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borristherat

New Member
well i popped my land rover cherry today and collected my series 3.

i have a few questions for any experienced owners to answere if they dont mind.

1.is the steering meant to be vague?
2.do they all make a hell of a noise?
3 are the brakes meant to be this crap?
4 do they all (the diesel ones that is) make you, the cab and your breath smell of diesel fumes?
5 is the gear change meant to be like stiring a bucket of bricks?

it all put a huge smile on my face, however the idea is to sort out any faults, give it a service and enjoy. it would be nice to know if the above are part of the character of old landys or faults.

thanks in advance.
 
Kinda depends on what your comparing it with........if a Fordson Major then the answer to all of the above is..........maybe.

1 How much play have you got in the steering wheel before it actually does anything?
2 Yes
3 Brakes are crap compared to a modern car but should pull you up straight and if you stamp on them hard enough.....quickly........have you got a servo?
4 Er.......No......Check your fuel lines and exhaust.........Engine oil will happily leak everywhere but fuel and exhaust connections should be tight.
5 If its not whining like a teenager on speed you probably just need to slow and time your gearchanges a little and make sure you use full clutch pedal movement.

Get to know it and check all oil levels and condition and enjoy

PS the silly grin never quite disappears :D
 
thanks for all the replies. the comparison is with a citroen berlingo hdi.

1 not enough to make it dangerious but interesting. worse going along bumpy country lanes.
2 thanks
3 the engine is better at stopping it than the brakes. but not stomped on them yet. the bloke that sold it to me said they were all new including the lines. the old shoes were in the back and the lines all look new so this appears to be correct. not sure about the servo thing.
4 fuel lines and exhaust all are tight. rear door seals shot and this is where the smoke is coming in. it smokes a hell of a lot (compared to a berlingo but only slightly more than the old tractor i have) the bloke that sold it to me said he has never put fuel in it since he owned it and has only done 65 miles in three years. it was stood for 4 years before that. so the diesel is at least 7 years old could old diesel make it smoke more? its only just passed an mot so may be normal and me not bein used to it.
5 "at speed"? i was plodding along at 45mph and that was scary enough! its a transmission /drivetrain noise when you put your foot down and not very noisy when you dont.

the wiring has been botched so i was going to do a rewire and renew all oils, coolant ect before i start to use it. i have ordered a manual for it so will do all the checks that it list as well. oh and i "have to paint it green or it isnt a proper land rover" quote from my 12 year old son.

one other thing i forgot to ask. the temp guage reads only a little below the red (3mm ish ) is that normal?
 
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Brakes can be a little tricky to set up well, plenty of threads here if you do a search.

By slow down a little I meant think of changing gear as a 2 stage process....out of gear into neutral and then from neutral into gear.

Dont know about old diesel but might be worth running some injector cleaner through if she's been stood a while when you change the fuel filter
 
PS shouldn't run hot.....over cool is more usual.

Usual stuff.....check thermostat, cool spots on rad, flush etc.........lots of threads on this as well...Good luck
 
many thanks Blue beasty. i will give it a go.

i must confess i am kinda hoping its all "just an old landrover thing" as then i dont have to fix it cus it aint broke and its all bloody good fun, as webbedfootfenman's said "propper have to drive em dont you....". the wife was following me back to check all was well and said she could see my grin from a 100yds away!!!

i have to say thanks to all that took the time to reply. by 9 posts i am usually banned from most forums yet on this one you all have a sense of humour and everything, but then i guess you need to be a bit odd (like me) to enjoy a series land rover.
 
Another thing as you probably haven't driven it in the wet yet, you also get wet.

Series land Rovers have full climate control, if it's raining outside you get wet, if it's cold you freeze, if it's hot you cook. Enjoy.:D
 
Jack the front axle up and see how much rock top to bottom the swivels have.
Compared to a modern car they are truly ****, compared to a defender they arent much different!



Lynall
 
mad git said:
Whats a burlingoo??
Sounds like you got a really good series, lucky you didn't a piece of junk :D
Click to expand...

its a van derived car not noted for its handling. clearly whoever decided its handling was crap didnt drive a series land rover.

well i know that i had to check the chassis and bulk head and both look like the day they rolled out the factory, very clean. i kinda figured that anything else would not be to much of a problem to fix, so your right mainly pure luck.

i did however get it bloody cheap because the seller couldnt get it running due to interesting rewire by his friend from battery to alternator to starter solonoid back to alternator and back to battery. every time he connected the battery the wires started smoking apparently.
 
There's a lot of links in the steering and all can be replaced fairly cheaply. Find the worst one and work your way through them until the steering is good enough.
New brakes usually take some time to bed in, give them a chance first - you will do a lot of engine braking in a landy. You'll also learn to keep your distance and slow down early!
Gearboxes are noisy but try changing the oil - it might help.
Electrics are as simple as you can get. You might find the temp gauge is an electrical fault 'cos the voltage regulators have a tendency to fail, you should have 10v at the output of the reg. If it's faulty the fuel gauge will read wrong, too. If it feels hot then look for the usual suspects, blocked rad, stuck thermostat, head gasket, slack pump belt.
The newer Haines manual is pretty poor (about 2/3 the thickness of the old one) so you might be better off with this one:-
pdf Land Rover Manuals | Landroverweb.com
 
My 2a has tighter steering than the 90s I have had, not saying much but a methodical check as suggested could make a big difference, but watch the braking in the wet, especially if you have knobbly tyres. Did a four wheel drift the day I changed to Michelin 4x4-ORs.
 
LOL its so true that it hurts! That's the grinning from ear to ear every time we drive our Series.
I just can't believe you nought one not knowing what they were like to drive, hey at least your enojying it.
Get us some pics.
Sounds alot better than the project I got - electric fuel solenoid, previous owner had removed the plunger so engine would start, he just couldn't stop it :doh:
 
do you know theres a lot of you out there that scare folks off the landrover making it some sort of DEATH TRAP
well IT IS
had breaks go on me (someone cut the pipes)(i think the mrs)
had stearing go
had the smoke in the cab (oil from over drive?)
had the pipes split water every where (rad and heater pipe)
broke down 1 or 47 times

BUT I LOVE IT
 
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