+1 on using a genuine chain. The chainwheels may be ok - I'm rebuilding a 17H engine that was in a state, but the chainwheels were fine to re-use. I used a non-genuine damper pad (quality seems ok) but the non-genuine tensioner was rubbish - didn't even fit the mounting holes - so I rebuilt the...

I've had plenty of problems with these Smiths military gauges, including an oil temp gauge that read max as soon as it was connected to the sender, regardless of whether the engine was hot or cold. I think these gauges are not as robust as the Jaeger thermal ones, plus they are fussy about being...

You'll know if you have the 24 system 'cos you'll have 2 batteries and a hefty alternator on the driver's side of the engine :) It's normal for the oil temp to take a while to show anything - it takes me at least 5 miles of steady driving for the oil temp to start moving off 'C'. But if it...

If the charge light doesn't work (and the bulb is good) it's likely either the regulator or the field winding brushes. It's a quick job to check the brushes by removing the back cover and the brush box. If you decide to replace the alt then the pulley can be a pain to remove. I got the pulley...

Nick, if you have the three military gauges: then they don't need a voltage regulator for the gauges, but the gauge cluster itself needs a good earth connection, otherwise the gauges will all read high. Do the water/oil temp gauges read correctly? Are you asking about 12V/24V senders because...

Good luck with the switches! You might find one of them is shorting to earth, or they may both be stuck on, which will put both senders into the circuit at the same time and make the gauge read high. Actually, this job is on my to-do list as well. I bypassed the switches to get the gauge to work...

Have a look at the wiring diagrams on the Lightweight website: http://www.land-rover-lightweight.co.uk/LRL%20M.html Basically you have a green/black wire from the gauge to the tank changeover switches, then a light green/red one to the RH tank sender and a light green/grey one to the LH tank...

The 17H rebuild continues (slowly).... I've replaced the cam and chain, but like Kiwi Landie, I find I can fit the cam chainwheel either slightly advanced or slightly retarded. It's not that far off (about 6 degrees according to the marks on the crank pulley). As per Jamesmartin's advice, I'm...

Next thing to check is the points/condenser. There are some poor quality parts out there (I had a set of non-genuine points overheat and die in less than a day). Many of the petrol Series owners on here have gone with electronic ignition after a lot of hassle with points/condensers. It's also...

As Kevstar said... He's quicker at typing than me:)

Welcome to the forum! That's a nice-looking Series you have there. My first thought after you ran the tank empty was also idle jet on the carb. Which carb do you have - original Zenith or replacement Weber? The Weber is quite sensitive to crud in the fuel, which seems somehow to get past the...

I wondered about this - with the composite gasket in place I *thought* there was some clearance, but I didn't know how far the gasket would compress when the head was torqued down and I didn't fancy finding out the hard way once the engine was installed and up to temperature.:eek: I might have...

Update: after spending far too long looking into the options, I don't think the 200TDI head gasket will fit, so I decided to go with machining the pistons. I skimmed 0.36mm off all four in a lathe and re-fitted. All are now below the deck by around 0.20mm which is more or less what Wildfalcon...

Normally, it's not that important to get the initial timing exact - as Col and others said, engines wear and many people prefer to get to a final setting by ear. But in your case there's something strange going on, so worth checking. Your strobe should show no advance at 600 RPM (vac...

The vac advance range is 11-13 degrees, so what you're seeing is in the right ballpark. Your symptoms would make sense if the static timimg was badly retarded, then once the engine is running, the advance (mechanical and vacuum) brings the timing back closer to where it should be. But your...

Doesn't sound right to me. My 2.25 takes at least 1/2 mile of normal driving before the gauge starts moving and doesn't go above N even after idling for a while (mind you I have the 7-blade military fan, so maybe that makes a difference). As tottot said, could well be an air lock...

Thanks for the responses. I've asked Turners for advice, will be interested to see what they think. Doing some research, what might help is a "decompression plate" like the engine tuners use when they want to add a turbo and need to lower the compression ratio. Of course, these are not off the...

Thanks guys. I was concerned about the block - it was in bad shape after being stored with the head off and I guess the machinist kept going until he got a nice clean surface. Good 17H blocks are hard to find these days. I will go back to the company that did the work for their views, but I...

I'm rebuilding a 2.5 petrol 17H engine for my Series 3 and have got to the point where I'm fitting new pistons. The block was in bad shape and was rebored +20 thou and the deck was skimmed. Now I'm finding that the new pistons are protruding slightly above the deck. The worst is no 4 which is...

I'm not familiar with the powerspark dizzy, but that would be my first suspect. I presume it has the same mechanical advance mechanisms as a "normal" dizzy i.e. a set of weights on pivots that advance the timing as the speed increases. If this mechanism is faulty (weak spring, sticking weights)...