Member Since: 03 Jan 2006
Location: Romiley
Posts: 13710
Anyone ever change a camshaft?
Bl**dy Ford OHC engines had a cr*p oilfeed to them...Steve N | 21MY Defender | 08MY Discovery 3 (history) | 06MY Discovery 3 (ancient history)
25th Feb 2006 6:46 pm
zebadee
Member Since: 15 Feb 2006
Location: The Magic Roundabout
Posts: 1392
Re: Just too darn complex ?
Wanna swap? [/quote]
Nah !
But you know if this were 6 or 8 months ago I nearly would have talked turkey !!
25th Feb 2006 7:50 pm
bkehoe
Member Since: 25 Feb 2006
Location: Wexford
Posts: 1481
It was worth a try .IE - 05 D3 TDV6 HSE - Zambezi Silver
SA - 07 VW Golf TDI - White - Sold!
25th Feb 2006 8:49 pm
Husky
Member Since: 29 Jan 2006
Location: Lake Macquarie
Posts: 109
Re: Just too darn complex ?
zebadee wrote:
Is it just me or does anybody else feel that manufacturers are taking it just too far with the complexity of their cars these days ??
I think it’s ridiculous that a vehicle such as a Discovery needs “Software Updates†that’s the sort of thing jet fighters & space shuttles need. The cars today are wired with fibre optic cabling or data bus systems, they have computers & ECU’s to control everything from lights to climate control. Reading though the catalogue of problems on this forum that owners are having with their cars, it’s not as if this technology has enhanced reliability, if anything I’d say it has reduced reliability.
When you think about it, it seems to be pretty much all electronic problems ! Suspension system failure due to sensors, electric handbrake warning messages etc, limited gears, washer fuse, the list goes on. I don’t think I’ve read of an engine failure or someone having a broken drive shaft or some other such “mechanical†failure, all seems electrical, with software fixes as the solution.
I had a truly lovely ‘97 300TDi XS, which I kept for almost five years, without a hitch, no software updates required ! The only time it spent at the dealer was for regular servicing. I really feel things are just over complicated today.
Driving my ’97 Disco, if I wanted to turn on my wipers, I could select variable intermittent or “onâ€, none of this “rain sensor†rubbish. The “climate control†consisted of two temperature rotary controls, along with fan speed & direction control. So all you needed to do was set the temp etc & away you go. I find now that I’m constantly fiddling with the CC in my Disco 3. On a long journey I’m always having adjust the temp up or down, as it seems to fluctuate all the time.
Now it’s not only the Disco that suffers from this over complexity, virtually every car these days has this sort of nonsense in them now. Is it all really necessary or is it actually making driving any better ?
Now perhaps I’m just being a “grumpy old man†but I do believe that they had vehicle technology just about right between 1998 & 2000ish & really they should just have left them alone at that. We have a ’02 TD5 here which I drive every so often & it’s just such a pleasure. Normal heater, normal wipers & normal wiring so that if you were to add a phone kit, the electrics won’t have a nervous breakdown, just so, so simple. I’ve even heard that to fit a set of driving lamps to the D3 you have to “tell†the computers that they are there & allow them to be switched on.
Hello ! Is this madness or what ?
You know, if I were to be totally honest, I prefer driving the TD5 to my Disco 3 any day. I’m sorry that I waited for the D3 at all, I think I would have preferred to have got one of the last “Normal†TD5’s They even look nicer, but that’s a whole other discussion, best left to another thread.
Sorry for the rant guys, but does anyone else share my views, or should I just quietly go back into the cave I came out of ?
Is it a big cave? Is there room for two? Is there parking available for our 2 D3s?
(sorry to complicate things...........I hate it when that happens )
25th Feb 2006 9:36 pm
zebadee
Member Since: 15 Feb 2006
Location: The Magic Roundabout
Posts: 1392
Re: Just too darn complex ?
Husky wrote:
Is it a big cave? Is there room for two? Is there parking available for our 2 D3s?
(sorry to complicate things...........I hate it when that happens )
It's a fairly big cave alright, although perhaps not big enough for 2 D3's as I have a trusty old ’95 300TDi still with me, so that would get parking preference over the D3 any day.
Everything works well in the cave, it’s wired with copper wire, none of that fibre optic stuff. No need for a software update to get the lights working & climate control is operated with a simple rotary temp control. So all in all it’s quite a nice place to be, which is why I only “pop†out every so often to see what the outside world is like………………
Oh I think we’ve just gone plain silly here in this thread, so perhaps I should stop right now…….then what’s life without a bit of silliness, eh ……?
26th Feb 2006 4:25 pm
Husky
Member Since: 29 Jan 2006
Location: Lake Macquarie
Posts: 109
Re: Just too darn complex ?
zebadee wrote:
Oh I think we’ve just gone plain silly here in this thread, so perhaps I should stop right now…….then what’s life without a bit of silliness, eh ……?
