Skizzer's SD1: Tomorrow's Car, Yesterday. Fixerations, with mixed results

[Skizzer]

Thanks chaps! Not sure I can entirely recommend being me, though... And your rather fine SD1 VDP is nearly road-ready now, isn't it?

 

I fear mine has a good amount of body work still ahead of it, it's a bit of a ten-footer (though the inside is tidy).

[Jon]

I hope this heavy news doesn't keep you awake but I'm going to forego my 'like' button press on the SD1 number plate front until you've sorted out the one at the back. My hope is that you're waiting for some special order of one of those fancy larger dimension ones seen on earlier SD1s and other Pnumber models. Don't let me down!

 

Also got to say that usually, I don't like those alloys at all, probably because I like the alternative stainless trims so much. But in the case of yours, in a darker shade with the silver body, they work really well! Would love a go in a manual SD1 one day. Top bombing!

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Oversize rear 'plates seem to be a BL thing - Jags also use them; my XJ40's rear plate is a big one.

[Skizzer]

I hope this heavy news doesn't keep you awake but I'm going to forego my 'like' button press on the SD1 number plate front until you've sorted out the one at the back. My hope is that you're waiting for some special order of one of those fancy larger dimension ones seen on earlier SD1s and other Pnumber models. Don't let me down!

 

Also got to say that usually, I don't like those alloys at all, probably because I like the alternative stainless trims so much. But in the case of yours, in a darker shade with the silver body, they work really well! Would love a go in a manual SD1 one day. Top bombing!

Ah, yes, the rear number plate, sorry. It's waiting for me to remember to take a wooden spatula to the shed to prise off the offending old one, which is stuck on with very sticky strips.

 

Sadly the new plate is the same size as the front. I did have ambitions to get an oversize one, but sourcing one in the right font and especially with riveted-on characters got too much like hard work, so I went for the boring option. The press cars had regular size rear plates too, in my defence.

 

I'm with you on the wheels - the standard steels'n'trims are a design classic, but the darker grey paint with polished rims is a good look I think. Not my doing - it's worn those for a long time according to the old photos in the file.

[trigger]

I love this car so much!. The front plate looks perfect now, just need to do that rear plate!

[Skizzer]

[Duplicate post.]

[Skizzer]

I think the Rover might be my steed for Chodmolestly on Sunday as I'm still waiting for delivery of the ignition module I think/hope might be what is needed to restore motion to the XJ-S.

 

With this in mind, I took it on a longer outing this morning to see how it went - bearing in mind it's been off the road for most of the last two years.

 

Not only do you have a Rancho, but you also have a working SD1 and the weather in which to enjoy it.

Hmm, well, partly working.

 

It's reluctant to start from cold - turns over fine but won't catch, and then eventually it does, after which it idles and runs just fine. I did maybe 12 rather pleasant rural miles round Gower then left it idling for a few minutes while I did some photography and stuff, all still good.

 

But then pulling away from a junction uphill it lost power then stalled, and wouldn't restart: at first nothing at all on the key, then turning over on the starter, then nothing again. After a few tries and a moment's pause for thinking and swearing, it then fired up ok and off we went happily for the 15 miles home again. It did the same thing again just around the corner from home, on the flat this time, although it took fewer tries to restart it.

 

I'm thinking - by which I mean guessing, in an ill-informed way - that there are two problems: the fuel pump is struggling (starting uphill seems worse, and even normal driving uphill feels like it needs a lower gear than I'm expecting) and there's a dodgy connection somewhere in the LT side of the ignition wiring which gets flaky when hot. Other opinions very welcome.

 

Also, I drove over a bump and a lump of wing fell off:

 

 

 

Weather was still good though:

 

[Royale80]

I had a similar issue with My Sd1 - also a 3500 manual. It happened a couple of times-with mine though I'd pull off and a 100 yards later it would die-again only if going up hill. It would eventually re-start but sounded like you said the fuel pump. Never got round to fixing it.

 

Steve

[daveb47]

Common problem on those with exactly those symptoms is a fault in the electronic distributer.

Had it happen to me twice in past.

[Cleon-Fonte]

Yep, similar things used to happen with mine because the distributor was a bastard. Once a new one was fitted it started on the button every time.

[Skizzer]

Thanks chaps, I'll shift my attention to the dizzy in that case. Do you mean replace the cap, or the whole thing?

 

This will be the fourth distributor cap and rotor arm set I've fitted in the last six weeks! Too many cars.

[daveb47]

Its the electronics in the dizzy itself that plays up,something breaks down with heat,goes again when it all cools down.

[Skizzer]

Ok, thanks, that's very helpful! A new one is £265 from Rimmers, but I could easily have ended up spending much of that on replacing parts that weren't broken and didn't fix it.

