Alaska Mike
ExPo Moderator/Eye Candy
I think you have me wrong here (and TeriAnn as well). I'm installing a fuel injected engine on my Series III. Fuel injection's (as a general term) advantages far outweigh the negatives. The extra parts I can carry, and in my case aren't all that expensive to source. So you'll get zero argument from me (or TeriAnn) about the advantages of fuel injection. I would prefer a turbodiesel to the Rover V8, for simplicity and fuel economy (range). I'd prefer not having a computer controlled, automatic transmission, instead of a manual that had a low enough 1st gear for technical driving. I'd like as little wiring as possible for things like windows, mirrors, seats, and other things that I can manipulate manually without a great deal of effort. In other words, all of the things that Land Rover (and other marques) added to appeal to the upscale market. But that's me. I love the bones of the Discoveries, but I just don't like the details.I agree completely in wanting a simple vehicle. That's why I got one with fuel injection.I hate carburetors and distributors. Different strokes for different folks. Having been trained as a powertrain engineer, I *get* these systems and they're very easy to understand and repair. Those who complain about them just haven't made the jump.
My early life where I was dealing with carburetors and such are full of plugged jets, mis-adjusted floats, and varnish. Difficult starting, lean when hot... worn points, cracked distributors, disintegrated coils. These things always leave you guessing as to the root cause, and they are NOT all as trail-fixable as people like to suggest. People like to point out about how a blown crank position sensor will leave you stranded. Ever have a stripped distributor gear? That'll leave you stranded too. People who prefer old things look at the CPS and say "see, there's something new that can go wrong that I don't have". Yeah, but you need to subtract the probably of stripping a distributor gear because we don't have one of those.
Unfortunately, the effects of this kind of use don't always show up immediately- on any vehicle, modern or antique. Did you drain all of the fluids (engine oil, diffs, transmission, transfercase...) after this trip? You might be surprised what got in there.
Modern automotive wiring is vastly superior to anything made as recently as the early '90s in terms of durability and being waterproof. Can't argue that one. However, adding miles of wiring to the basic harness exponentially increases your chances for system failure. It may be a minor problem that may not leave you stranded, but it's still a problem.
I've probably relayed this story before, but it illustrates my point. I used to own a Saturn Vue. Nice AWD car that did well in the snow (my ski car). Heated leather seats, power sunroof... pretty much loaded except for a disc changer. It had more options than I was looking for (I wanted a basic Subaru Forrester), but my then-wife thought it was what I needed and in the interest of harmony at home I bought it. I enjoyed some of the features it had. Some I rarely if ever used. I had no problems for the first two years I owned it, then one chilly winter day (-10F? Can't remember) I was driving home and the sunroof opened by itself. Wouldn't close. I got it home and sealed up the sunroof with an Action Packer lid, some plastic, and a bunch of packing tape. Ghetto-tastic. It spent over a week at the dealer, and I had to rent a car to get to work (I've since added that to the insurance policy). Condensation had destroyed the sunroof control module and started to go to work on the harness. All fixed, I kept driving the vehicle. That summer, it started throwing weird codes (intermittent, no pattern) and the ABS system started to chatter on dry pavement. Back to the dealer, who returned it no less than 3 times with a "no problem found" before they finally found the problem. The harness at the electric sideview mirrors had chafed and shorted. I've looked at the wiring harness schematics, and I can't see how that connected to the ABS or much of anything else, but that was the fix. No further problems, but my confidence was shot (as was my warranty). I traded it in on a much more basic vehicle. The Vue that year had a good reliability rating, and any model can have a few bad examples, but it further reinforced my belief that simple is better.
Unfortunately, Land Rover didn't give the NA market the choice when it came to the Discoveries. Most people would be astounded by the miles of wiring that is in a Disco. I used to work with aircraft avionics (specifically the F-15), and while wiring harnesses hold no real fear for me, I tend to view them as a necessary liability. You haven't had fun until you've wired a F-15 avionics bay. The fewer switches, sensors, connectors, and feet of wire you have in a hostile environment, the fewer things can go wrong.
