Member Since: 22 Sep 2014
Location: Hereford
Posts: 2284
Re: Engine Oil
MXB wrote:
Iceman what engine oil do you use as discussed before My D3 has done 230k miles and I did an oil change with the recommended Castrol Magnatex but wonder if I should be looking at something different to take account of the high mileage?
I just left it in the hands of the garage to be honest I mainly booked it in for a service so they could look over it and tell me I had or hadn't bought a goose!! But from now on i'll be servicing it myself and i'll look into different oils then.
Silly question but have you searched on here for oils for high mileage D3's? If so and you've had no luck then maybe start a new thread as i'd be keen to find this out myself
12th Apr 2015 5:34 pm
Iceman08
Member Since: 22 Sep 2014
Location: Hereford
Posts: 2284
I've spent a few hours here and there sorting out some different things with Vinnie recently! The first being the brakes, I have now thoroughly cleaned and re greased the brakes all around, I then adjusted the EPB using Bodsy's brake bible, which now means no more squealing after use
Having too much kit in the boot also got the better of me so I decided everything now needed a home! I took out the original jack and put it in my shed and replaced it with my old D1 bottle jack. With a bit of fiddling around I got it to fit in the foam insert that the original jack went in
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And then a picture with the tool kit put back in place, as you can see the rubber strap is too long now so I ran it through itself and then back up through a ready made hole up on the left hand side
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I then had enough room to squeeze in my bottle of 2SO before refitting the cover
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Next I focused my attention to the other side, as I don't have a detachable tow bar at the moment I thought i'd fill this void with some other bits I have lying around. In the thick blue carrier bag is a set of jump leads, then obviously an un opened 2L bottle of water and in the little black pouch is a foldable shovel
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And then lastly in with a bottle of screen wash before fitting the cover back on
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I have a strop and shackles stored inside the rear storage bins so I decided i'd store my other tow rope in the box under the bonnet where the brake servo is. I also stored my spare walking boots, walking poles and a bag of other everyday essentials behind the second row seats in the third row footwells! I didn't take any pictures though!
Last edited by Iceman08 on 2nd Aug 2017 1:49 pm. Edited 2 times in total
12th Apr 2015 6:15 pm
Iceman08
Member Since: 22 Sep 2014
Location: Hereford
Posts: 2284
A couple of other bits, not so much maintenance though..........spent the the easter Saturday washing mine and the missus cars, trying out a few new detailing products i'd ordered! It was nice to give Vinnie his first PROPER clean in months, but it made me realise how much he needs a machine paint correction and a re seal.........so thats been added to my "to do list". Only two pictures though as I got too involved and forgot to take any more!!
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Easter Monday we went out for a drive and to investigate a couple of places before ending up at our local ish mountain for a spot of sunbathing 8)
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Last edited by Iceman08 on 2nd Aug 2017 1:54 pm. Edited 2 times in total
12th Apr 2015 6:45 pm
Iceman08
Member Since: 22 Sep 2014
Location: Hereford
Posts: 2284
And today in preparation for any upcoming maintenance my missus treated me to an early birthday present, Halfords Professional 200 piece socket set
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Last edited by Iceman08 on 2nd Aug 2017 1:55 pm. Edited 1 time in total
12th Apr 2015 6:50 pm
DiscoJake
Member Since: 23 Aug 2013
Location: Hereford
Posts: 1429
Nice pics of the Bluff not got out for ages now with lots of work on and the Mrs on crutches
Bet you'd just bought those sockets earlier when I saw you, had a big smile on your face
12th Apr 2015 9:14 pm
Iceman08
Member Since: 22 Sep 2014
Location: Hereford
Posts: 2284
Ha ha, the grin obviously gave it away!!!
It was busy up there Monday, possibly the busiest I've seen it! I've vowed to never drive the Abergavenny way up there EVER again.........head doing lane isn't the words!!!
Whats the Mrs done? Has she popped yet?!!!
