Daimler 250 v8 auto rhd 1968

 

just fit the sealed for life units, same as mk2 jaguar

 

Hi, what I need to know is wether I have to remove the springs to replace the gaiters or if theres some other way of fitting them without dismantling everything as I don't have a compression tool. Thanks for any advice, Mike

 

From the Service manual
"STUB AXLE CARRIERS
Removal
Jack up under the lower wishbone lever and remove
the road wheel.
Remove the caliper from the stub axle carrier,
noting the shims fitted at the mounting points, and
remove the front wheel hub complete with disc brake
as described on page 13.
Remove the self-locking nut and plain washer
securing the upper ball joint to the stub axle carrier.
Drift out the ball pin from the stub axle carrier in
which it is a taper fit.
Remove the split pin, nut and plain washer which
secure the ball joint to the lower wishbone.
Drift out the ball pin from the lower wishbone,
in which it is a taper fit, when the stub axle carrier can
be removed."

By this method, you can remove the ball joints and change the gaiters, fairly straight forward just ensure you have the car properly supported obviously.

 

Thankyou so much, exactly what I needed to know.Thanks for taking the time to reply, my main concern was the spring bursting out but obviously if the shock is still in place it cant. Ill let you know how I get on .Thanks again, Mike

 

Mike, the spring is held in by the bottom plate, you can still remove the shock absorber with the spring in place too.

Good luck, any problems let us know.

Jon

 

just to let you know all went well with the gaiter replacement, they certainly look better than the old ones. A couple of quick questions, when I used the grease gun on the upper ball joint nipples, the grease forced up out of the plastic surround of the nipple even though there was plenty of room for it. Also when I removed the calipers the shims dropped out before I could check their position. Could you tell me the correct way to set the brake pad gaps again. Thanks for all your advice, its a big help knowing I can ask someone who's been there before. Best regards Mike

 

Mike, check the grease nipple is not seized, you can remove it and push it into the grease gun to check it easily, if the grease gun is a loose fit, it may be poor quality or worn, but most likely the grease nipple is seized I would think.
The shims are there to centralize the the caliper on the disc, bolt the caliper in place without the shims and measure for center, you should then see where you need to put them.

 

Many thanks ,I'll try over the weekend and let you know. Cheers Mike

 

Hi Jon,
Just to let you know I've fitted the shims (what a fiddly job) there must be a nack. However everything is in place now. I tested the grease nipples and they're not seized but the grease is forced out from under the nylon washer. I thought it should fill the new gaiters?
The next job is a small weld inside the nearside wheel arch near the spring mounting point so to be on the safe side I'll remove the fuel tank. Do you have any tips for removing the tank? It looks fairly straight forward but this is my first Daimler so any advice is appreciated.
Best regards Mike

 

Mike, re the shims, a little smear of grease would hold them in place for a bit just so you can get the bolt in without them falling on the floor !

The tank is fairly straight forward to remove, disconnect the sender wires, the feed pipe to the fuel pump and the locking nut for the feed pipe, take off the filler cap, then the 3 nuts and you can drop it down.

If the weld is by the spring mount it should be well out of the way of the fuel tank, post a picture, I would not think it necessary to remove the tank ?

 

Hi Jon,
Thanks for the advice about tank removal, I've attatched a couple of photos of the repair area just where the front end of the rear near side spring connects with the body. Its not very big and is the only corrosion on the car but I'd like to deal with it before the mot . The car has been off the road for 8 years since its last mot expired. I bought it in auction a couple of months ago so I'm working my way through it trying to prepare it for regular use again.

 

Oh I know the area all too well! See attached pic, there is a void at that point, and 2 thicknesses of steel, the rust gets in and between the 2 sheets and off it goes.

When you take the rear suspension out (assuming you will ) carefully check the spring hanger channel, this has some voids and is also double skinned, if the rust gets in there you will be replacing that as I had to, so make sure you check, treat/deal with that area fully.

 

You need to lift the rear seat cushion and see what corrosion is there. Sometimes people have had a very bad shock when they look there.

