Nick Taylors blog

I’ve been an “overland” traveler for way over a decade, and simply an avid traveler all of my life. There are a number of reasons for this, and as I see more places and interact with more people whose backgrounds are very different to mine I can feel my reasons for traveling are slowly changing (that’s a whole other story). Although I love my Land Rovers (I refer to them as “pets”), and I’m a fully-fledged tech-guy, both the vehicles and the technology are simply enablers for me to travel to the places I want to go, experience them in many different ways and to communicate from them and tell stories about the people and places when I return home.

This time, I’m just back from the 2nd Overland Expo. What a great event! Even though I was involved in the 1st Expo and was asked at that event to present and do some driver training this year (by Graham Jackson of Overland Training), it wasn’t until I rolled into the event that I fully understood the scale. It eclipsed last years event in many ways, many more vendors, better training facilities, much better rooms for AV presentations, a knockout team of staff, instructors and presenters and finally a fantastic audience of folks who love to travel. I couldn’t believe how many great vehicles were parked in the car park.

It’s not really about the vehicles though. I know a great many of us enjoy building them, tinkering with them and driving them, but really they are just another companion on the journey. A great many of the vendors realize this (and they realize we spoil them), and are on-hand to help us do this. My personal favorite piece of vehicle kit was the Kaiser / Nekarth Differential Locker, a much simpler and more elegant approach to locking differentials than the Detroit and ARB solutions. I saw this demo at the Expeditioneers booth.

The Expo is not just about the vehicles (and they ranged from pedal-bikes, through motorbikes, regular 4×4 vehicles to huge ex-military and custom built behemoths) and their parts and accessories. Other vendors offered medical equipment and training (and Remote Medical International staged some great demos), guiding services (notably No Limit Expeditions offering adventures in Belize and the rest of Central America and Safari Drive based in various African locations), clothing (including one of my favorites, Mountain Khakis – recommended!), tents (roof-top and otherwise), all sorts of camping/expedition gear (including Bug Out Bagz), the list is long and distinguished.

Seminars and presentations are a key part of the Expo, and if you just attend one or two of them you would realize that “overlanding” isn’t just 4×4 driving – and very different from what usually pops into peoples minds when the outdoors and 4×4 drivers meet… I talked about staying online and in touch while on an international overland trip, and driving through the Sahara in a VW Golf! Other presentations and panels discussed medical responses, overlanding with dogs, solo overlanding, cooking demos (very popular I understand), and some great overland movies courtesy of Austin Vince and the Adventure Travel Film Festival.

Groups and clubs are also prominent at the Expo. It’s always great to see the Disabled Explorers and their WAVE Sportsmobile, really giving folks the opportunity to get out and explore who normally may not have the chance to. I love the ideas behind both the Carbon Neutral Expedition and the Vanishing America Project (Overland Society’s Expedition Flag ambassador for 2009), and again, the Muskoka Foundation is making a difference around the world.

My favorite part is the opportunity to see old friends and meet new ones. One moment sticks in my mind, during a basic vehicle overview session I was one of the instructors. After the other instructors had said their piece, I was my turn to add something. Trouble was, three of the instructors were Tom Collins, Duncan Barbour and Jim West, 3 Camel Trophy luminaries, and a hard act to follow! Having the opportunity to talk to people like this is wonderful – and the chance is there for everyone who attends, especially at the ever-popular happy hours each evening! I particularly enjoy spreading the word, or “preaching the gospel of travel”, as a friend once told me. I think retelling great stories and sharing experiences really gets people fired up for that first trip. Helping them over the “well, it’s a dream I’ve always had, but I just can’t get the time off work” is usually the first part, and not that difficult in the environment the Expo creates.

Once people have traveled off the beaten track they come back home with new eyes, none more so than Americans (not a dig, just an observation). Through their new eyes they see people, politics and the Earth in a different light. A more tolerant, understanding and sympathetic light. An ability to put themselves in the other persons shoes and see that there are many more sides to national and international issues than you’ll ever see on the typical “never mind the quality, just look at the quantity” news channel (which is why I refuse to watch television news – that’s another story). Anything which opens peoples minds and makes for a more tolerant and understanding society clearly should be encouraged; I’ve always advocated international travel for this purpose and the Overland Expo is the ideal platform to encourage people to embrace this.

A trip by Land Rover through Morocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania in 2000.

Northwest Africa Trip, 2000 from Nick Taylor on Vimeo.

In September, a few friends and I spent a few days in the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park. It’s a wonderfully remote area, and if you like Desert solitude it’s really worth a visit.

I’ve started using animoto to build slideshows, and here’s the result of the high-quality version, uploaded to Vimeo.

A Trip to The Maze from Nick Taylor on Vimeo.

As the D90s are not used every day, it’s wise that we look after the on-board batteries. I recommend the CTEK maintenance chargers, which are easy to mount on-board (I have the US800 model installed under the seat in the Defenders). 

However, connecting an extension cord currently involves crawling under the truck, removing a waterproof cap and plugging in the extension – not ideal, you get grubby and it is a little vulnerable to rock damage. 

I discovered that Marinco/Guest make some great electrical accessories designed for marine use as part of the “ConnectCharge” system. It does what it says on the can, it connects your internal charger to the shore supply. I picked up a couple of ConnectCharge Inlets (P/N 150CCI) and some ConnectCharge cords (P/N 157200) which clip together to make a robust system (BTW, I ordered them from http://www.stayonline.com). 

Now the inlet requires a 1-7/8″ hole. I’ll be mounting mine on the wing vents, which means I can easily replace the vent cover and I won’t damage the wing. Coupled with two retractable power extension cords, which will plug into the ConnectCharge inlets I think I’ll have a much better system. 

