What you did with your Series 2s in September

[Wittsend]

New month .... 

[Gordon Lowe]

Washed them both ready for the LRO Show next weekend

[Alan Drover]

Checked the operation of the screen washer and oil level. The former ok, latter needed a small top up.
While I was doing so my neighbour appeared. He has a 55 plate Jag estate which has an "electronic dipstick"! in other words there isn't one. My first reaction is "What happens when it goes wrong!" and the oil level shows as ok but isn't. I showed him the bent piece of wire that masquerades as a Land Rover dipstick.
Anyway he wants to get a real pre war Austin 7. I look forward to seeing it.

[diffwhine]

Electronic dipsticks are pretty standard now - certainly across the JLR range. If they fail, the default is an error message telling you to talk nicely to your friendly and expensive JLR dealer who will charge you telephone numbers to fix it. On the Discovery 4, half the bottom of the engine has to come out to get at it...

What's wrong with a dipstick? On the BMW (and therefore the Grenadier) you can only check the oil level electronically when the engine is at full running temperature. Therefore you could run it up with no oil in it, blow the engine and then the computer will let you measure the oil level and tell you to put oil in it..

Is it just me or has the world gone mad?

And don't start me off on electric parking brakes...

[O7BE16]

JLR have gone back to traditional dipsticks too many problems with the electronic version

[Wittsend]

You need to get a Rover P4 saloon.

They have a fuel gauge type float sender in the sump.

When you switch on the ignition you can throw a switch on the dash and the fuel gauge doubles up as an oil level measure. And they have a super Rolls-Royce traditional dipstick for back-up.

[Peter Holden]

Our eurobox has an electronic ldipstick and a manual one.

Very early S1 land rovers had the gubbins Alan mentions is fited to the P4 in their sump but it was never wired up

Peter

[Alan Drover]

I reckon with the BMW engine if the oil level is too low then it defaults to not starting. You then have to call your "friendly" dealer who then charges you at least twice the national debt to come to you then adds on multiple telephone numbers to take the vehicle back to his premises to top up the oil!
I like the 2.5's piece of bent wire even more now.

[Craig T]

Went to a local event with the IIA on Saturday.
It was called the "Floral Fringe Fair" A quirky selection of traders selling lots of things you didn't know you needed. Good cake though...

Craig.

[Richard]

Well, yesterday in fact, I took the wife and dog in the Series 2a to the Dutch Land Rover Sort Out in Bant. Nice gathering of mostly old but also a few new Land Rovers and an occasional MAN camper. See the images for a brief impression. On the way there, some 60 miles through very, very flat Dutch country side, Flevoland and the Noordoostpolder, I noticed a sound I hadn't heard before, a grinding noise. O dear. At the site I looked under the bonnet, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. On the way back home, the grinding noise got louder. Another look under the bonnet, with the engine idling, confirmed my suspicion: a slight grumbling noise seemingly from the water pump and traces of coolant on the rocker cover, the top hose and the engine block.

Richard

[simonbav]

I test fitted one of the headlight assemblies. I can't avoid painting the rad panel any longer. I never particularly enjoy painting. Repair and mechanicking is more my thing.

[Alan Drover]

Dog walking duties followed by a snack at the Dog Café. (No, a ham sandwich not a Bonio, dog treats for the dog)then dropped him off at the Mucky Pups grooming salon. Back home the Emberton handbrake gaiter was in the mailbox so I fitted it. It's much thicker than the old one but once I got the top screw in then the bottom one the side screws went in easily, then tightened them down.
Walked to dog groomer and collected the dog later.

[Gareth]

My L663 Defender has a dipstick thank the gods!!

The old Disco 4 was electronic and never worked properly. Got rid before it ate its own crankshaft.

[simonbav]

I took apart a spare non-functioning wiper motor I had, expecting perhaps the grease had solidified. Instead I found a gritty dust or silt as if it had been sunk in a silty river or the home of insects. There was a single dead earwig inside and some cobwebs. Very strange,  and sadly non-functioning once cleaned up. I've not checked the resistance of the armature or field coils yet...

[582LTR]

Affixed new registration plates (obtained from Jepson and Co). Maurice may not be an MRC but he is now official. He has come a long way from being recovered from on top of a shipping container and thanks in part to Peter Holden, 58Paul and my friend Cliff for their help in this process.