Getting more bang for your buck.

Solnskaya

Having owned a fair few old(pre '00) Transits, and working on a lot more for mates etc, I know just how easily you can take a slow, thirsty vehicle belching smoke, and within an hour have it running like a top )egr, throttle linkage, clean intake, remove throttle damper, open up fuelling on pump, change g.box and diff fluids, engine oil/filter. These simple mods really transform the performance of a transit and make it almost pleasureable to drive.
I have turned up the pumps on a lot of old style diesels, eg Hiaces etc and it has transformed the driveability of the vehicle, so, anybody care to share a few simple tips that might help someone get "that bit more" from what they are driving?? A lot of easy adjustments are possible, and are simple when you know how, but if nobody tell, nobody knows. There are a lot of very smart mechanics on here, so any of ye got a top tip?

Eric Cartman

Dipetane and driving around in a lower gear - or DOE magic as its known

101sean

Land Rover owners have been tweaking 200/300Tdi injector pumps for years, I'd have thought the same would apply to anything with a Bosch VE pump.

Loooong how to - http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=31

_Conrad_

As said already, adjusting the injetcion pump is about the best thing you can do in an old diesel motor in terms of bang for buck. But for something with a turbo, you can do that combined with some adjustment of the level of boost.

two videos here, not the best videos, and they're based on peugeots, but the principle is the same for many older turbo diesel engines


the videos cover adjusting the pump and the wastegate

part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4l5on3_IrA

part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=telXJxsd4gE&feature=fvwrel



Just have to echo what was said at first that changing all oils and fluids, filters, glowplugs etc and makin sure the whole thing's not clogged up with crap is essential and not something people often do thoroughly.


Something very beneficial for old 4x4s if you're going to go offroading or doing heavy work: Fit a big intercooler! And on stuff with a viscous fan, get rid of the power sapping oldschool fan and fit a good powerful electric fan.

And for 2.8 troopers, check the front hubs and fix if necessary, converting to manual hubs would be preferable, at this stage a lot of the auto locking ups have failed

Solnskaya

_Conrad_ wrote: »

Something very beneficial for old 4x4s if you're going to go offroading or doing heavy work: Fit a big intercooler! And on stuff with a viscous fan, get rid of the power sapping oldschool fan and fit a good powerful electric fan.

Conrad, when you say "fit a big intercooler", it makes sense, but what's the story when there just isn't space - mines crammed down the back of the grille, sandwiched between the headlight and the rad-where do you go with a bigger one in cases like that? I do a lot of very heavy towing long-distances and often wondered about the benefits of a conversion like this. Also, when switching to an electric fan, what do you use as a sender/thermostat to tell the leccy one to switch on? Thanks, soln.

_Conrad_

Solnskaya wrote: »

Conrad, when you say "fit a big intercooler", it makes sense, but what's the story when there just isn't space - mines crammed down the back of the grille, sandwiched between the headlight and the rad-where do you go with a bigger one in cases like that? I do a lot of very heavy towing long-distances and often wondered about the benefits of a conversion like this. Also, when switching to an electric fan, what do you use as a sender/thermostat to tell the leccy one to switch on? Thanks, soln.

You either see if you can make it a top mount, and use a bonnet vent like the one on a 3.1 trooper, or put it in front of the rad if you've space, like this



or even put it outside the grille and make sure you've a good enough guard for it.
there are FMIC kits available from a few places in australia and newzealand but a lot fo them are expensive. you could just buy parts though and make up your own.

As for the fan there's a couple of options, you can get switches that go inside a rad hose and test the coolant temperature (don't even have to buy new switches you could rob some vehicle in a scrapyard of it's switches if you knew what you were after), or ones which just mount onto the rad and read the temp off that, and if you're electrinicly retarded like me you get a mate who has some idea what he's doing, and doesnt hate electrics to set it up. I should really learn, but i much prefer big heavy things that i can bolt/bash/cut etc. Not so much the fiddly stuff.