Helen B

For sale - 1986 Bedford MJ £12,000 Suitable for logging / forestry vehicle, or a great base to build a camper back on. Could be reworked to a troop carrier with canvas back, as original post fittings still in place. Huge amount of work undertaken to bring up to a good standard. We were originally going to keep the vehicle to build a back on ourselves, but another more complete project came along! Right hand drive, low mileage 36,748 kilometres (not miles) 2 & 4 wheel drive, plus low box. Starts, stops and goes! Starts up first time, nice and quiet. All paperwork present. Currently on SORN with no MOT 7.5 tonne, which can be driven on car licence (pre -1997 licence) Work undertaken Cab made solid, primed and painted. Removed middle chassis bed and dropped the whole flat bed – less weight and height. De-rusted, treated with anti-corrosive paint, sprayed green and wax oiled. Mud guard sandblasted and repaired. Stone chipped under wheel arches. 2 new batteries fitted. Handbrake shoes relined / transmission handbrake. New clutch fitted. New wheel cylinder fitted. New thermostat fitted. New temperature sender fitted. 2 new air brake switches fitted. New filters – oil, air and diesel. Removed any unnecessary tubing and wiring. What’s wrong to our knowledge… Fuel and temperature gauge not working – not reading correctly, may be wiring issue? Happy to show it running and moving around in the yard, but it’s a project and will need to be transported to new owner. We can help put you in touch with a low-loader company we’ve used before. Happy to answer any questions.

Hi Richard, the air pressure doesn't seem to be the problem, but we've ordered a gauge so we can check. Thanks Helen

Thanks John. The testing so far shows it’s building pressure correctly. However I’ll relay this to Phil. We’ve come to the conclusion it’s more than likely an electrical fault.

It is nuts! We’ve been at this for weeks now on and off. Sure Phil has done this, but will mention it. Thanks again

Yes, thank you. Will have to check everything over 👍

Thanks Sam. That’s helpful. We’ve definitely concluded that it’s the wiring!

I believe if you take the 2 wires off the switches the buzzer and light goes off, which made us think we needed new switches, but the same happens with them. It has got the small tank you mentioned with an automatic drain valve which Phil has replaced as the seal had gone on that. As I say we're running out of ideas. Unfortunately we don't have any gauges / fittings to connect in to the tank and Phil's not had chance to take a look to see if he can work something up. Thanks for your helps so far 🙂

Yes. We’ve tried every combination, including one old one & a new one, swapping them about, one connected, then the other etc. There is one switch which doesn’t produce the buzzer or the light and another combination on the other that puts both on and ring switch off! There’s a couple of loose wires in the dash that we’re not sure what they’re for. It’s not helping as some bright spark has painted all the pipes & wires green! Phils having a go today hopefully on some of your suggestions. thank you 😊

Thanks John, we think you're right, as it doesn't seem to be anything else!

Hi Iain Yes, the brake lights work and it is the low pressure switches that we've bought new and changed. Phil's checked for water, rust, muck etc and they're fine and have emptied the tanks. Phil has looked at the wiring and there's a loose wire. He's not here now, so would need him to confirm. i Know there doesn't seem anything obvious. Been on this for weeks now - its a real mystery! .

Hi John Yes, I think Phil has already done that, but I'll check. Sure he's lifted it to 8 or 9 and it sill happens. Really stuck on this one!

We've drained the tanks empty and filled them up. Undone the drain valves and checked there's no water or crap in the tank. There's no obvious rust etc

Not sure? How would you know?

Hi folks, I wonder if you can help... We have a 1986 Bedford MJ, which is building air pressure fine and easily reaches 7-8. The brakes appear to be working fine (albeit only driving around the yard), however the warning buzzer and light won't go off. We've tried various things in an attempt to fix it, including buying and fitting new switches, which don't make any difference. There's no water or rust in the tanks. This has been going on for ages now and becoming very frustrating! Has anyone any ideas what it could possibly be? Many thanks in advance Helen

Great, thanks Mark

Brill, thanks John

Hi folks We need to replace the oil filter and change the oil in our 'new-ish to us' Bedford MJ and was just wondering what oil would be best to use? Thank you in advance Helen

Thank you! Think we may have sorted it 👍👍👍

Still struggling, can’t find one on the internet. So any thoughts still welcome.

Ah right, great, I’ll give it a try.

Hi there, wonder if you guys can help.. We have a 1976 Bedford TK. We’ve had to replace the master brake cylinder however we’re still having issues. Even when we’ve bled the brakes it still isn’t gripping until the brake pedal is nearly floored. We’ve tried everything. Now wondering if when we fitted the master cylinder, we got the springs & the cap the right way round? So we’ve fitted it with the spring inside the cylinder first with the cap on top cap. Should it be this way round? Or should the cap go in first? Please see photos for the cap & the cylinder (please note using the link of cylinder as an example) Any help would be much appreciated, many thanks Helen & Phil

Hi John We've literally just come across this 🙂 thank you for pointing it out to us. Helen and Phil

Hi Richard Thank you for the suggestion. Phil's had a look at this and it doesn't look to be leaking. He pressed the 'release valve' and some oil and water came out the first time. We believe there's filter in there - do you think this could be blocked up and stopping the air going to the main tanks? Cheers Helen and Phil

Hi John Many thanks for your detailed post. We bought the truck last May and it was fine - both buzzer and light went off - its only of late that both are starting to stay on.. As for running, we have fired it up and moved it about the yard maybe fortnightly; however its not been on a run /used regularly . We've asked on a few different forums and FaceBook pages in relation to the pressure and quite a number of people agree that it should be between 8 and 9. Although we don't have this confirmed in a manuals and to be honest it may well have gone up to 8 when we first got it - we can't remember! Recently the pressure seemed to build much slower than it used to. One gauge lags behind significantly now and from memory we're sure it didn't do that., but both don't go beyond 7. We've tried running the engine both at idle and fast idle and it doesn't make any difference; nothing seems to make a difference. We'll have to have a proper look (and think) and we're just wondering if we can get enough pressure from the compressor in the workshop to test as you've mentioned. Many thanks again Helen and Phil

Hi John Many thanks for your suggestions. We'll have a look and see where we get to. Cheers Helen and Phil