The Rover-Landers of BC

what are the series rover guys out there getting for mpg ? my 2.25 petrol 88 is not doing to good in the mileage department , i was wondering if there is something i can be focusing on to improve my mpg without spending a huge amount of cash doing it . just wondering what people out there have done to improve theirs ... thanks troy

Depends on what you are hoping to get. In my 109m the most I ever got was 19+ mpg but usually 18 mpg. (Sorry! I have to say it. IMPERIAL GALLONS.) The worst I ever got was probably south of 10 mpg (7 - 8?) but that was lots of hills and where it wasn't, was at speeds of 70 to 75 mph for LONG stretches. I was afraid to calculate it.
Make sure your brakes aren't dragging, including your park brake.
Make sure your tires are properly inflated. Are they road biased or great huge knobby, fuel sucking boots?
Electronic ignition helps I expect.
Electric fan in place of the one that sucks fuel to keep it turning all the time.
Free wheeling hubs, unlocked and T'case in Hi 2wd.
U joints in good shape and greased, not dragging.
Slip joints greased.
Carb properly tuned.
No restrictions in intake hose or air cleaner.
No vacuum leaks.
Weights in distributor are lubricated and "free".
Timing set properly.
Take off the roof rack.
Take off the mud flaps.
Reduce weight. The more excess weight you pack around, the more fuel you are going to use.
Larger than stock exhaust system. 1 1/2" or 1 3/4" work well and fit easily, you don't have to go as big as 2".
Drive it like an old granny. In my 88, when I was much younger, I ALWAYS drove it like I had to prove something; chirping the tires at every light and into second, slamming shifts, accelerating as quick as possible, speeding. Got 12 mph but 18 when I drove better.
Slow down when approaching a red light so you don't have to come to a stop.

My SII 88 with a Solex carb, no locking hubs and electronic ignition (no overdrive) will get up to 24mpg (imperial gallons) on the highway. 16 or 18 around town.
I keep the highway speeds to 80 km/h max. The engine is a SIII unit with a fresh rebuild.

Tall 16 inch tires helped a great deal as they improve overall gearing.

Paul.

wow 24 i could only wish , did you notice much difference with the electronic distributer ? what brand and where did you purchase it ? iam running a 29.5 inch tall tire right now 235 85 probabley would help some also . i was looking at purchasing an overdrive thinking that would help.

Hi Troy

1962 Dormobile 32 inch tires (Nylon tube type street bias), Single barrel webber carb, no overdrive ( way to many traffic lights on the Island highway to make it worthwhile), oil bath air filter, stock fan, 185.F. thermastat, free wheeling hubs, stock distributor, everything is tuned up and running as it should. I get 15-18 around town and up to 22 on the highway if I stay around 55 mph (which is also easiest on the ears). I drive it easy. (Imperial gallons).
If your rover is tuned up properly you would probably benefit from bigger tires.
A overdrive will not get you better milage but you can talk to your passengers and it will be a much more relaxed drive.

Check your speedometer as it may not be reading correctly or may even be the wrong one as they do get swapped around a bit between rovers. 88s and 109s are different.

Victor

Yes, taller tires help, 16" in 235 85 are the equivalent of the stock 7.50 16 size on 109's and they have identical gearing and engine to your 88 so aren't over taxing it.

Keep the speed to something reasonable and don't worry so much about slowing down on hills will help.

Your odometer has to be checked for proper calibration too or your mpg calculations are a waste of time.

By all accounts an 88 with 2.25 petrol should return something in the low to mid twenties.

what kind of static timing are you guys running ? mine has 8 to 1 head ive had it anywhere from 6 btdc to tdc now and it seems to like tdc best , do you find the weber carb freezes up in the winter or vapour locks in the summer ? i was thinking of taking the zenith off and looking for a solex . the carb is for sure part of the issue iam thinking , i have put two kits in it , it runs ok but could be better . i have changed intake and exhaust gasket last week wondering if there was a vacuum leak . i do have alot of hills here in the kootenays i know that doesnt help but its getting terrible gas mileage . taller tires would also help but was concerned about putting a 235 85 on non 109 wheels and turning interference because of the offset . i do have a set of 15s off my series 3 i could put some taller tires on them but then only thing you can get are 9.5 wide .

My opinion is that the Zenith is the best original carb to have on it. They don't tend to freeze or vapour lock and have the best power to fuel use ratio as far as I'm concerned. It isn't winter that causes the freezing, it is temps around 10 C to -1 C especially with high humidity. I don't think the Kootenays have anything referred to as "High" humidity do they? Yes, the carb has to be properly set-up. No leaks of fuel or air. Mine was leaking air around the throttle shaft but was okay 'til I tried to fix it. It is rumoured that they have a dreaded "Carb warp" issue making it so the top gasket won't seal. The two halves are then lapped, "sanded smooth", on a piece of FINE sandpaper laid on a piece of glass to keep it flat. That fixes it but don't do it 'til you check to see if yours is in fact "warped".

You want to see "carb freezing" just install a single barrel Weber!

Vapour lock is more of a fuel line issue rather than carb. Easily solved, even at high altitude with ethanol rich fuels by installing an electric fuel pump (4-6 psi) close to the tank. Set you back about $50 from CT or Lordco.

With the hills a larger diameter tire will effectively reduce your power. Maybe stick with the smaller tires for now. Make sure your tires are properly inflated radial tires for lower rolling resistance, better traction, ride, handling and fuel economy. Check the other things as described and your fuel economy will show a marked difference I'm sure.