Of course, the ultimate solution is to have an automatic ejection system, like the Kussmaul Super Auto Eject, as found in emergency vehicles.

I like the quality of videos from Vimeo, so I’m thinking of uploading my HD content there. The following video, while not HD, is just a little test.

Don’t Let Lee Drive! A Desert Driveby. from Nick Taylor on Vimeo.

My friends Mark, Mike and myself thought that the Land Rovers and ourselves should get one last camping trip in this summer. We’d camped near Water Crossing 3 on Halfmoon Creek earlier in the year, and decided to camp a bit further up the trail. Given the weather forecast of 15F/10C and snow, the wives declined, so it was just a boys camp. 

Anyway, it was cold, wet and overcast when we arrived in Leadville, much the same as it was in Denver. Still, we had bourbon, brats, sushi and Snow Peak Chopsticks, so we were happy.

After out sushi lunch and setting up camp, we drove further up the trail to Champion Mill where we took some photos of the mill in it’s decaying state. It’s a shame to see such a wonderful place making its last stand against the elements. 

 As the elements were making an appearance, we had a quick look inside (be careful – don’t fall through the floor), before heading back down to our 11,110 ft campsite. 

Back at camp, we had some brats and bourbon and given the sleet and cold we turned in early.

The next morning dawned crisp and blue, and made the drive back to Leadville wonderful. 

Next camping, err, June!

The other day I decided to get to the bottom of what was leaking oil over the right side of the block in my 300 Tdi Defender 90. It didn’t take long to track down.

There’s a black plastic thing attached directly to the rocker cover.

It’s the Cyclonic Cleaner, part of the crankcase breather system, Land Rover part number ERR1471. It’s easy to remove, just a single bolt and two hose-clips. On the tube that connects with the engine, there’s a small o-ring. That was my culprit! It had split and was spraying oil down the side of the engine. Now there is an official Land Rover part (LLO100000) for this o-ring, but a quick trip to NAPA had a replacement installed within the hour. Problem solved!

The filter is supposed to be cleaned every 12k or so, but I know it’s not religiously carried out. I cleaned mine in Coleman Fuel (as I don’t have any kerosene handy), and that did the trick. I left it to dry overnight, and the next morning, with just a few seconds of white fumes, everything worked fine.

Earlier in the year I noticed that my Eberspächer HYDRONIC D5 auxiliary heater wasn’t working. As the weather was warming up, getting it fixed slid down the priority list.

A couple of weeks ago, during a trip to the Maze, the plastic t-piece from the fuel tank to both the fuel lift pump and the heater snapped.

Here I am fixing it in the field (I discovered that the outer diameter of the raised breather tubes is the same as the interior diameter of the fuel line). Thanks to Steve for the photo.

So as I need to refit the t-piece (with a brass one this time), I stared investigating the rest of the problem. Once I’d freed up the harness, I discovered that it has shorted and melted some of the wires together – never good. It also seems that there’s a fuse missing, that would have been easier to replace than the harness.

In the diagram below, you can see the part that failed. I need to replace both the plug and socket – it’s a tight 8-way connector.

Once I discovered that Eberspächer is called Espar in North America, I contacted their technical support and got the following part number: 22 1000 30 10 21 – which has to be ordered from a local dealer. I contacted Thermo King of Denver who ordered the part from Espar in Canada. I’m hoping the thing will be fixed before it really gets cold!

Espar D5 manual here
Good install thread on D90.com here
A Defender installation here

This year for the Land Rovers “October Service”, I decided to stop using ATF in the R380 gearbox, as I’d noticed that Land Rover had issued a Technical Service Bulletin advising that a gear oil meeting MTF94 be used instead.

After a friends recommendation and some trawling on the forums, I decided that Redline MTL was the way to go (Royal Purple Synchromax also seems worth a look).

Armed with my 32mm wrench (for the drain; sockets don’t fit), my T55 Torx bit and a fluid transfer pump (it’s tight near the filler), I drained and refilled the gearboxes on the ‘96 Tdi and the ‘95 V8.

I test drove both trucks. The difference is astounding. The troublesome 2-3 shift is smooth for the first time ever (without having to think about it), and the downshifts are a dream. It’s hard to believe that just a simple fluid change can make such a big difference, it really is incredible. I’m interested to see what it looks like when I change it out in October 2009.

Next time, I’ll but it by the gallon rather than the quart, as it’s a right faff to mess about with the quart size containers and the pump.

Redline MTL: Highly recommended for Land Rovers with the R380 manual transmission.

I’m often asked about engine oil. Regular oil and filter changes are simple and an important part of vehicle maintenance. Not only are you doing good by your vehicle in terms of performance and reliability, if gives you a chance to crawl around and check other things.

Anyway, I’ve tried all sorts of engine oils. I agree with the advantages of using synthetic oils on more modern engines, and in those cases it’s worth the extra outlay. I’ve tried them in petrol and diesel Land Rover engines (3.9, 4.0 V8 and 2.5 300 TDi) and don’t think it’s worth the extra money.

Recently, I’ve settled on Shell Rotella T for both my petrol and diesel engines. Specifically the 15W-40 Multigrade.

Even though Rotella was developed as an engine oil for heavy duty diesel trucks, it works very well in larger (and older) petrol engines, and meets the appropriate specs [PDF], API Service Classes SH, SL and SJ for gas engines and API CI-4 PLUS, CI-4, CH-4, CG-4, CF-4 and CF for diesels.

For me, this means I can use the same engine oil, year round and for every vehicle, from the Dodge Ram to my F650 motorcycle, except in the Infiniti FX35, but the dealer still does the service for that so I don’t change the oil anyway. And yes, it’s ok to use it in motorcycles, mostly!

The Engine Oil Bible is a great reference source for all things oily!

Shell Rotella T 15W-40. Recommended.