stevejhunt
Member Since: 26 Sep 2008
Location: Castleford
Posts: 129
  
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Wish I was the kind of guy that looked at reliability ratings when buying a car. It would have saved me an absolute fortune over the years. Vehicles are much more than reliability. Its a heart over head thing.
Had an Audi TT 225 (better looking than a Porke 944) and that car was an absolute mare - common dash pod fault and electrics all over the place. It was a top drive though and a proper looker. Come to think of it isn't it same stable as a Seat? Had two Freebies including the notorious 1.8 Powertrain petrol and not a spot of bother. Loved my black TD4 Sport but just had to upgrade to a D3. Only had it two weeks but I'm sold and wouldn't change it for anything. For me the main thing is it says Land Rover on the bonnet and I'll love it whatever faults it develops (bit like SWMBO).
As the Yanks used to say in one of their automobile adverts - I'd rather push a Land Rover than drive a Seat!! I don't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member...........
06 Buck Blue Disco 3 TDV6
84 Marine Blue Series 3 2.25 petrol
06 Silver Audi A4 Cabriolet (the wife's baby)
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 11th Oct 2008 9:09 pm |
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Vanguard
Member Since: 18 Mar 2006
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 127
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zaphod wrote:Vanguard,
Glad to be of assistance 
I was pleasantly surprised at the LR bulbs only being 80p - must be the cheapest thing to fix on the D3 
So I now carry a couple of LR spares in the car. 8)
Interesting post script to this. Later in the day after the LRA guy had been, we went out and had more problems and the same thing the next day. It settled down in the evening but today I replaced all the stop & tail lights and so far so good. If I get any more problems I'll get it booked in but fingers crossed. Interesting to note that I think the LR bulbs were cheaper than the Halfords ones!
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| 13th Oct 2008 10:03 pm |
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colinm
Member Since: 06 Oct 2008
Location: Derbyshire
Posts: 47
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It's interesting that the RR sport, or at least the one my neighbour bought recently has LED tail lights etc. These are much easier to drive not only because they are more efficient and need less drive current but they don't have the problem of the initial inrush current at first turn-on. Incandescent bulbs when cold have a resistance only about 1/8th of their resistance when running so they draw a very big initial current. I wonder if the D3 design was intended to get LEDs that somehow didn't reach production and that it is this inrush (that the circuitry was not intended to cope with) that is causing the glitches and whether LR have done something (like including a current limiting resistor) with its bulbs to compensate.
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| 13th Oct 2008 10:46 pm |
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10forcash
Member Since: 09 Jun 2005
Location: Ubique
Posts: 16534
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No, most LAMPS (bulbs go in yer garden!) are rated for 14.2 - 14.5 VDC maximum, the D3 can run at up to 15.5 VDC, which will cause premature shedding of the tungsten filament in the lamp, the cheaper the lamp, the thinner the tungsten filament... Lamps from the Dealer or other 'aware' manufacturers are capable of the higher voltage and therefore will not fail prematurely
BTW, Auto's have 60% higher brake lamp failure incidence than manuals 
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| 13th Oct 2008 10:55 pm |
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AndrewS
Tarquin of the Desert
Member Since: 06 May 2005
Location: Y...... because I can
Posts: 10438
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Well both my brake light bulbs have blown. Only got the high level one working now  So far I have not had any problems, well apart from the odd vehicle that wants to get into my boot when I apply the brakes. In the Beginning there was nothing, which exploded.
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| 13th Oct 2008 11:07 pm |
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colinm
Member Since: 06 Oct 2008
Location: Derbyshire
Posts: 47
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10forcash wrote:No, most LAMPS (bulbs go in yer garden!) are rated for 14.2 - 14.5 VDC maximum, the D3 can run at up to 15.5 VDC, which will cause premature shedding of the tungsten filament in the lamp, the cheaper the lamp, the thinner the tungsten filament... Lamps from the Dealer or other 'aware' manufacturers are capable of the higher voltage and therefore will not fail prematurely
BTW, Auto's have 60% higher brake lamp failure incidence than manuals
Strange - Osram and Philips still seem to think they make bulbs - should someone tell them? 
