Nasher
Member Since: 07 Mar 2009
Location: Clanfield, North of Pompey - UK
Posts: 2802
  
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I’ve owned my 55 plate D3 HSE for over 7 years now, and thought I should post some mutterings about my experience with the FBH in case they can be of any help to anyone.
Up until very early this year it’s always worked as it should on cold mornings, but always started up with a big puff of smoke accompanied by a lovely smell.
A small amount of smoke always carried on all the time it was running, and I thought this was normal.
About 3 years ago I purchased an Oval controller, and from guides on this forum made myself a remote starter using a Maplins remote operaterd latching relay.
It worked great until early this year, the only downside being the additional remote fob on my keyring.
Getting into a car on a frosty or just cold morning that has heat from the blowers immediately to warm up the cabin or defrost the windscreen is one of those things you really miss once it’s taken away. Plus of course the biggest benefit I see is not starting a cold engine with thick oil etc, the reduction in start-up damage must be significant over time.
As mentioned above it all went a bit pear shaped earlier this year, the FBH would start as usual but only run for @ 3 minutes before shutting down.
It did this intermittently last year, but it was very rare.
I came to the conclusion that the burn chamber needed to be cleaned out, and purchased a set of seals etc from LR ready to do the job.
For one reason and another I didn’t get around to doing it, but a few weeks ago I saw another member on here selling A BAS Third button FBH controller and decided to buy it as a neater solution than what I had. I can also of course swap it over when I upgrade to a D4 hopefully next year.
It really is a much better solution, I’m very pleased with it, and of course it prompted me to sort out the FBH itself.
I really did think about stripping the old one down and cleaning it out, honest I did, but I couldn’t resist a £50 bare unit on ebay with a guarantee as a quicker, cleaner job.
An hour in the garage later the old one was out, all the ancillaries, brackets etc swapped over, and the replacement one in the car.
I do have every intention of stripping the old one down and cleaning it out to put in the garage as a spare.
I have a Nanocom, so plugged it in, primed the FBH and tried the test routine.
It didn’t work, so I primed it again, and only when I saw the Nanocom note on screen for the second time did I notice it also said the engine needed to be running.
It Fired up nicely this time, but of course I very quickly realised that I’d primed it twice and I’d fired it up in my garage which was rapidly filling up with smoke.
I’d parked the D3 with it’s  end hanging out of the main door because of the exhaust, so I opened the side door to get a flow of air through, much to the amusement of one of my neighbours who was about to dial 999.
And now to the point of these mutterings.
The replacement FBH works perfectly, starting up on it’s own when required or using the BAS 3rd button controller.
The big difference between the old and newer one is that this one now starts and runs with NO smoke at all, but of course still with the lovely smell.
As the old one always smoked for as long as I’ve had the car I’m wondering if it was over-fueling, which is what has caused it to choke up.
Nasher. Heaven doesn't want me, and hell is afraid I'll take over.
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 16th Nov 2017 12:05 pm |
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Nasher
Member Since: 07 Mar 2009
Location: Clanfield, North of Pompey - UK
Posts: 2802
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I’ve discovered another small bonus I didn’t know about having swapped from the Oval timer method to the BAS controller.
The oval timer used to shut the FBH down the moment I unlocked the car, with the BAS controller it carries on running until the car system takes over when the engine is running.
I know the BAS controller is a bit out of date now, but it does what I need with no added complications.
Can somebody confirm Yes or No if it will work on the D4 I plan to upgrade to next year?
Thanks
Nasher. Heaven doesn't want me, and hell is afraid I'll take over.
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| 22nd Nov 2017 11:21 am |
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Martin
Site Admin and Owner
Member Since: 06 Nov 2004
Location: Hook Norton
Posts: 18557
  
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I'm sure Pete will confirm but my understanding is the BAS remote works on the D4, yep. No technical reason that it shouldn't. 06 D3 SE / 15 LR D90 XS SW / 88 LR 90 Td5 / 68 BMW 2000 ti
Any issues with the site let me know!
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| 22nd Nov 2017 11:39 am |
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Nasher
Member Since: 07 Mar 2009
Location: Clanfield, North of Pompey - UK
Posts: 2802
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Thanks Martin  Heaven doesn't want me, and hell is afraid I'll take over.
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| 22nd Nov 2017 12:00 pm |
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Gazellio
Member Since: 08 Jan 2011
Location: Chilterns
Posts: 4130
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I love the 4th button control
PS: Might buy a second hand unit for the wife's D3 but its a bit of a lottery as you may be buying a coked up unit!
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| 22nd Nov 2017 12:40 pm |
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Triplet3
Member Since: 26 Nov 2016
Location: Southampton
Posts: 320
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I'm glad somebody else's doesn't smoke, was beginning to think something might be wrong 
Mine has started to make a bit of noise in the last few days though, haven't had time to check it out yet. Will it chuck an error on the dash if it goes kaput? If it does die I will grab one off the bay of e and hope for the best
Chris 1995 Discovery 1 300TDI
2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 - Gone
1979 Series 3 109" - Gone
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| 30th Nov 2017 10:01 pm |
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Narpy
Member Since: 18 Jul 2011
Location: Stockport
Posts: 7830
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Owned mine for 6+ years, always works, never the slighest hint of smoke, always burns cleanly.
( I've probably just jinxed it now!!  ) Mods:
Front Fogs + Halos
FBH Remote Control
The 1st Ever RRS Modded Grill
Garmin Nuvi + D4 Surround + Reversing Camera.
D4 Steering Wheel.
Rear Boot Spoiler.
Twin Brake Lights.
Wing Mirror Indicator Repeaters.
Long Roof Rails
Make your own Narpy grill thread
I'm not scared, I'm outta here.
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| 30th Nov 2017 11:05 pm |
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SouthernWombat
Member Since: 30 Aug 2014
Location: Devon
Posts: 224
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Just used my nanocom to prime and test the FBH.
Apart from explaining to everyone why the car had disappeared in smoke, it took over 30 minutes running the test with the engine running.
All good now, nice on the cold mornings.
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| 2nd Dec 2017 9:21 am |
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