



Ran the wiring harness along the vacuum pipe from the brake servo and into the L shape ECU box where I mounted the Ronbox.



Then took off the fuel rail sensor connector seen below



Plugged in the Ronbox sensor connector, then plugged the Ronbox male connector into the engine loom and got on with running the dash switch.

I decided I'd mount the switch in a blank on the instrument cowling, so took the Ronbox switch apart to see what was possible



Taking the retaining nut off gave me more thread to play with



Which allowed me to mount the switch to the blank





I ran the cable through to the firewall where I found a small grommet close to the brake servo.

Once again, the aerial was the tool of choice to get the cable up behind the dash and through the grommet



With the cable ran back and plugged into the Ronbox, I set the dial to 5 (recommended for TD4's with the EGR blanked) and put the lid back on



She started up first time with no warning lights, so I flicked the switch down to the red position and......WOW! she bloody goes well now!!

Flipping impressed with the little Ronbox. I had a fairly sedate drive to work with the switch in the centre position, then a normal drive back with the switch in the ECO position. Eco mode gave me an extra 3mgp over my 26mile commute!

Great thread! it's the sort of thing where I get green with envy hearing about the skills of a good 'amateur' mechanic lol. My know-how can be written on the back of a postage stamp! But it's projects like this that give me ideas for my recently bought td4. Cheers!

Cars are just big Mechano sets. A little bit of research is wise, then get down and dirty!

Just filled up the tank, I'm now down to the normal dose of Diesel Rhino. Something must be working as 498 miles drank 57.68 litres.....39mpg! I should be able to get to low 40's providing I can resist 'Ronbox red mode'!

I've got time to tinker. I can't tax mine till it's gone through a VOSA identity check courtesy of a Cat 'c' write off classification - and that's not happening till march the 14th! Time for me to address a 'sticky' back window operation

Update time!

Ronbox is still going strong. I'm getting a consistent 41mpg now (520miles to 57 litres). I'm almost out of Diesel Rhino, so need to order more soon.

I put her through an MOT a couple of weeks back. In typical Freelander fashion, on the way to work on the day of the MOT I had the engine warning light come on, followed by a lack of power above 2000rpm.

Any throttle past a 1/3 would see the light come on. Releasing throttle would put the light out. Great.....Fuel pump then :suspicious:

Land Rover wanted £300 more than ECP wanted (£470 vs £167), so I told Land Rover to stick it, and went with a Bosch pump and fuel filter from ECP. More importantly though, Land Rover would take 24hrs to get the pump in stock, ECP took 2hrs from my call to them having it on their counter.

I picked the parts up at 11am, and had them on the car by 12:30. Now, being at work I had to improvise somewhat as the tools we have there are not really designed for work on cars. Luckily our little socket set, a couple of screwdrivers, a piece of wood and an electric pallet truck was all I needed!

A quick test drive confirmed the pump was the culprit. Panic over, she was ready for the MOT at 14:00, which she flew through with no advisories! Result!!

Now, as it was a bit of a panic, taking pictures like I normally would went right out of the window as I'm sure you'll understand. What I will say though is if you haven't changed your filter for a while, do so....The fuel that came out of it was quite dirty!

Moving on.....

I picked up a bonnet light pod a couple of weeks back off of ebay. This, along with a new front bumper with the fog light apertures is currently being prepared for paint. Pictures of these parts to follow. Improving the lighting is a project I want to get done over the summer ready for next winter as during winter months I drive to work in the dark, and come home in the dark. Not fun on unlit B roads.

Side steps.....Mine are huge, heavy and fugly. I've picked up a much smaller set from a pre-facelift. These are also being prepped for paint (well, powder coat) in full black.

Last but not least.....







16x7 modular wheels with 225/70/16 tyres.

Modulars look great

A really good thread keep up the good work

Looking good mate.

looks very nice

thanks for the good details and photos.
may just think about getting one. when I have finished my other jobs

Thanks y'all.

You'll be pleased to hear the next update has pictures!

I mentioned I picked up a bonnet pod from ebay a few weeks back....

This is what it looked like when I picked it up.



It had fixing holes on the back corners. I wasn't keen using this method to fix the pod down as the bolt heads are exposed.

So I set about making some brackets to rivet/glue to the underside.



Welded the bolt on then ground the head off. The holes are for the fibreglass to grip on to.



Couple of rivets in countersunk holes to hold the bracket in place whilst the fibreglass goes off.



The front mounts where found at work. These have an M10 thread to accept a bolt from the underside of the bonnet. All brackets were riveted and fibreglassed on.

The pod wraps round the edge of the bonnet so the main concearn is to stop lateral movement of the pod.



Rivets were cleaned with panel wipe before filler was used to cover over the heads.



3 coats of high build primer.



I'm now waiting for this to fully harden before I wet flat it with 800 grit wet and dry prior to painting.

nicely done

Need to get the compound out to buff the finish up, but considering this was out of a can, I'm quite pleased. Base coat was mixed up by a local auto paint suppliers, top coat is 2k out of a can.







I'm going to get a 20A relay and redo all the wiring for this. I'm also going to fit a rubber edging strip to help stabilise the pod to the bonnet.

There like a boob job.....but for a car....

Wonderbra is my next investment!

All looking good.

My Diesel Rhino turned up just in time. I put my last dose of milllers in the last tankful. Using Desiel Rhino from now on.

Good stuff.

I'm about to run out of the Diesel Rhino I bought. That bottle I ordered has lasted 4 months (I do around 1k miles per month). I was putting in 100ml when filling up (57 litres) which I think is slightly too much.

If you're been using Millers prior to Diesel Rhino you might not need to triple dose your first tank. Your injectors should be quite clean already.

I will do the 3:2:1 even so. Clean out all the 2-stroke & millers. It's not just the injectors. it is everything in the system. But you know that anyway-you are one of the enlitened ones

57 litres should be 57mls, or roughly just over half what you have been using!

I'm doing a little more than that. I have covered about 13,000 in 8 1/2 months.