12th Apr 2015 10:52 pm
DiscoJake
Member Since: 23 Aug 2013
Location: Hereford
Posts: 1429
She's got 2-3 weeks to go but could be anytime now, problem is its really hurting her pelvis and back hence the crutches
we've not been walking for 6 weeks now
By Abergavenny you mean the lane past Llanthony? Very narrow with not many passing spots then
13th Apr 2015 6:03 am
Iceman08
Member Since: 22 Sep 2014
Location: Hereford
Posts: 2284
Oh that can't be too nice for her But at the same time its very inconsiderate of her as you haven't been walking for 6 weeks!!!!
Yeah I meant the Llanthony road but I was being too lazy to explain myself properly! Last time we went down there was in my old car and during the Hay Festival, it was beyond a joke then! This time I thought it would be a lot quieter but I was massively wrong..........NEVER again!
13th Apr 2015 10:54 am
Iceman08
Member Since: 22 Sep 2014
Location: Hereford
Posts: 2284
Many of you may have seen this on my separate 'My split charge system' thread but I thought i'd add it here to keep all of my progress in one place!
As the weathers changing for the best I decided to install a split charge system to Vinnie mainly for running a coolbox/fridge whilst camping but to also charge phones and other bits too. After reading many other threads on here and getting some good advice regarding different methods (Iguana, Sailorboi & Nic Symonds) I decided I was going to use the T-max Split Charge System.
I'm not keen on adding extra bits to the cab of the D3 where they will be on view and pondered on a few locations to mount the T-max controller, eventually I decided for me the best location would be the upper glove box! So with this in mind I started working my way back from there towards the spare battery box under the bonnet. I drilled a small hole in the corner of the upper glove box and threaded the wires through, I then went on to route them behind the glove boxes.
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Then from the drivers side footwell I pushed a length of solder through to the passenger footwell to use as a pull through, taped the wires to it then pulled them back through.
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From here I ran them under the carpet and over to the grommet leading to the engine bay. As you can see I pushed a screwdriver through the grommet and nearly caused myself all sorts of issues
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I then replaced the screwdriver with the solder and pulled them through into the engine bay
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The red wire will be too short so I will extend this to reach the main battery. This is how I will use the controller when needed
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And when not in use I will just leave it tucked away like so
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I next moved my attention to building the rear panel that will house the 12v sockets and usb sockets. I pretty much copied another forum members (Nic Symons) design for this. Firstly I cut a piece of ply to fit inside the back of the rear drivers side cubby panel
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Then I marked out where I wanted all the items to go with a pencil and tape measure and started cutting/drilling. After I had marked out the rectangle hole for the volt gauge I then removed the ply and cut a bigger rectangle out of that too
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Until I had this
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On the back I fitted a fuse box screwed to the ply and set about wiring it all up.The blue wire and smaller wires going to the volt gauge are only temporary as I didn't have the right size cable to finish them
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I then hooked it up to a spare battery to test it all worked.........which it did
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Once I was happy it was all working I put the panel back into its location to see how it looked
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Next step is to source some small black screws to fit the socket surrounds on properly and then to get a yellow top Optima battery ordered as well as a battery clamp to fit the spare tray. Once that is in place I will measure up the length of cable needed from the aux battery to the rear and get my local auto electrical shop to make it up for me ready to be threaded onto it's final position.
After Bodsy telling me of the better grommet to use I pulled the cables back into the drivers footwell and fed them back into the engine bay via the new improved grommet
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I removed the siren for better access as I don't use it anyway and mounted an inline fuse holder to the inner wing behind it. I then went on to route the positive cable from the holder to the rear cubby, it still needs tidying up in the engine bay yet. The cable that was recommended was 16mm2, 110 amp.
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I ran it behind the foam near the pedals and down in the corner where I fed it all the way to the rear in a duct that already houses cables
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Under the little tunnel into the 2nd row area
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I decided to use one of the already threaded holes for my earth so I gave it a good clean up and attached my negative lead to it
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I've also taken delivery of this bad boy, so hopefully not long now and it'll all be up and running 8)
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I then mounted the two distribution boxes, I decided to mount them inside the rear quarter panel with a couple of nuts and bolts drilled through, checking what was behind the panel before drilling of course!!