 

Off to consult the HBOL on how difficult it is to swap out the distributor...

[Bren]

Dizxy is easy to remove and replace. Setting the timing can be a PITA though...

[EssDeeWon]

Had to have the dizzy replaced in my old 3500, it used to cut out very sudden, spin over and over and over then sometimes catch, then be ok for the rest of the day.  Then the same performance again the next day.  When removing the dizzy just pull it away nice and slowly, make sure it all comes away in one piece.

 

Also...

 

Remove the fuel pump and have a look in the tank for any crud, also remove the sock and make sure its not clogged with crap. With the sock removed give the pump a few gentle shakes incase any crap has made its way inside. You might be surprised what comes out...

 

Good luck. And remember next time you break down, before you start the cursing and swearing its still better to be broken down in a Rover than drive past in an Aldi.

[Skizzer]

I've ordered a new distributor but it won't come in time for Chumley. As you say, fitting it shouldn't be too hard but resetting the timing afterwards may be a giggle*. Still, I've got my father's old strobe light and it'll be a useful skill to acquire. Or, I'll end up with another broken car. Place your bets.

 

I'll have a look at the fuel pump and filter too, that's a good idea. The gauge doesn't work and I think I have a new sender somewhere (that came with the car) so I can try to fit that too.

[Noel Tidybeard]

Ok, thanks, that's very helpful! A new one is £265 from Rimmers, but I could easily have ended up spending much of that on replacing parts that weren't broken and didn't fix it.

 

Off to consult the HBOL on how difficult it is to swap out the distributor...

 

isnt someone(six cylinder?) breaking an range rover with possibly the same distributor?

[Skizzer]

Missed that if so... The injected engines and the post-1985 carb engines have different distributors from mine though, so it would be a bit of a long shot. Ta though.

[phil_lihp]

Remember that the more times it cuts out, the more opportunities you have to get out and admire it.

[barrett]

This is just gorgeous, these early ones really do look fabulous. I'd happily trade some of my old 'interesting' bilge for one of these

[daveb47]

One of mine decided to do its thing in entrance to Rotherhithe tunnel in London,was stuck for about 20 mins before it would restart.

Traffic jams it caused were horrendous but were nothing to those that occured when i was decended on by several armed police cars at other end,got out of car on ground & everything searched.

Seems car had a diferent reg no. at each end from new,1 digit out.& being IRA bomber days police panicked.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I had a 1979 633CSi that would do this - run perfectly but then fail to start when left for 20 mins or so. Once cooled enough it would start and run but them go through a power loss phase. It was the coil windings in the Bosch distributor that would go open circuit at a certain temp so I swapped it ou...sorry, replaced it with a good used one. Sorted.

[Skizzer]

Help please!

 

Rover SD1 V8 crankshaft pulley: WTAF?

 

I need to crank it round to TDC to swap the distributor. I'm expecting a BFO bolt that I can swing on to do this, like every other engine in Christendom. But no, there's just a tiny little bolt buried so deep in the back of the pulley that my fingers can't feel it:

 

 

Flash on the photo makes it look a lot more accessible than it is.

 

Is that it? Or do I need some sort of tool to rotate the crank? Maybe something that slots into those three holes in the pic? Can't find such a tool online.

 

By the way, I've taken the plugs out and tried hauling on the fan belt and crank pulley, which got maybe 10 degrees of rotation and that's it. Or maybe the fanbelt slipped and I imagined the rotation.

 

Grumpy now. Any ideas?

[Tickman]

Turn it over on the starter and recheck?

[Skizzer]

I did try that and felt a bit of an idiot as I only had a 1 in 360 chance of being within one degree of TDC. But maybe I just need to be more patient?

 

Doesn't seem like a very elegant solution though...

[Guest Breadvan72]

I can see that trying the chancy starter method might lead to even more swearing and random violence than you get in Jane Austen.

[Dave_Q]

Socket on a bit of extension?

 

I don't have any experience of this particular engine, but on every other engine I've seen that bolt in the middle of the pulley would be the one to turn.

[Guest Breadvan72]

Autoshite is surely in a happy place when there are two threads about slightly foutu SD1s on page one. 

 

 

Could you use an emaciated starveling child chimney sweep to climb in and get it?   You do still have those in Wales, I assume. 

[Guest Hooli]

I'd go with the deep socket/extension bar idea too. Pretty sure that's what I did when I timed up the V8 LR I had once, I don't remember any hassles so the normal way must have worked.

[Skizzer]

Thanks chaps, I'll persevere with trying to get a socket on it unless anyone else comes up with a better plan. Good to know I'm not going mad and missing something obvious.

 

God only knows what size socket fits, the odds of me having the right Whitworth deep socket or extension bar combo might be even worse than starter motor roulette.