Nanocom can open individual valves, I do it all the time if I want to lift a car to get underneath without running the engine. Go to the outputs screen and you open any one of the corner valves, then scroll to the next screen and open either inlet or exhaust. So if I want to lift or lower the front of the car while working on it, on the first screen tap open front left and front right, go to the next screen and tap on open inlet or exhaust and then tap close all when it is at the height I want it. If there isn't enough air in the reservoir on the next screen you can turn the compressor on or off.
Clogged silencer would definitely do it as it wouldn't allow air out when it needs to. You can unscrew it and leave it off to test, it won't do any harm but you will find out why it is there. When it exhausts air, you'll certainly hear it.
That wouldn't explain it losing all pressure from the reservoir when you switch it on though. When changing height, it will always open the rears first then the fronts once the rear is up to height to prevent your headlights dazzling people when changing height. Quite why the Nanocom is reporting both inlet and exhaust as open at the same time though is a bit weird.
If there's no oil on the inside of the flywheel (the part closest to the engine), then the rear seal is fine. Sump and oil cooler hoses are the usual leak places on a GEMS.
Welcome Jim, looks pretty tidy. Where are you? I initially thought the US then realised you'd blanked out the front number plate and the car is RHD so suspect Scotland somewhere?
The County was a base model so came without a lot of the toys that most came with. What spec is it?
Crows foot socket, like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/US-PRO-Crowfoot-Crowsfeet-Spanner/dp/B079H3JC9G/ref=sr_1_5 (although for the engine mounts you only need a 15mm one). That allows you to get under the manifold and heatshield and undo the top nuts.
For the two top bellhousing bolts, if you remove the upper intake plenum and ignition coils, you can get at them from above with the ring end of a combination spanner.
I install domestic AC systems and they run with 0.8mm wall thickness copper tube (in 1/4 and 3/8 inch for liquid and vapour) and run at 27 bar. The regulations say I have to leak test with Nitrogen at 42 bar and that is just using 45 degree flare joints with no sealing compound just a smear of silicone oil. Any joins in pipework are supposed to be brazed but I avoid that, it's one thing brazing two bits of pipe together on a bench when doing the training course but a completely different thing on an install. Compare that with an R134a car system that only runs at a feeble 10 bar. The pipes are fixed rigidly, it is only the connections to and from the compressor that flex which is why they are hose rather than tube. You'll probably know better than me but I would have thought copper would be better at withstanding a fatigue fracture than aluminium if the pipes did flex. I can't see anything wrong with using brass, all the fittings on a domestic system are brass anyway.
When I picked up the new to me red P38 recently, the AC compressor bearing was howling like a good 'un. There was a spare in the boot so I fitted that (even though I had a spare on the shelf anyway), bunged some Nitrogen in at 10 bar and it was leaking at one of the O rings into the compressor. Domestic systems don't use O rings so it isn't something I have but my mate who does mobile AC does so he dropped around and we put new O rings on it and did another pressure test. At 10 bar it showed zero pressure drop over 30 minutes so we declared it good. So not all used compressors are worn out.
Or replace them with copper. Copper is used on domestic and industrial AC systems and it is easier to flare and braze than aluminium.
Is your car GEMS or Thor? I've got a spare GEMS compressor if it would help you.
According to Ashcrofts (https://ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/product/zf4hp22eh/), it looks like it can be fitted to a Thor.
The eBay listing shows me alternatives and this one https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/305541630323 looks the same to me which would suggest the one you have is the larger one from a GEMS not a Thor. Definitely not a 4.0 litre GEMS one (4HP22 gearbox) as I've got one of those and it is definitely smaller..
I suppose it could be something like this? https://dormobile.co.uk/conversions-and-restorations-land-rover-classic/
It's a Classic but what the thing on the roof is I have no idea. It looks like it is something else that has been made to fit, I would have expected a camper conversion to be the same size as the roof rather than hanging over the sides.
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Recent stuff I've ordered from them has come in a couple of days. Unlike most of the other suppliers they don't send an email saying it has been dispatched, all I get is an email from the courier saying it will be delivered today. The oil pump from Turners and front cover from east coast range rovers will both be here today so I can fit the new oil pump and then just wait for the rest to arrive. As long as the bits are here by Saturday I'll have a weekend of joy putting it all back together and then it will be back to installing the LPG system.
Got a front cover on the way from East Coast Range Rovers, an uprated oil pump from Turners and the rest of the bits from Island 4x4. Big ends are at +10 thou and all are slightly worn but no damage to the crank. So it'll be new bearing shells, new front cover and oil pump and a cam chain as the one on it is a bit floppy (can't find a spec anywhere of how much slack there should be in it, but it just looks like too much to me), I've got a brand new water pump I bought ages ago just in case so I'll fit that too. Front cover and oil pump will be here tomorrow, just got to hope Island are on the ball so I can get on with putting it all back together.
