Vehicle preps

[Yorkshire Andy]

Its working got it running about half 10 last night

Just to bleed up the cooling circuit and refit the air filter...

Cost ignoring the ignition parts £150 ish which compared to the £400 to £800 quotes I got is a nice saving to be had for a few evenings graft

[Stasher]

[quote="yorkshirewolf"]I have a three day course in rural Wales and because of the drive i thought i'd give the vehicle a check over, whilst doing it my wife came out and asked what i was doing, when i explained she said 'well you only had it serviced a couple of months ago' -not really prepper mentality!

For me a quick check and top up (if needed) of oil, coolant, washer fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid, and a check there was nothing amiss in the engine bay (turns out the fuse box lid was loose - soon rectified with a couple of cable ties) is just a 'done thing' before a decent journey? -Like checking, topping up and charging the battery before winter?

Is it the case that what i think of as basic vehicle maintenance checks have become so uncommon? and at what point does something cease becoming a normal expectation 'just something you do' (like having a wash or locking the door) and become a prep? -something you do as a preventative or preparatory measure?

Is there even a difference?

What does everyone think of as vehicle preps and are they 'just something you do?'[/quote]
Recently I have started to drive 400miles fairly regularly, solo. Alpha male insists on thoroughly checking the vehicle the day before (including tyre pressures). We have comprehensive breakdown cover, but frankly I do not want to find myself on a dark road, broken down without mobile signal just because my oil needed topping up. He's not keen on the idea either

Prior to any fairly major journey (I spose 60 miles plus) we do the vehicle checks, always have. It makes sense

[JOE90]

Checks are important,goes without saying. As for modern cars being more reliable....I think they just have different faults. Sensors instead of points,condensors or something else. Old cars are Simple enough to diagnose and if need be,bodge to limp you home. Modern cars need a code reader and as in the case of my modern VW, some faults can't be read or found even by VW. I have an 18 year old Vauxhall Frontera that in 3 years has never failed me. Can be serviced with normal tools and runs on anything 'oily' I choose to put in the tank. Give me an older car any day. I also think that modern cars are needlessly complicated because everyone 'needs' AC,12 disc cd autochangers,massive wheels, electric everything to move stuff like Windows,mirrors,seats etc etc. This also makes them heavy,so that today's Fiesta weighs as much as a Granada did years ago. To be honest cars from the 90s seem to be happy medium for me,especially diesels. Diesels of that era just need one wire to run. Lots of good Diesel engines came about in the late 80s-90s. Land Rover 200/300 tdi, Peugeot XUD, Vauxhall/Isuzu 1.7 td and VW ASZ diesel. Tough and usually with a Bosch pump to run veg oil.

[shocker]

I can second that on the Landy 200/300 diesels. I ran those on many oils for years and years. Theres no need to make bio diesel with the methanol nastiness, just make sure the oil is well filtered, to below 5 microns ideally.

I picked up used frying oil from restaurants and pubs for free and had a couple of dustbins with taps on different levels. I bought filter bags on fleabay, 100 micron for pouring into the top bin,20 to run through to the lower bin then 5 in a large funnel into 25 litre cans. Then added up to 5% unleaded petrol in winter. Latterly I heated the fuel filters with various methods,12v bike handlebar heater pads or heater plug into filter head. This took care of things in winters but they are generally mild where I am.

The pre 98 engines were best as they were mechanical pumps not fly by wire. I even ran on engine oil and petrol mix to get me home once. Legally one must keep a log of DIY fuel as duty is payable over a certain quantity. The only problems I ever heard of on these landys, pug XUD or mercedes was O ring or seal breakdown and fitting viton replacements took care of that. Never had need of dual tanks or anything fancy. In colder climes dual tanks to start on derv or more preheating and splitcharge battery may be needed.

Right now I am running an 87 range rover classic with a petrol V8 with EFI injection. Hopefully the faraday cage effect will protect this electronic system from EMF if the SHTF. Late model Discoveries can be had cheap these days as the bodies rotted like mad, so if you are into welding, a very versatile, simple to maintain vehicle is within reach. They are a reasonable daily drive too.

I am currently looking into making ethanol fuel for the RRC, however I get the same MPG from the V8 manual that I got on an automatic 300TDI.

[unsure]

I can second that on the Landy 200/300 diesels. I ran those on many oils for years and years. Theres no need to make bio diesel with the methanol nastiness, just make sure the oil is well filtered, to below 5 microns ideally.

I picked up used frying oil from restaurants and pubs for free and had a couple of dustbins with taps on different levels. I bought filter bags on fleabay, 100 micron for pouring into the top bin,20 to run through to the lower bin then 5 in a large funnel into 25 litre cans. Then added up to 5% unleaded petrol in winter. Latterly I heated the fuel filters with various methods,12v bike handlebar heater pads or heater plug into filter head. This took care of things in winters but they are generally mild where I am.

The pre 98 engines were best as they were mechanical pumps not fly by wire. I even ran on engine oil and petrol mix to get me home once. Legally one must keep a log of DIY fuel as duty is payable over a certain quantity. The only problems I ever heard of on these landys, pug XUD or mercedes was O ring or seal breakdown and fitting viton replacements took care of that. Never had need of dual tanks or anything fancy. In colder climes dual tanks to start on derv or more preheating and splitcharge battery may be needed.

Right now I am running an 87 range rover classic with a petrol V8 with EFI injection. Hopefully the faraday cage effect will protect this electronic system from EMF if the SHTF. Late model Discoveries can be had cheap these days as the bodies rotted like mad, so if you are into welding, a very versatile, simple to maintain vehicle is within reach. They are a reasonable daily drive too.

I am currently looking into making ethanol fuel for the RRC, however I get the same MPG from the V8 manual that I got on an automatic 300TDI.

have you considered running it on gas .
with the right adaptor you can run it on bottled propane .

[shocker]

We had a Disco with single point LPG and had endless problems so Im waiting for the right kit at the right price to turn up...good point all the same