The World of Rovers TECHNOBABBLE Page

"Be them rusty, be them musty, be them dusty or just a bit crusty"

This page is devoted to helping the owners of Land Rovers, ExMoD and civilian, everywhere sleuth-out and remedy the assorted problems that frequently crop up with our beloved aluminum workhorses.

The information on this page just may help you ferret out the gremlins plagueing your Rover. I will update this page as frequently as things have to be repaired on my Land Rover. Please stay tuned. I will always welcome any submissions of Technobabble, so if you have any just drop me an e-mail and I just may post it here.

ExMoD Fuel valves

By: Steve O'Neil

Friends, Here's a story that I just pulled out of my college clogged brain.

Shortly after I purchased my 1967 Series IIa 109 Ex-MoD Field Ambulance I developed a fuel leak from the gasket that seals the fuel draw tube to the left tank. Just in case you are not familiar with ExMoD fuel tanks: 109" Field Ambulances have dual tanks which are mounted under the driver and passenger seats. They are filled by first removing the bottom seat cushion and then the slide out lid which exposes tank and fuel filler cap. Getting back to the story--I pulled the tube out to replace the gasket and when I did the filter screen that is wrapped arround the end of the tube just disintegrated and fell off! As I did not have any kind of fuel proof screen to replace it I just slipped the new gasket on, dropped the tube back in, sealed it up and drove on. About three days later, while I was driving to work at Chimney Rock Park(a 25 mile trip one way!)the engine sputtered, choked and died. I thought to myself "Ha Ha I've got another full tank of gas" so I reached down and threw the fuel tank selector lever-----nothing happened---nothing! I was dead in the road and rolling to a stop. I sat there for a few seconds analyzing my situation then quickly decided that since I was in the middle of the road--the first course of action was to get to a safe location--I frantically hit the starter button and threw the fuel lever back and forth a couple of times, pulled the choke out a bit and the old beast fired off and it was running. But one problem: it would only run with the choke pulled 1/2 out!?! As I was way out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nothing but hills and apple orchards I had to press on until I found a suitable place to stop and survey the situation. About a mile from where the starving dinosaur stalled I rolled coughing and sputtering and belching black smoke into the parking lot of the Reedy Creek grocery in Edneyville, NC on the Eastern continental divide. I opened the bonnet and looked underneath at the fuel switching valve. It did'nt look like it was leaking or broken and it was then that I remembered what the man I had purchased the Ambulance from had told me "...the fuel valve's cork seal was leaking so I made it a new one out of a piece of cork that I found in the back of one of my old car seats..."and I cringed and possibly uttered a few choice colorful metaphors. I decided that the only thing left to do was to take the valve apart and see for myself--it was a good thing I had recently purchased a new cork seal from Rovers North and it was right there resting on the bulkhead. I proceeded to take the valve apart--right there on the side of the road--and not only was I late for work but it was cold and it was starting to rain--aarrgh, I'm beginning to believe that British vehicles attract Brittish weather!!! Thirty minutes or so later I had the valve apart and found that a glob of black lumpy "funk" had gotten stuck on the tank side of the stupid homemade cork gasket and almost totally stopped the flow of fuel! I'm not saying that you can't make gaskets (I make plenty) but if you do just be sure to cut the holes with something other than a pocket knife (like an exacto or a hole punch)--the holes in the genuine Rover fuel switch gasket are about 1/4" in diameter so they need to be clean cut in order for the fuel(and other strange chunks of foreign "funk" that somehow end up in Land Rover fuel tanks) can pass through without any obstructions--but the gasket that the previous owner had made was so rough cut that it "grabbed" the passing funky sludge and allowed it to build up until it stopped the flow of fuel. Since I did not have access to an air compressor to clear the blockage I had to use a piese of stiff wire since the suction from the fuel pump had crammed the "funk" up into the sharp bend in the movable part of the valve. Then I took the new cork seal and smeared it with a bit of vaseline(as per Rovers North's instructions)and put the whole contraption back together and it worked just fine-as long as I just pulled fuel out of the Right tank since the left one was full of that strange brown lumpy "funk".

And now the quick fix: The very next day I went to the local auto parts house and purchased two inexpensive transparent in-line fuel filters and installed them approx. 12" above the draw tubes in each fuel tank(make sure you install them far enough down on the fuel lines so that your seat box pannels will close tightly) and I have not had any more problems with the switching valve clogging. The left filter has clogged twice so I just replaced it, since they are only $2.50each. Of course the best way to prevent the clogs is to drain and clean the tank but in a pinch this solution will work just fine. I have been driving my Ambulance with this "fix" for close to eight months now with no complaints. Come warmer weather I'll fix it right.