I would love to move in and enjoy the simple life with you AND you can never have too much silliness
Regards,
Grumpy Old Man no.7990040-4--40494994999490004
26th Feb 2006 9:25 pm
Gareth Site Moderator
Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26701
This is going very
26th Feb 2006 9:59 pm
Limpopo
Member Since: 04 Feb 2006
Location: Johannesburg
Posts: 30
Oh dear,
I can feel myself being lured into this.
Just sold my Series IIB Forward Control. It had the flip open front for ventilation, but without any of the sissy mesh filters found on Defenders.
It was the best ventilation system I ever saw. And I had the best collections of butterflies, beetles, bees et al.
I have ordered a D3. There's definitely a lure.
But I strongly believe the LR brand needed to keep just one vehicle that could be operated in rough bush conditions. Now even the Defenders have traction control, and the rest...
Years ago, I remember a bloke who had a garage in Swaziland and he specialised in rebuilding old or wrecked Series Is and Series IIs for the local market. He could make them almost like new again, ready for a few more decades.
These Land Rovers have gone forever, haven't they...? Are we sure this is progress?
I guess I'm probably another candidate for the cave. But can I bring my Disco 3?Must look at it from the bright side...
26th Feb 2006 10:17 pm
zebadee
Member Since: 15 Feb 2006
Location: The Magic Roundabout
Posts: 1392
Limpopo wrote:
These Land Rovers have gone forever, haven't they...? Are we sure this is progress?
My point exactly.............
Right so, that's three of us for the cave then, while D3's are welcome, they will have to be parked outside. The parking garage inside the cave is for "REAL" landys only......
27th Feb 2006 2:22 am
zebadee
Member Since: 15 Feb 2006
Location: The Magic Roundabout
Posts: 1392
Re: Just too darn complex ?
Husky wrote:
I would love to move in and enjoy the simple life with you AND you can never have too much silliness
Regards,
Grumpy Old Man no.7990040-4--40494994999490004
Welcome to "The Cave" Husky................
27th Feb 2006 2:24 am
Husky
Member Since: 29 Jan 2006
Location: Lake Macquarie
Posts: 109
27th Feb 2006 7:39 am
zebadee
Member Since: 15 Feb 2006
Location: The Magic Roundabout
Posts: 1392
Just to get this thread back on track a little bit.
I’ve been reading a thread, also here in the “General†section, where owners are having problems using the electric handbrake in a hill start situation. One user has even said he has given up on using the handbrake altogether.
This is a perfect example of what I’m talking about here, where I feel that car manufacturers are unnecessarily over complicating things these days. What was so wrong with the traditional type handbrake we always had ?
You could hold the car on the handbrake, operate the clutch & accelerator to get the balance right, once you got the bite in the clutch, away you went. But now with the electronic handbrake there are all sorts of complications brought into the equation.
Somebody tell me how this is progress, how this system is better & how it aids the driving experience, rather than hinder & complicate the issue.
Actually looking at where the electronic brake is located on the D3, I think a traditional handbrake lever would have slotted in quite nicely there.
Oh well…………
27th Feb 2006 12:12 pm
randalls
Member Since: 02 Mar 2006
Location: aberdeenshire
Posts: 703
handbrake
I drive a TD5 d2 auto. To be honest I think I have only used the handbrake twice whilst driving on the road in 3 years- I can see why LR have done this as I suspect the auto option is the preferred MO on the D3 -especially in the US. But I do agree about over complication, I have gone for the HSE option on the new D3 I am getting as I am only going to own it for 3 (warranty) years, if I was keeping it longer I would not have gone near it.
2nd Mar 2006 10:25 pm
10forcash
Member Since: 09 Jun 2005
Location: Ubique
Posts: 16534
As with most things in life, it's nigh-on impossible to please everyone...
The Disco3 was designed as an integrated vehicle, auto box, TR, EPB, and all the other bits are designed to work together, not as individual autonomous bits. With an auto 'box, the park brake is fine, it's only when the marketing guys get involved and start stripping bits out to create model break points that things get disjointed, that and people like me that insist on a manual 'box in an HSE
2nd Mar 2006 10:39 pm
SN
Member Since: 03 Jan 2006
Location: Romiley
Posts: 13710
Re: handbrake
randalls wrote:
I am only going to own it for 3 (warranty) years, if I was keeping it longer I would not have gone near it.
Me too - of course that wouldn't stop me getting another new one after 3 years Steve N | 21MY Defender | 08MY Discovery 3 (history) | 06MY Discovery 3 (ancient history)
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| 08MY Discovery 3 (history) 
[/quote]
AND you can never have too much silliness 