If the disco 3 runs its electrics up to 15.5v what battery technology is it using as none of the currently common lead-acid technologies (i.e. AGM) goes above 14.8v.?
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| 14th Oct 2008 9:24 am |
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Gareth
Site Moderator
Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26708
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Its a calcium battery.
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| 14th Oct 2008 9:39 am |
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BrumLee
Member Since: 07 Mar 2008
Location: West Midlands
Posts: 1360
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10forcash wrote:BTW, Auto's have 60% higher brake lamp failure incidence than manuals
Depends whether you use your handbrake at traffic lights instead of sitting with it in gear and footbrake on for a quick get-away 
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| 14th Oct 2008 9:55 am |
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colinm
Member Since: 06 Oct 2008
Location: Derbyshire
Posts: 47
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Thanks - OK the calcium lead construction became common as the 'maintenance-free' batteries introduced in the 70's and because of its lower maximum voltage requirement caused some problems when retro-fitted to older cars set up for antimony lead batteries. Running 15.5v on one of these will rapidly kill the battery. I suspect that the 15.5v spec is an absolute maximum rating not a normal running voltage. It would fit with the electrics surviving an alternator regulator failure (hopefully!)
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| 14th Oct 2008 10:10 am |
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10forcash
Member Since: 09 Jun 2005
Location: Ubique
Posts: 16534
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current (  ) Lead-Calcium batteries have moved on a bit.... the main problem with them is that they do not charge easily at low ambient temperatures, to compensate for this the charge voltage is raises up to a max. of 15.5 as the temperature drops. The main reason for using these batteries is the higher capacity for a given frame size - more amps per cubic metre
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| 14th Oct 2008 5:08 pm |
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colinm
Member Since: 06 Oct 2008
Location: Derbyshire
Posts: 47
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But this is not novel to the D3. It is fairly normal practice, and has been for some time, to adjust the alternator regulator voltage slightly with ambient temperature. 15.5v would be appropriate for temperatures of -40C - not something a UK car is likely to see.
If they wanted the best in lead-acid technology why did they not adopt the AGM construction as BMW and MB have? This construction offers a much greater tolerance to deep discharge and, significant for an off-road vehicle, substantially better shock and vibration performance.
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| 14th Oct 2008 5:32 pm |
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countrywide
Member Since: 16 Sep 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 6019
 
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colinm wrote:But this is not novel to the D3. It is fairly normal practice, and has been for some time, to adjust the alternator regulator voltage slightly with ambient temperature. 15.5v would be appropriate for temperatures of -40C - not something a UK car is likely to see.
If they wanted the best in lead-acid technology why did they not adopt the AGM construction as BMW and MB have? This construction offers a much greater tolerance to deep discharge and, significant for an off-road vehicle, substantially better shock and vibration performance.
It is upto 15.5V and the Land Rover isn't just used in the UK it is used all over the world so the design takes this into account. Ultimately the fact the batteries and alternators don't fail in large number is proof the system works.
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| 14th Oct 2008 6:55 pm |
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10forcash
Member Since: 09 Jun 2005
Location: Ubique
Posts: 16534
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Charge voltage gets to 15.5VDC waaaaay before -40
As to why.... well at a guess, cost, size and the relatively low self-discharge rate compared to AGM & wet cell
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| 14th Oct 2008 6:58 pm |
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10forcash
Member Since: 09 Jun 2005
Location: Ubique
Posts: 16534
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countrywide wrote:It is upto 15.5V and the Land Rover isn't just used in the UK it is used all over the world so the design takes this into account. Ultimately the fact the batteries and alternators don't fail in large number is proof the system works.
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| 14th Oct 2008 6:59 pm |
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colinm
Member Since: 06 Oct 2008
Location: Derbyshire
Posts: 47
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But this is quite irrelevant in the context of the UK. Even if the system will run up to 15.5v in Murmansk in January it certainly shouldn't be reaching anything like that in the UK so how can this have an impact on bulb life on a UK based vehicle?
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| 14th Oct 2008 7:04 pm |
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