• Welcome to the Land Rover UK Forums

    You are currently viewing the site as a guest and some content may not be available to you.

    Registration is quick and easy and will give you full access to the site and allow you to ask questions or make comments and join in on the conversation. If you would like to register then please Register Now

Electronic Ignition

motiztab

Accelerating Away
Hi, newbe here with my first Landrover, its a S3 88 Petrol. Now I got this off my brother in law, he has said that they all smoke a bit on start up but this should clear is he right? or is this a case of Valve Seals gone??
Also is there a electronic ignition system made by anybody that would replace the contact set?
 
Cant help with Electronic ignition,but mine smokes a little on startup,(most of this "smoke" is steam-esp at this time of year)
If it clears quickly then im sure its nothing to worry about.
I spent the first few months of ownership thinking mine was about to explode(due to the noise),catch fire(due to the smell on long runs) or fall apart(due to err the way its put together).
2000 miles later its still fine-just dont compare it to other cars-its much more fun.:D
 
Hi there, They do smoke a bit when the stem seals go on the valves, this will clear when they start up and burn the oil that seeps into the bores. It all comes down to how much wear there is in the valve guides and seals and the rest of the engine. My mate had a 88 petrol that would chuck loads of smoke out when it started but ran like a dream. he did have to put a litre of oil in the thing once a week though. It comes down to what you can live with in the end. If you do want to repair it, you may need new valves, guides and stem seals.

There is company that does electronic ignition for Land rovers, try this link

http://www.famousfour.com/acatalog/ORDER___Application_Table.html

But for that price, you could buy allot of points and condensers. I think the Montego petrol distributer can be swapped and made to fit! anyone know anything about this?

Happy Spannering,
Dave
 
Hi, newbe here with my first Landrover, its a S3 88 Petrol. Now I got this off my brother in law, he has said that they all smoke a bit on start up but this should clear is he right? or is this a case of Valve Seals gone??
Also is there a electronic ignition system made by anybody that would replace the contact set?

the engines are low stressed so can take a lot of abuse and lack of maintenance so a lot will keep on going hence the comment "all of them do that" is due to lack of proper maintenece rather than an inherent design.

Two possibilities; use a Maplins ignition amp, £ 10, that reduces the current going through the points so they last much mcuh longer or something like lumentions optical igntion, £ 150. There are others too.
 
I've got the Aldon system ~£65 and it works well - direct replacement for the contacts. It works better with a sports coil. You don't need to buy a boy racer's coil - just the Lucas sports will do.

With respect to the smoke, are you sure that your mixture is correct? Once you've set up everything else, check it with a gas tester or an accurate rev counter and use the method in the manual. If turning the mixture screw doesn't seem to have much effect the you may need a carb rebuild, or if it's a Zenith, then you probably need to do the "fix".
 
Got a Newtronic system - costs about £65 I think. Had it fitted to my original engine and swapped it over to my new one without any additional tuning. Works really well. Been on there for over three years and I haven't had to touch it. Also got one on my Honda and my Suzuki. Never had any problems with any.

http://www.newtronic.co.uk

Mine smokes a lot on start up. It is the valve guides. My first engine didn't do it at all. It's on my list of things to do...
 
Thanks, now I know where to look.

Couple more questions

Can the valve guide seals be changed without taking the valves out?

Whats the carb "fix"
 
Hi motiztab! welcome to the forum!

You'll have to have the head off to sort the valves out I'm afraid.

I would recommend that one of your first purchases would be the 'Green Bible', the official workshop manual. Haynes book is okay, but only up to a point.

Other good purchases would be the parts book and the optional parts book. Usually can find them on fleabay, or at Brooklands books. You'll be surprised how handy they are.
 
The Zenith carb body has a tendency to warp out of true. It effectively means that fuel can leak past seals giving a tendency to a rich mixture. There's lots of guides as to how to do the fix from simply plugging a particular hole to taking the carb apart and gently rubbing the two halves down until they're true.
 
Back
Top Bottom