Oil and Fuel

I had a spare afternoon today, so manage a few short tasks.

First was to refit the modified gearstick and floor/tunel cover, remembering to reconnect the reverse light switch. I’m very pleased with the result on the gearstick – it looks like it’s meant to be that way. The front matting system was then replaced. The feed wire on the bottom left of the centre of the bulkhead comes directly from the starter motor terminal, but will be removed and replaced with a fused cable from the battery along the main harness and dash, together with another from the auxilliary battery to power the accessories. The under-dash area will be the site for the main and aux bus bars and accessory relays. It’ll be covered by a Defender fuse box panel. The matting still needs cleaning, but since I still need to do a good deal of electrical work to get the centre dash and auxiliary guages and switches in, there’s little point at the moment. I’ll be refitting the handbrake and front seats before finishing those electrics, hopefully in the next few days.

Next was to replace the leaking fuel pipes. The return line from the top of the fuel filter to the first tank selector valve was rubber and had perished, with numerous splits on the bends. It was replaced outright using new plastic fuel hose. The second leak was from a bad union on the left/right tank selector reurn valve, where the nut had stripped its threads. The union was replaced. Extended engine running on each tank confirmed no further leaks. Unfortunately, it also confirmed that the heated fuel filter is nowhere near powerful enough to use for straight veg oil. I will need a coolant operated heat exchanger.

The engine run also allowed me to warm the engine sufficiently long to add a bottle of engine flush to clear out any sludge in the oilways. The old oil has been drained and the sump replaced with the brand new unit with the oil temperature sender tapping. I use LM grease to seal the new paper gaskets as it spreads more easily than sealants, preventing lumps from creating gaps. It also enables easy replacement when needed. The oil temperature guage is now operable.

With the fuel system proven, the selector taps have been properly mounted on the seatbase with the Wright Off Road matting modified to suit. The right hand tap selects between front and rear (feed and return valve both operated by the single lever), while the left top selects between left and right when running on the front tanks. The electrics have been proven too, so the fuel guage correctly displays the contents of the selected tank.

Finally, I used the new switch sticker sheet from Vehicle Wiring Products to denote the Carling Technologies switches on the centre dash panel. From left to right they are: left heated seat (2 settings); roof spots; heated wing mirrors; heated rear screen; rear screen wash; rear screen wipe (intermittent and continuous); right heated seat (again, 2 settings). The flash-photography is unflattering, a bit like passport photos, but the switches look really neat to the eye.  Unfortunately, the TD5 centre facia stowage bin I bought from LR for £12 to fit the top recess of the panel is much larger than a stereo head and won’t fit, so I hope I can take it back for a refund or exchange.