All repairable, of course !!

 

Hello again,
Following on from the advice about checking for rust in the rear wheel arch and spring hanger area. After thorough checks the only area needing attention was the nearside rear inner wing panel. I cut away enough to check the spring hanger channel and luckily this was sound. So I made a repair patch and welded it in place going round it with seam sealer. This was the final job before the MOT. I drove RBD450G to the test station Thursday afternoon and it passed with just two advisories. One being the rear tyres showed early signs of perish cracks and the other was blue smoke on acceleration. The tyres are an easy fix but any advice on the smoke would be helpful. The mot tester is a Daimler 250 v8 fan and suggested I try changing the oil for 20w40. These engines always seem a bit smokey but you may be able to advise me. There is also some oil leaking into the sparkplug tubes but I believe you can get seals for these.
Best regards Mike

 

Mike,

What sort of mileage has the engine done ?

Do you get any smoke when you first start the car ?

Did they do an emissions test at the MOT, and what were the actual results ?

Unless the oil is the wrong grade at the moment or completely shot, I'm not sure the oil will solve this issue.

If you take the oil filler cap off when the engine is running are you getting a lot of fumes being blown out ?

Answers on a post card ---

 

Hello Jon,
Thanks for the reply, in answer to your questions the car is showing 55k miles which I've checked with the previous MOT certificates so it looks genuine to me. The engine smokes on start up but I put most of this down to the choke, it reduces as it warms up but doesn't disappear altogether. There are no fumes puffing out of the oil filler and the oil pressure settles to around 20psi when hot.
I didn't receive a emission certificate from the tester so I imagine it was just a visual test. Reading the handbook today I see the hot engine idling speed is supposed to be around 600 rpm. Mine is idling at just over 1000rpm, does this mean its getting too richer mixture ? Could this be the reason for the smoke? Finally, to correctly adjust the slow running screws, do I screw them both to their stops and then back them off equally until I get the correct rpm?
Thanks for your help and patience, Regards Mike

 

With that mileage I would suspect valve stem seals may have perished, oil slowly seeps past the seals into the pistons when the car is stood up, this then is blown out on start up and reduces as it burns off.

Generally Blue smoke is oil, grey/black smoke excess fuel, and White smoke water/coolant leak (i.e. head gasket).

The idle could be that it is a bit rich, but first, check that there is a little slack in the linkage, the throttle pedal should move slightly before it engages the throttle at the carb end, and there is an adjustment on there for this, if there is no play at all back off the stop to allow a slight play and see if that makes a difference first, as the throttle linkage may be holding the carbs slightly open.

I am dashing off to work, so if you check this and let us know I can check in later today.

 

Hello jon,
I started the car and let it warm up, the revs stabilised at 1000 rpm.
I then lifted the accelerator pedal by hand, this reduced it to 800. I then manually pulled the throttle linkage towards the stop and the revs fell to about 700. So to me it looks as though a slight adjustment to the linkage and maybe a stronger return spring could sort out the revs problem.
As for the valve stem seals, I could do with some guidance as to the inspection/replacement procedure so I know what I'm letting myself in for. Thanks again, Mike

 

You could pop the control rod off from the mixture control bracket (disconnecting the pedal linkage) and see if that sorts the idle out, if so adjust that rod (make it longer) and try again.

Valve stem seals
To check these you will need to take off the rocker cover(s) you can see the seals inside the valve springs sitting over the valve stem seals. You can use a small but blunt item (pozi screwdriver) to push on the seals to see if they are still pliable, but if they are hard and they split, do not do this unless you are ready to replace them.

Replacement will require one of 2 methods:-

If you have a compressor and the right equipment you can remove the rocker shaft, apply compressed air through the spark plug hole to hold the valve up, then remove the spring, replace the valve stem seal and then replace the spring, moving on the the next cylinder.

The other method is to remove the cylinder head, this obviously is a lot more work, and will require a new head gasket etc. Then as you have the head off you may as well check all the valve seats, etc and do an overhaul on the head while you have it off.