Nick
First, do you own the factory service manual for this truck? You are asking some pretty open ended questions that really require long and complicated answers and would best be solved by you acquiring and the manual and following its instructions step by step. The haynes manual also has a pretty good section on ignition troubleshooting.
short answers below:
>This was confirmed by my the brother of my friend, a mechanic whos is a little red,
are you saying he is a redneck? how is that pertinent to the story?
>he used a screw driver and tried to get it to arch off the block...didn't seem wise to me, but nonetheless, no spark.
arc, not arch. what else did he do. did he try to figure out why there is no spark?
>without the vacuum it was pointless to try and bleed the brakes - right?
wrong. no vacuum required. do it with the engine off.
>So - does a coil fail slowly?
never had one fail so I don't know
>Could it be my root cause of the backfiring, etc?
doubt it. most likely it is your haphazard diagnostic and tuning method.
>did I burn it out by cracking without the distributor cap in place?
doubt it. coil will still discharge through the points. do you see an arc there?
>It got hot!
something is not set up properly.
>Next question - anyone know what kind of coil I need for my 2.5l?
yes, the kind our hosts sell. end of story. you can get into parts substitution later in life when you have leanred more of the basics. if RN's price is to high then go somewhere else but don't talk about it here. just make sure you buy one for a LR.
>While I had the cap of, I checked the points, they were new and clean, >but pitted, going to replace the as well.
pitted is not the same as new and clean.
> the pulley is held on with a large (guessing 34mm) bolt - Any ideas on >turning it over to time the new points?
um, a 34 mm socket perhaps?
>Finally - brakes, the front two bleeders are rusty and slick with oil and >feel like they are stripping - any ideas on getting them open without >damaging?
if I get stuck bleeders I pull the rubber bits out of the cylinder and heat the bleeder with a MAPP torch. that usually works. if you can't fathom this then buy new cylinders. again, MAPP gas to get the lines undone or you'll be replacing them too. Keep a fire extinguisher close at hand any time you are using open flame on your vehicle. see what I mean about long answers?
A Land Rover would never turn up to collect an Oscar. It'd be far too busy doing something important, somewhere, for someone."
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Originally Posted by NickDawson
