Replaced the boost solenoid.
One of the bolts had broken off, and the rubber bushing made it very difficult to loosen the remaining one, until I managed to get my other hand in there to stop it turning.
Fitted with the one remaining bolt but will have to see to the broken one at some point.
It seems to drive better, pretty lively but I think there was still a bit of starvation between 70-80 mph; maybe the filter needs cleaning.
 
bukko said:
Always, although my speedo over-reads, which is obviously what I meant..
Click to expand...

Actually on standard wheel sizes they do over read by 5-10%, depending on the actual wheels you have fitted. My speedometer now over reads by less than 1% as I'm running 235/55/18 tyres, so when it shows 70, the sat nav is showing 69.5 Mph. :)

Electric drive is the way to go I think, and is something that me and Ali are looking into at the moment. ;)
 
Alibro said:
We're discussing using used a Nissan Leaf inverter, motor and maybe battery for a conversion so all should be available for well under £10k. Add a board from here and you're good to go.
https://openinverter.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=179
I saw a slightly damaged Leaf for £3500 recently and I probably should have gone for it.:oops:
Click to expand...
Interesting I wouldn't have thought that would be powerful enough.
Do you know what the rating is?
 
bukko said:
Interesting I wouldn't have thought that would be powerful enough.
Do you know what the rating is?
Click to expand...

I was thinking of using the Leaf V2 motor and inverter, as the motor is rated at 110Kwh and the onboard charger will fast charge at 50Kw.
Those can be had for about £1500, which isn't bad considering it has the motor, inverter and charger all in one package. There's a simple controller board available, off the shelf (albeit a US shelf) for $500 plus shipping and import duty.

The battery pack would be made up of 500 20Ah flat packs, configured to give 100Ah at 360Volts, giving a total capacity of 36KWh. These will be split into two separate modules, one under the boot floor (once the exhaust and under floor cubby are removed), the other taking up the space where the fuel tank used to live. The whole conversion should be under £10,000, including finding a good condition FL1 V6 HSE with a failed engine. Using a V6 HSE as a base gives a nice spec and due to the removed weight of the engine/ auto box, the conversion to E drive will add only 100Kg or so to the vehicle.

I think it's doable, once I can find a suitable donor FL1, and convinced the wife that it's a good place to spend that sort of cash.:confused:
 
Nodge68 said:
I was thinking of using the Leaf V2 motor and inverter, as the motor is rated at 110Kwh and the onboard charger will fast charge at 50Kw.
Those can be had for about £1500, which isn't bad considering it has the motor, inverter and charger all in one package. There's a simple controller board available, off the shelf (albeit a US shelf) for $500 plus shipping and import duty.

The battery pack would be made up of 500 20Ah flat packs, configured to give 100Ah at 360Volts, giving a total capacity of 36KWh. These will be split into two separate modules, one under the boot floor (once the exhaust and under floor cubby are removed), the other taking up the space where the fuel tank used to live. The whole conversion should be under £10,000, including finding a good condition FL1 V6 HSE with a failed engine. Using a V6 HSE as a base gives a nice spec and due to the removed weight of the engine/ auto box, the conversion to E drive will add only 100Kg or so to the vehicle.

I think it's doable, once I can find a suitable donor FL1, and convinced the wife that it's a good place to spend that sort of cash.:confused:
Click to expand...
I haven't seen any V2 kit for sale but there is a 2013 model motor/inverter for sale in ebay now at £1540. Pair it with a board from the OpenInverter.org and a suitable battery pack your good to go. It is 80kWh as standard but with the board mentioned it should be OK to go up to around 100kWh.
Have you a link to the US board Nodge?
 
Alibro said:
I haven't seen any V2 kit for sale but there is a 2013 model motor/inverter for sale in ebay now at £1540. Pair it with a board from the OpenInverter.org and a suitable battery pack your good to go. It is 80kWh as standard but with the board mentioned it should be OK to go up to around 100kWh.
Click to expand...
Sounds ideal.
Alibro said:
Have you a link to the US board Nodge?
Click to expand...
It's a complete solution in a box as far as I understand, from thunderstruck EV.
https://www.thunderstruck-ev.com/dilithium-vcu.html
 
Nodge68 said:
Sounds ideal.