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It was then time to fit the rear trim until I was left with this
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And then wired them up like so
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Then it was back to the engine bay, I mounted the solenoid inside the second battery box where there was an indent and fixed it with some bolts straight through the plastic
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I then ran one cable from the T-max controller and one larger cable from the solenoid through a conduit, cable tied above the engine cover and on to the main starter battery
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Same picture as before, I ran the positive cable from the solenoid, cable tied to the existing wiring loom and around by the wing where it'll eventually connect on to the aux battery
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Then I connected the main earth from the battery and the earth from the T-max controller to a ready made earth post
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I fitted an 80amp fuse and connected the other positive cable to it which will be the feed from the aux battery to the rear
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And then fitted the battery and connected it all up to reveal this
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IT WORKS 8)
Thats it, my split charge system compete
I tried to do a thorough write up as although there was loads of info on this nobody actually showed where they put everything or routed cables from start to finish..........and for someone like me pictures are much easier to understand than being told something!!
Edit: After Robbie's recommendation to further protect the positive cables where they are close to the brake pipes I decided to use the remaining split conduit I had left over to do this. Once they were wrapped I cable tied them to the existing wiring loom.
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I also added a little bit where the cables ran over the battery clamp of the main starter battery
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Then I refitted the alarm siren which I removed to make more space during the fitting/routing process. I don't have this siren plugged in as I rather the horn to sound, it's refitted more so just for storage!
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And then fitted the battery and clamp back in before joining the terminals back up
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All slightly neater looking now and that bit more safer!
Last edited by Iceman08 on 2nd Aug 2017 2:06 pm. Edited 4 times in total
2nd May 2015 11:15 pm
Iceman08
Member Since: 22 Sep 2014
Location: Hereford
Posts: 2284
After finding water under the passenger footwell carpet I decided i'd do the easiest mod first to see if it eliminated the problem..........unfortunately it had already been done! Should have checked before ordering the kit
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I went ahead and fitted the new patches to the bottom holes and made double sure with some gaffa tape as well, maybe overkill but thats my middle name! I then added some more gaffa tape over the already taped top holes!
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Then I fitted all the new clips
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I did notice in this picture some white behind the screen, I wonder if it's damp getting in somewhere as the other side doesn't have it
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Last edited by Iceman08 on 7th Aug 2017 12:12 pm. Edited 2 times in total
4th May 2015 10:53 am
Iceman08
Member Since: 22 Sep 2014
Location: Hereford
Posts: 2284
After noticing a squeal in the engine area somewhere while idling I was told on here it'll more than likely be the aux belt tensioner. I ordered one as well as a new auxiliary belt as it makes sense to change it while i'm in there, and then set about swapping them over. To remove the fan I used a spanner on the nut with a piece of copper pipe slid over to extend the handle and a large adjustable spanner on the main part.
While holding the small spanner/copper pipe I gave the large spanner a sharp hit with a hammer to shock it loose and it came undone first time
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I took this picture incase I forgot how the belt went!!
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Old one off
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New one on and torqued up to 47Nm
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I then used a breaker bar in the 3/8 hole to move the tensioner enough to slip the new belt on
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Compared to other pictures i've seen on here mine looks actually quite good
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And lastly new vs old
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Last edited by Iceman08 on 7th Aug 2017 12:20 pm. Edited 2 times in total
8th May 2015 5:15 pm
Iceman08
Member Since: 22 Sep 2014
Location: Hereford
Posts: 2284
Since buying my D3 it's bugged me that the upper console mat was missing, so I decided it was time to fix this!
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Much neater looking now 8)
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Last edited by Iceman08 on 7th Aug 2017 12:25 pm. Edited 1 time in total
9th May 2015 9:41 pm
tayaste
Member Since: 15 May 2013
Location: Chester
Posts: 7633
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
I mainly booked it in for a service so they could look over it and tell me I had or hadn't bought a goose!! But from now on i'll be servicing it myself and i'll look into different oils then.
not got out for ages now with lots of work on and the Mrs on crutches 