PS: Four more items to add to the rolling repair kit(if you have'nt already): in-line fuel filters, stiff heavy gauge wire, a Genuine Land Rover fuel switch gasket and don't forget the vaseline.

Fighting the "DARK SIDE" or "Joe Lucas returns".

By: Steve O'Neil

I had a McGyverish experience recently on my overland(mostly highway) expedition to the Gulf Coast of the USA. After leaving North Carolina everything was A J Squared away-- until I turned south. I don't know if it was the heat, humidity, latitude, longitude or lack of luck or Lucas but whatever it was it caused my 4 month old C-40 generator's bushing to begin to squeak! The farther south that I drove the louder it became. At first I would squirt a few drops of oil into the oil port at every stop for fuel--about every 300 miles--which worked ok, but upon arrival in Louisiana the squeaking was beginning to really worry me and the frequent oilings--about every 150 miles--were beginning to get annoying(I kept burning my arm on the exhaust manifold as I would reach in with a 20cc syringe full of oil to inject a few drops into the stupid hole!). I had a spare dynamo in the basement (what I call the stretcher storage area)--but it was old and had a broken rear mount so I looked for another option. Upon arrival in Baton Rouge I stopped at a NAPA where I first loosened the belts--which helped a small degree--and then purchased a small pump style oil can with a flexible nozzle--it was totally useless---the only way to get the nozzle in the hole was to turn the can upside down, stick the nozzle in the hole and pump while oil dripped out of the top of the can while my flesh roasted on or near the manifold!! Crawling under the beast was not much better. Needless to say I was hot--mentally and physically--the temperature in South Louisiana was constantly in the high 90's while we were there! So I just pressed on to a state park just south of New Orleans where we set up camp. The next day a man from an adjoining campsite came over to check out the Ambulance. While we were talking I mentioned the problem that I had been having with the dynamo and he said "you ought to jus' hook ya up a drip I.V. to feed oil to the unit". I thought about it--not for very long--and set to work. I pulled out the parts manifest and located where everything that I needed was stored(I keep so many spares in the rover that I need a log of their locations so that I can quickly find what I need). I first took a short length of steel brake pipe (unfortunately it was new) and cut off both ends. I then bent one end at almost a right angle so that it would fit into the hole in the back of the dynamo--the only problem was that it's outside diameter was just a bit to large to fit in the hole--so I, McGyver style, pulled out the SWISS ARMY KNIFE, opened the file, and removed enough of the steel until the end of the pipe fit snugly into the hole. I then attached the brake pipe to the oil dipstick with some electrical zip-ties. Now I needed an oil delivery pipe. I looked around and checked the manifest but the only kind of tubing that I had was some short lengths of rubber fuel-line and new brake flex-lines--both of which were either too big or too expensive to use for something that might not even work. Then I noticed the clear aquarium air tube that I had used for my factory manually operated windscreen washer system(which is a complete joke!). I removed the delivery tube from the tank and it fit nice and snugly on the brake pipe! I removed the the other end from the pump--located in the dash panel--and stuck it on the 20cc syringe which I then filled with oil! I then taped the syringe to the windscreen vent actuating lever housing, cranked the engine and--after hearing no strange grinding sounds (except for the squeaking dynamo bushing) and seeing no leaping flames--I slowly depressed the syringe which forced the oil through the tube then into the brake pipe and finally into the housing behind the dynamo bushing and the squeaking stopped!!!! Needless to say I was very happy so I promptly thanked the man who had given me the idea and headed for the French Quarter. On the second half of the excursion I would use the remote oiler whenever I would begin to hear the squeak. It works great and has been in place ever since. I am not to worried that the oil will eventually get to the brushes and start to cause problems since I'm going convert to an alternator in about two weeks. I'm not to sure weather or not this qualifies me as a "McGyver" but he always has been one of my heroes--and the girls (what few there are around)do seem to like it when I can fix something with nothing more than a Swiss Knife and a few bits and bobs!!

"It's not the age...it's the mileage." Indiana Jones--

I have bugun the rebuild of the WARTHOG'S transmission! Click on the picture of the warthogs to see the pictures and read the whole story.

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