It's a complete solution in a box as far as I understand, from thunderstruck EV.
https://www.thunderstruck-ev.com/dilithium-vcu.html
Click to expand...
I had a wee look at this and it looks like it interfaces between your throttle and the standard Leaf unit so the power will be completely standard. The board by Johannas Heubner at openinverter.org replaces the Inverter logic board and will allow you to adjust pretty much everything including power.
I guess you pays yer money and takes yer choice.
I found this today and only SWMBO hates green cars I would go for it. :mad:
https://www.gumtree.com/p/land-rover/land-rover-freelander-/1375910936
 
Alibro said:
I had a wee look at this and it looks like it interfaces between your throttle and the standard Leaf unit so the power will be completely standard. The board by Johannas Heubner at openinverter.org replaces the Inverter logic board and will allow you to adjust pretty much everything including power.
I guess you pays yer money and takes yer choice.
I found this today and only SWMBO hates green cars I would go for it. :mad:
https://www.gumtree.com/p/land-rover/land-rover-freelander-/1375910936
Click to expand...

Looks like a Tonga green 1.8 SE. I'm not keep on green myself, but I actually quite liked the Tonga green XEi I sold in January.
 
Alibro said:
WIMMINS!!!!!
Click to expand...
My wife wouldn't like a green car, but again, she though Tonga was actually quite nice. It has a quality which makes it look very not green, if you know what I mean? It looks like a custom colour, I guess because is flips between olive and gold, when the sun is on it. I actually thought it looked good, so wouldn't be put off my it, if the perfect one came up. A 1.8 SE would also be on my shopping list, but an V6 HSE would be my preferred choice, mainly because it's got suspension designed for the higher weight of the V6 engine and auto box, and it'll have a heated front screen as standard, which would be a pretty important in a vehicle with limited cabin heating.
That the wife along to look at it. She might well like the colour, mine did. ;)
 
Nodge68 said:
My wife wouldn't like a green car, but again, she though Tonga was actually quite nice. It has a quality which makes it look very not green, if you know what I mean? It looks like a custom colour, I guess because is flips between olive and gold, when the sun is on it. I actually thought it looked good, so wouldn't be put off my it, if the perfect one came up. A 1.8 SE would also be on my shopping list, but an V6 HSE would be my preferred choice, mainly because it's got suspension designed for the higher weight of the V6 engine and auto box, and it'll have a heated front screen as standard, which would be a pretty important in a vehicle with limited cabin heating.
That the wife along to look at it. She might well like the colour, mine did. ;)
Click to expand...
I don't think my wife has ever changed her mind about green cars and it's over 60 miles away so not much point really.
I guess the extra strength in the V6 suspension would be good but then I'd have to convert it to manual so that would be some extra work and expense. I guess not a big deal though compared to replacing the front suspension.
Heated screen would be very handy though.

paul99 said:
Do the kits include heating and cooling for the cabin?
Click to expand...
No mate, That is just another fun wee job to do when converting to leccy. Cooling is no problem as AC is rarely needed in Ireland but heating is.
 
Alibro said:
I don't think my wife has ever changed her mind about green cars and it's over 60 miles away so not much point really.
Click to expand...
My wife is also very anti green cars, much like me. However she and I both thought that Tonga wasn't actually a green, in the traditional sense. I felt it made the FL1 look very upmarket.
Alibro said:
guess the extra strength in the V6 suspension would be good but then I'd have to convert it to manual so that would be some extra work and expense. I guess not a big deal though compared to replacing the front suspension.
Click to expand...
The suspension is more work to change and more expensive, than fitting a Getrag box in place of the Jatco. The Getrag manual will fit the drive shafts from the auto box, so is the best for the conversion. It's also more beefy than the PG1, so will handle the 250Ftlb odd of torque, the Leaf motor puts out.

I looked up the Leaf final drive ratio, which is a surprisingly low 8 to 1 reduction. :eek: So this is going to be about the same as using 3rd gear on the manual gearbox, so for basic use the box can just be locked in 2nd. I think I'd make up a linkage with low range reduction, which would just select 1st when used. This would improve it's control when off road.


Don't forget that selling the Jatco, will offset the price of buying the manual box, which are cheap and plentiful. ;)
Alibro said:
Heated screen would be very handy though.
Click to expand...
It's very useful, and very expensive to retrofit, so it's worth looking out for, but unfortunately the HFS wasn't an option on the 1.8, due to the comparatively small alternator output. :(
 
Last edited:
paul99 said:
Do the kits include heating and cooling for the cabin?
Click to expand...
The Leaf motor and inverter are water cooled, so like an ICE, some of that heat can be pumped to the heater matrix, warming the cabin. The FL1 also had the option of an electric PTC heater element in the standard heater box, so that can also be used to supplement the heater matrix heat from the motor cooling circuit, although a PTS will give reduction in useful range. Heated seats use less power than a PCT element, so those would become pretty necessary, hence using an SE or HSE as seat heating is standard.

AC isn't a problem, as a 12V electric AC compressor can be used off a scrap vehicle, which is equipped with a device. Same for the PS pump and vacuum pump for the brakes.

I've studied pretty much everything that's needed to make this conversion viable proposition. ;)
 
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