Yeah, all bits there and I can't find any that weren't in place (not that they can really go anywhere other than into the oil filter and there was nothing in that). My magnet on a stick looked more like a hedgehog after probing around in there though. Although I can get a replacement oil pump for around £50, personally I think the front cover is too badly scored to be worth putting back in and with a new front cover, even a Chinese made one, at over £500 notes, I think I'm going to looking for a secondhand one and put a new oil pump gear set in
In other news, the Ascot is on eBay and has already met the reserve, item 387000091030, so that will easily pay for the engine bits for the red one (in fact, it will pay for buying the red one too!).
What have I done? Finished pulling the engine on the red one apart and I think I've found the reason for a lack of oil pressure. This hasn't been the easiest job due to the engine having previously been put together by a Gorilla, even the oil filter needed a chain wrench on it. I needed to make up a new tool to hold the water pump to undo the fan nut. Using a 2 foot bar, and extending my viscous coupling spanner, managed to shift that (eventually). So the radiator is out, the fan is off, the water pump is off (only two of the bolt heads sheared off), the crank pulley is off (using the socket bar against the chassis rail and flicking the starter method and it came undone far easier than I was expecting), sump is off, front cover is off and the oil pump has been exposed (although I did have to use a cold chisel on two of the bolts holding the cover on as the screw heads were chewed up so much that even an impact driver couldn't get enough of a grip on them). One of the big ends (number 4) has play in it but not much so I should be able to simply fit a new set of shells. However, it's nice to take something apart and be able to immediately see the cause of a problem.
The problem? A lack of oil pressure, the reason.....
Just got to clean everything off, check the front cover to see if that can be reused or if it is too badly scored and work out a (long) shopping list.
I think the only difference is that on a GEMS the plate covering the lower part of the bellhousing/flywheel is held by bolts through the plate into the bellhousing but the Thor uses bolts going the other way. So all that is needed is to drill out the threaded holes.
jacckk wrote:
Sounds like "Supergaz" on Washwood Heath Rd? I like that station. They open late and even fill your car for you so you don't even need to get out.
It was, I was staying a couple of days in Coleshill and it was the nearest one from there, but looking on autogas.app, there's plenty more all around the same price if not lower.
Direct injection can be converted these days, albeit at a marginally greater cost than a port injection system, the factory fit Dacia range being a prime example. They actually produce more power and are more economical on LPG too.
Agreed, I'm doing 30-35,000 a year, so the cost saving, even if it isn't great, is worthwhile. If you aren't doing the mileage then the benefits aren't anything like as good. I will say though that I attribute running on a cleaner hydrocarbon fuel without any additives to the longevity of my engine. I change the oil every 10,000 miles and it is still clean after that mileage.
There's multiple reasons why LPG has gone up in price. It always did rise (and get harder to find) during the winter due to the demand for people using it for domestic heating and cooking, but this year hasn't gone back down. It went up to around a pound a litre when petrol and diesel almost hit two pounds but it hasn't come down correspondingly. The other problem is the Motor Fuel Group (MFG). A few months ago my local Flogas depot was selling at 78p per litre and the 4 Morrisons in my area (Wisbech, St Ives, Camborne and Pinchbeck) were all at 79.9p. Any filling stations operated by MFG, were all selling at 99.9p so not doing much business unless someone had no alternative. The other cheap ones were operated by Euro Garages, owned by the same people as Asda, with a local one selling at 64.9p when Flogas were 78p! The local EG one has changed hands and I suspect is also now run by MFG as they are charging £1.05.
MFG have taken over the running of all Morrisons forecourts and all immediately put there price up to 99.9p, to match the other MFG owned sites. It may be that they have also done the same with ASDA sites too. The takeover of Morrisons was subject to an investigation by the Competition Markets Authority and they were forced to keep petrol and diesel prices down, but obviously not LPG. My local Flogas depot were told by their head office to increase their price to get closer to other sources in the area so are now charging 90p. One area of the country that MFG don't appear to have a foothold is Birmingham. If you look at autogas.app in the Birmingham area, not only are there plenty of filling stations but most are around the 70p mark, if not lower! I was there recently and filled up at one (not far off the M6 either) that only did LPG (no other fuels), 4 pumps, 6 huge tanks and 73p a litre.
So, while the price differential between LPG and petrol isn't great, making it seem like it is hardly worth it, particularly if a car doesn't run well on it. Mine actually runs better on LPG than petrol, probably because it very rarely uses any petrol. I'd say stick at it and wait for the differential to increase. Plus the fact that I do a lot of driving in Europe and the most expensive country is France at 1 Euro a litre (so roughly 85p) while most of the others are less or a lot less (anything between 50 and 80 Euro cents). I'm fortunate in having Flogas locally, and 4 branches of Morrisons all within half an hour but if it gets really difficult I'll just invest £300 in a pump so I can fill from 47kg bottles and that will be enough for my local use (and a fill will easily get me to Dover so I can get on a ferry to more sensible countries). My step-daughter lives in the Netherlands and has two filling station just around the corner from her house. 3 years ago neither did LPG but have both since been refurbished and have had EV charge points and LPG installed. In fact, not far from where she lives a new filling station has been built with LPG, CNG, Hydrogen and EV charge points but no petrol or diesel at all.