A Convert

[Spacemud]

Seem to be the new owner of a 1988 Range Rover..........with a £550 buy it now, it was too good to not to!!
Had problems starting it for a while but got going eventually. Stopped off for some fuel, then it cut out on tha way out of the petrol station and starter wouldn't kick in. Nice Mr AA man got it going and after a 'warm' journey home have bled the cooling system, stuck a few pints of oil in, unclogged the low water 'thingy', and am  :D

.............. I know, potential head gasket problem, but I still think it was a bargain for a driveable Rangie with tax, MOT and LPG.

I love Disco's, and Series, but this is pure luxury!!! ..........................................Now for the mods!!!!!!  \:D/

[hairyasswelder]

If its an '88 it will be a 3.5 which is a little less prone to major engine damage than the more fragile 3.9  :D  

Give it a bloody good service,oil, plugs etc,  and flush the cooling system, a good concentrate of quality antifreeze helps. Check the front of the rad for debris, especially if ever been used off road, and condition of cooling fins, also check the viscous fan.

£550 for gas converted RR with T&T sounds a bargain, you will have to post pics  

Steve

Oh, you could post the e-bay link, then we can all have a look  :D

[Yoshi]

Didnt they convert the 3.5 to efi around then, which is often the worse efi engine out there, the 3.9 is lovely!

[Guardian.]

IVE GOT AN 88 3.5 EFI, THINK THAT WAS THE CHANGE OVER YEAR WASNT IT?
FOR CARBS / EFI THAT IS.

[hairyasswelder]

Didnt they convert the 3.5 to efi around then, which is often the worse efi engine out there, the 3.9 is lovely!

Worse Injection system, BEST engine

Steve

[Yoshi]

Aye it were that good that me and v8seriesone (more him than me, alot more him than me!) changed the manifold and ran it on carbs instead lol

[Range Rover Blues]

Didnt they convert the 3.5 to efi around then, which is often the worse efi engine out there, the 3.9 is lovely!

Worse Injection system, BEST engine

Steve

Certainly, though the early hot-wire (export market) is a bit cack.  Fortunately I've only ever seen one (yes, mine ).

That said I've never found the 3.9 to be any trouble.

[Spacemud]

Well, now that I have filled it with oil and water; it's working and it isn't causing me any problems. This being the case, I reckon you are right the engine must be pretty good. The injection unit hasn't caused any problems for me either so I'm guessing that as it has been there for nearly 20 years it'll go on a bit longer.

Still VERY happy......................lets hope it continues!

[jjsaul]

carb /efi changeover was 85/86

spacemud, if you have any questions or anything about it...just give me a shout - im not far away and have been using my lpg 3.5 86 RRC daily for 12 months so have had most things come to try me so far! lol

[hairyasswelder]

Aye it were that good that me and v8seriesone (more him than me, alot more him than me!) changed the manifold and ran it on carbs instead lol

Ahh but.....
Yes the flapper system is a PITA at times but surely better than carbs for the LPG, well... unless you get a blowback and blow it to bits  
Considered swapping mine but for a single flat carb like a weber, HOW MUCH  Ã‚£Â£Â£Â£Â£  :shock:
The 3.5 has a better record for slipped liners and cracked blocks than the 3.9/4.2 but like said, let down in part by the flapper system.

Solution??? Buy a 3.9, slip a liner/crack block..... scrap the engine and fit a 3.5.  Best engine..... best injection set up  (hot wire) :lol:

Would the reduction in capacity require any retuning of the ECU tho??  :?

Change over was around 1986/7 C/D reg I think.... didnt Bosch have a crack at the flapper system before the Lucas unit?? I bought one by mistake when first got RR and was told it was a better system but can not be used with Lucas ECU.

Enough of my opinion for now
Creating more questions than answers  :roll:

Steve

[Range Rover Blues]

I'd say the 4.2 was more prone to "porous block sundrome" whcih is more cause d by the combination of running olean for economy and the auto box's insistance on straiing the engine rather than change down (for economy).

Tough wood I've never suffered and my 4.2 is home to a stick of Blackpool rock (5.0 TVR crank).

But it doesn happen to some poor unfortunates.  Iwas lead to believ it's more on the 4.0/4.6 enggines prior to the use of nickosil instead of a steel liner, but as I can't afford such things.....

I think it's more a thing for P38 owners though.

[Spacemud]

James (jjsaul), thank you very much for the kind offer of help. It is always good to know that there is someone who has already solved your next potential problem!  :lol:

So far though, all is well. My water level light does keep coming on although the water level is fine, but I'm putting that down to a faut with the sensor....................unless you know different?

Engine/gearbox are great, swivels are clean, chassis is suprisingly solid. Interior is scruffy, especially the dash/gearstick conole parts where someone has used brute force instead of brains, so if anyone has spare brown interior parts for this model I may be interested.

[Spacemud]

Ok, so the water level does seem to be dropping slowly (about a teacup every couple of days). I think it is the heater matrix as I took a look and it has obviously leaked at some stage and there is that slightly damp carpet smell. Fingers crossed I am right and it isn't the cylinder heads leaking.

It is LPG and I have heard that they tend to run a bit hot, could that be a contributing factor? The last lpg I had didn't lose water but lpg seems a bit of a unknown area still from what I read.

Any experiences of similar occurances?

[Rossko]

The slightly increased flame temperature of LPG should have zero effect on engine temperature - bearing in mind the cooling system is designed to cope with a workout in Saudi and will just soak it up.

I have seen a couple of vaporisers fail internally and allow a serious water leak, killing the LPG operation.  Never seen one only seeping a bit, apart from at the obvious external hose joints and tees.  Check those thoroughly!

That said, there is more chance of many older LPG systems going out of tune and running lean - that could potentially cause overheating.

If you're happy it's reasonably in tune, I would just find and fix the obvious seeps (like the heater matrix) and see if that sorts it.

cheers, Ross K

[Range Rover Blues]

And yes the senders are cack, disconnect it a bypass with something like a fuse.