Is your engine the pollution controlled Series 3 engine from 1972 -74? The book says 0 BTDC but 6 BTDC seems to make them run best overall. Check inside the dizzy to make sure the weights are free and moving properly.

the motor is a 64 , rebuilt years ago by original owner so its not 100 percent , i gave it a compression test before putting it in i had 130 all across down from what it was supposed to be but all even and its been sitting for years . i was hoping after running it for a bit it might seal up a little but it runs suprisingly well. the zenith works well except for a hole in the fuel curve off idle , ive dicked around with the accelerator pump had it apart , changed the piston with another used one i had , it works but still has a dead spot off idle , which is really bothersome more than anything . adjusted the lever to next hole still not perfect . i had the timing at 6 btdc but retarded it a little to tdc , do you set yours with a test light ( static ) or a timing light ? i have not checked the weights and i will this weekend when i get a chance . maybe i will put an electric pump on it because come summer this thing is horrible for vapour locking , i hate depending on electric stuff but i guess i can always carry a spare mechanical pump . this is the only vehicle i own and has been my daily for 6 years , i was thinking about a 2.5 na diesel conversion for the fuel economy but i not sold , the 2.25 is gutless enough . anyone have one in a series ? do you like it or hate it ? kind of want to keep it all rover , i know theres other swaps out there but if i was going to put a small block chevy in it i would have bought a blazer.

Hi Troy

My timing is set at about 5 degrees advanced (BTDC). 8-1 comp. The best way to set the timing on these old style engines is to get it close with a timing light or a test light (static) then go for a drive. Put it in 4th gear at 30mph. and floor it. If you hear pinking (Rattling) back the timing off a little and retest. If you do not hear any pinking advance the timing untill you do hear pinking then retard the timing untill the pinking just disapears. This will be the perfect spot and probably very close to what the book recomends. This method removes any chance of a worn timing chain or poor compression effecting the setting.
The nice thing about using a timing light is you can check if the advance weights are working when you rev it up, the timing will go way up to maybe 35 degrees at a very fast engine speed. 45degrees with the vacume hooked up.
When using a timing light plug the vacume advance at the carb and idle the engine dead slow 500rpm or so to keep the weights from advancing the timing and giving an over advanced false reading.

Single barrel webbers do ice up, so do solexs thats why land rover offered a optional electric heater on solexs that went to cold climates, it comes on automatically when the choke cable is pulled out. MGBs also had a electric carb heater.
Our 2005 Chevrolet Aveo was recalled 2 times to try and cure throttle body icing it was so bad that the throttle would jam. (The engine never stalled like the landrover does when the carb ices) The 2nd Aveo icing cure was running a heater hose through the throttle body base. So this icing problem is still very common even today.

I think you need 109 rims to mount 235x85x16 the 88 rims are to narrow.

With the engine shut off take the air cleaner top off the carb and barely move the throttle you should have a squirt of gas going down the carb throat as soon as the throttle is opened even just a tiny amount. If no gas gets pumped right away you will have a flat spot.

Gregs right vapour lock is a fuel line problem it is way worse at high altitude and in hot weather. The cure is to add a electric fuel pump down near the tank. I fixed my vapor lock problem with a Purolter flow through electric pump. You need a model that allows the regular mechanical pump to suck through the electric pump so you do not have to run the electric if it is not needed. I left my mechanical pump on and have a toggle switch for the electric when it is needed ie when parking for 10 minutes and trying to restart in hot weather. Another benefit is the webber has a very tiny float chamber if you have to floor it up a long hill the rover will run out of gas and start bucking wildly, the electric pump keeps enough fuel in the float bowl so this does not happen. (The rover mechanical pump is kind of weak)

It might not hurt to check your compression again now that you have run it a bit. Low compression motors get worse fuel economy. 130 is kind of low.

Any way good luck getting it running better.

Victor 1962 Dormobile

thanks for the input guys , my rover does the same thing let it sit for 10 min in the summer and your pulling the fuel line off the carb to release the vapour lock out of the fuel line , I know it sounds stupid but it works , once its running its fine . I even put a fuel filter that has a pressure relief line on it that returns back to tank and mounted it near the carb , it helped a little . I will be buying an electric fuel pump and doing the same thing any info on the pump and where you picked it up would be great . iam going to recheck the compression this weekend and maybe advance the timing a little . ive already been playing with the accelerator pump and there is a big hole in the fuel curve , I don't know what else I can do to remedy it after the thing warms up its not as bad . ive done a ton of holley carbs throughout the years , I can build one in my sleep and have it work flawlessly but I must say this zenith really irritates me , I feel like giving it the cement floor and sledge hammer rebuild . thanks for the input again

Hi Troy

I will look up the part # for the purolater fuel pump later today. They make many differant ones. The one I have works positive or negative ground ( just reverse the wires) and is a suck through type which allows you to keep the original mechanical pump in place.
Mount it on a piece of rubber or the buzzing will drive you crazy. It also has to have a filter before the pump.

Victor 1962 Dormobile

thank you ,where did you mount it ? the frame or bulkhead ?

Hi Troy
The Purolator fuel pump # is PRO 12s. It looks like Purolator has been taken over by Facet, the pumps still look the same but I can not find a cross referance #. It is a small square metal cube with a red and a black wire. They make about 10 differant models. The one I have is as I said a suck through version so you can just use it as a helper to the mechanical rover pump.

They need to be rubber mounted as low on the frame as possable near the tank for best results with a filter in front of them. I have used 4 psi pumps and 7 psi pumps with the webber and both worked fine.

When you add a electric feul pump I believe you also are supposed to add a roll over switch which will shut the pump off in case of a accident. They are available at auto parts store or auto wreckers. They will either be mounted under the dash or in the trunk of north american cars. They have a button to push for resetting them. Just wire them in line with the fuel pump.

Talk with you later Victor

thanks a lot victor will check it out this weekend