One Week of Running

I used the 109 for a couple of days after the test – it’s clocked up 100 miles already. In general, things are good – better than might be expected.

The engine is running well. It starts within a second of turning the key, which is astonishing for a 12J. It has no leaks and is pulling well for a normally aspirated diesel. It struggles with the increased vehicle weight hills – some hills that were manageable in 4th gear now need 3rd, so the 19J 2.5TD will eventually be rebuilt and fitted, with the 12J being kept as a spare.

The steering is great. I have, after an initial spell of trouble before the test, gained a fair amount of available lock in each direction. It’s reasonably precise, as it should be after replacing all the rod ends, the relay and refurbishing the steering box.  The steering is much lighter than I expected, given the wider 235/85 tyres, offset rims and new 30mm spacers. It should get even lighter as I’ll be raising the tyre pressure to 32psi instead of the standard 28psi to cover the weight of the second battery, winch, bullbar, spare wheel and underbody protection.

The suspension is great. I was worried that the ProComp ES9000s supplied by accident in place of an order for ES3000s might be a bit to stiff, but the increased weight and height of the vehicle means that the 9000s give a really good, tight ride without loss of compliance. In retrospect, the damper supply error was a good thing as it handles better than it did before the weight increase with 3000s.

All the gear boxes are running very smoothly and quietly, and there is no judder, slip or slippage from the clutch.

The electrics are all working perfectly apart from the new combined fuel/oil temp/water temp gauge, which needed to be run from 12V and have the voltage regulator bypassed. The water temp still seems a little low (1/4 of the way into the “normal” arc), but this may be down to the 74o thermostat (82 is standard). Otherwise, I’ll need another matched sender unit. The fuel guage under-reads too, showing 3/4 when full, but this might just need a little bending of the float arms on the senders. The oil temp gauge works perfectly.

The big issue has been the brakes. Initially, the brakes had a right pull, especially when cold. It passed the test in this condition, and I assumed it was just a matter of bedding in, but having seen no improvement over the 100 miles, I stripped the front drums off. I found a failed hub seal on the left side and significant grease contamination of the brakes. Both front hubs had been rebuilt at the same time with new stub axles and seals, so as a precaution, both front hubs were stripped and refitted with brand new seals.  Unfortunately, after reasssembly I was unable to get a firm pedal, despite not having tampered with the hydraulics. Another strip down revealed a failed slave cylinder in the same left hub which had been masked by the bearing grease. Both cylinders in that hub have been replaced with new Lucas cylinders today. I have bled the rear brakes and the front right (including removal of the backplate to reorientate the pipes and ports to the 12o’clock position of each cylinder for bleeding), and will do the front left tomorrow. I hope that will be the last of the brakes for a long time!

Other than that, it’s been a pleasure to drive. It’s completely water tight, and I only have two rattles to sort out – one is resonance of the snorkel at about 1800rpm, the other is a small plastic rattle from the parcel tray (probably just one of the speaker or wiper motor wires underneath the back of the tray). Other than that, there are no extraneous noises at all. I’m very pleased with the result, and having good brakes will make it much nicer to drive still. The bonnet mounted spare is very noticeable from the cab, and does block a large portion of the road immdiately infront of the vehicle, but has suprisingly little effect on driving and maneouvering the vehicle, even in tight parking spaces – it makes almost no difference at all.  I’m looking forward to fitting out the interior side panels, but that will have to wait until after I replace the Range Rover’s CV joints, which are rapidly deteriorating and making terrible noises when turning.