Young chap at work has a 1994 Disco 3.9 FXI auto ( LHD import ) Could anyone tell us of any known failure items on a vehicle of this model/age, which would cause an increase in its fuel consumtion?
Can anyone please offer any suggestions as to what can be done, modifications, re-chipping, re-mapping or after market add-ons etc, etc, which would help to improve the fuel economy?
I am of course, assuming that the vehicles power unit/gbox are in good condition and working at optimum at this time.
Thank you.
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was whas the consumption, and whats it dropped to? To be honest I am suprised he noticed, its not the most economical beast. Where was it imported from?
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< Ulla>
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Is it simply stating the obvious that anyone who buys a Land-Rover V8 should have no concerns about fuel consumption - it will be horrendous - those driven spiritedly won't even see double figures!
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Fuel mileage was always number one subject in my day whenever two or more Rover V8 owners were gathered together. But there was always an acceptance that if you liked the engine or the car you lived with subsidising Shell, or whoever.
Rupert's right - anyone concerned about fuel consumption shouldn't be sitting behind a Rover V8, esp in a Discovery or a Range Rover.
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Recipe for wasting fuel:
1 Use a petrol engine which has a throttle, low compression and uses a constant air/fuel ratio.
2 Find a big old one.
3 Put it in a heavy vehicle.
4 Make sure that vehicle has a high rolling resistance by having a complex drive train.
5 Use an ancient auto box which wastes huge amounts of energy in the torque converter due to high engine torque.
Horrible.
659.
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Petel
Two things stand out as possible causes of a sudden drop in MPG [GPM?] on a [BMW] V8.
One is the coolant temp sensor for the ECU and the other is the vacuum hose to the fuel-rail pressure regulator on the left rear of the "U."
Of course; if unskilled "fiddling" has been going on; it could be anything.
Cold weather is the biggest factor in consumption on these. Low tyre and transmission oil temps will cut fully-warm figures in half. Short runs in cold temps will give 5-8mpg; on a long run, it'll see 15-20.
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Surely, it's that horrible old Buick V8?
659.
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Hello Screwloose.
Thank you for your input. Thought I could rely upon you to come up with something useful.
I know nothing about Land Rovers or BMW,s so I will assume that the same engine is used by both. Will pass on your pionters to the owner at work this afternoon.
Thanks again, Petel
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659
Buick did build it, for a while, in the '50s - but who did they get [seize] it from....?
Americans wouldn't have chosen to design a light-alloy V8 when everyone was using methanol anti-freeze. It caused enough problems over here - and we were well-used to alloy Italian units.
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It was Buick(GM)designed and manufactured-quickly dropped when Ford designed an engine of similar capacity that weighed 6 lb. more and was made of cast-iron-simpler to cast and machine.
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And one of the world's great engines, IMHO of course. Nothing horrible about them, change the oil regularly, keep the antifreeze strong and they'll go on forever. Not the most economical but sound gorgeous with the right exhaust system. I have a 4.6 in my SD1 with a 4-barrel carb and manual box and get 18-25 mpg even when I enjoy myself.
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Deleted - reason why:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=33415
Edited by Webmaster on 06/12/2007 at 02:52
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The Discovery never had the BMW V8, it was always the Rover V8 - an obselescent Buick design put back into production for the Rover P5B.
The Range-Rover had a BMW V8, in between Rover V8 and Jaguar V8.
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The design of that engine was war booty from BMW [intended/built for a Glas IIRC] that was given to Buick - hence the comment.
The irony was that when BMW bought Land-Rover, they finally got their engine back - for a while.
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The design of that engine was war booty from BMW [intended/built for a Glas IIRC]
>>
Thanks, I never knew that although I was aware that Bristol got a straight six "from" BMW which went in their cars, the ACs which preceded the Cobra and various specials.
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Thanks I never knew that although I was aware that Bristol got a straight six "from" BMW
I think Bristol "borrowed" blueprints for whole cars from BMW. The first Bristols looked just like the pre-war BMWs.
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It has just been suggested that the viscous coupling of the fan/fans on these vehicles
is/are a failure item, known to seize and cause drag on the engine, causing many owners to convert to electric fans. Can anyone please offer confirmation on this?
Thank you.
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Certainly viscous fan couplings on other cars were prone to failure and conversion to electric fan(s) will give a small economy benefit.
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Yes they can fail, easy to change to an electric fan though.
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Certainly viscous fan couplings on other cars were prone to failure and conversion to electric fan(s) will give a small economy benefit.
If I remember correctly, when temperature-sensing viscous fan drives were being developed in the early 80's for Rover, Jaguar and BMW, the engineers I worked with reckoned that size of fan absorbed up to 7 BHP, so a useful saving if the fan cut out unless needed for cooling (not to mention the noise reduction on drive-by).
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Viscous fans did save power compared to the earlier fixed drive fans but a viscous coupling isn't particularly efficient so an electric fan is even more efficient - there's still a power loss driving the alternator but it's less.
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