Debs.

Thank you, that`s an excellent tip!....... I have a set of compact 'G' clamps; `should do the job nicely.

By a sad coincidence my driver`s side front window did this yesterday too! I`ve found that the toothed 'quadrant' has come adrift from the scissor mechanism.....there appears to be three spot welds that have failed.....I`ll have to extract the motor and 'scissor' and MIG-weld it back-on. Temporarily (as it`s raining) I`ve used some timber to wedge the glass up until I can effect a proper-repair. The motor and quadrant have to mesh in order for the window to be lifted, so yours seeming 'stuck-down' maybe possibly by eased by rotating the motor pinion slightly to enable the window to be lifted by hand and then wedged.....but, mind your fingers in the scissor mechanism; the glass is heavy and the metal sharp and if it slips, then......

Nice favourable little report on tonight`s Wales Today news at 18.30. Great to see the 4x4 Response chaps really credited with contributing to many areas of need during adverse weather. Chap featured using his Defender in deep snow and ice, to ferry district nurses to patients. It was especially good to see the 4x4 community being portrayed in a positive light; unlike the usual 'reckless-louts on wheels' type report.

As (seemingly) per general acceptance; when starting a diesel engine from fully-cold, I`ve always left the glowplugs to cycle and then, without touching the throttle, cranked for between 8-15 seconds (time varies depending on temp.) and she`ll fire*. Today, during a moment of shivery absent-mindedness in the -17 C. temps. we`re enduring here in the mountains, I dabbed the throttle pedal (as I used to have to do all the time when cold-cranking my old Series III) and I was surprised how much more quickly the engine fired, actually only needing 1 or 2 seconds on the starter. So, is this a sign of something a`miss, or does everybody dab the throttle of their 300 tdi when cold-cranking? *On 100% DERV with two batteries and four known-good glowplugs.

I`ve not had my Disco 1 for many weeks yet; so I`m gradually finding my way `round the idiosyncrasies. I`d noticed that the power steering seemed to 'run out of puff' after any (near) lock to lock manoeuvre and the engine idle was accompanied by the usual budgie-chorus. I checked the belt and tensioner`s bearing condition and both seemed ok; except the wear indicator on the belt tensioner seemed the wrong way, with the outer (moving) line 10 mm. to the right of the rear (static) line...checking the belt size markings it was a 7PK1605 Investigated a bit and found the size listed at my Motor Factor for my VIN was a 7PK1580....which would not mount at all; so, clearly the 'book' was of no use .......Thankfully, the parts counter chaps are kind and let me try a few different belts to get the best fit: eventually settled on the 7PK1593 (Gates Micro-V XF) which puts the belt wear marking at 10 mm to the left of the static line. The penny-trick scared the budgies away and the power steering seems to have much more stamina now.

Thanks for the replies, chaps: I`ll probably go for the easiest and cheapest way and simply use a 1/2" BSP threaded thermo-switch replacing the brass vent in the radiator.

I`m fitting a single electric fan instead of the viscous unit; simply connected with a relay, fuse and a thermo-switch with a manual toggle-switch as a bypass/over-ride and test-check. The obvious way to directly sense the circulating water temperature, would be to replace one of the vent plugs with an appropriately-threaded thermal switch. There`s both plastic (on housing) and brass (on radiator) vent plugs; are they the same thread and does anyone know which is their thread type and pitch?.....Knowing that will help greatly at the motor factors. Thank you, Debs.

Ahhhh!....now I understand; thank you, chaps. Despondent, Disillusioned and Disconsolate.........I`m familiar with all of those 'D' sensations of Land Rover ownership; although I managed to nurse this one through it`s MOT last week; so I briefly felt 'Delight'

Hiya everyone, 'Lazarus' (my Series III) has passed on......... But now the sense of grief is abating and I`m settling in to Disco 1 ownership and working through some (clearly) long-overdue servicing and some mods.; such as it`s egr being blanked and whilst doing that, I discovered a gunky/oily mess in the induction hoses, so I consulted RAVE to find out how to free the inter-cooler for giving it all a good clean out. The RAVE manual shows the inter-cooler as fitting neatly alongside the engine radiator`s nearside (supported in the same way as the rad. with spigots in rubber donuts); but my Disco`s inter-cooler is massive, easily bigger than the engine`s radiator (the full width of the grille in fact) and mounted in front of the rad. My Disco is a 1995 300 tdi auto. w/o aircon.......I was wondering if the smaller inter-cooler shown in RAVE is like that to permit room for the aircon version`s electric fans?...or perhaps, is there just a model year variance in inter-cooler size/fitment? Looking at the size of the inter-cooler I have here, I`m guessing I`ll have to drain and remove the engine`s radiator first to get enough room to free-up the inter-cooler to get it out for flushing? I`ve only had it a couple of weeks and already know why they`re called the 'Discovery'.....I have indeed been shocked by what I`ve discovered! Debs.

Thanks very much for the help guys! Now I know what to ask for; I`ll be heading over to the Speke LR Centre tomorrow to pick one up (along with a shackle-pin and nut).

My series III 88" has suffered a sinking-feeling: the aft leaf-spring/shackle mounting point on the off-side chassis rail has corroded, detached and been pushed-up into the hollow-chassis, which means the leaf-spring`s rear-most loop is now resting ion the flat bottom of the chassis. As my 'Lazarus-Landy' is only an 'off-road' machine and I can MIG weld; I feel I`d like to attempt a repair. Is there a repair 'patch' commercially available; perhaps something appropriately sized (in steel) to weld on each side of the chassis rail with (perhaps) a hole already drilled for the shackle bolt? I`ve had a look on the Craddocks website but there are no pictures of the item I have in mind.

`Sounds like you could also be describing my Series III: 'Lazarus Landy'.....although, I thought the "hiccup" was actually a smoker`s cough! Heavy throttle uphill produces 'epic' diesel-clag, but generally it`s just a minor blue/grey smoking polluter.

It`s done!.......`We thoroughly cleaned, stripped and rebuilt the old gearbox (reverse idler teeth missing & idler shaft badly-worn). My nephews and I installed the (now) sparklingly-clean gearbox and T/C unit yesterday: that job went well (despite the poor weather) and the only problem was the discovery of two missing bolts for the prop-shaft to rear-diff flange; `goodness knows how they got lost, as I ziploc-bagged everything during the tear-down? Lazarus Landy`s gears are now sweet-shifting and significantly quieter....and, (most importantly) I can go backwards again......Yay!

Just to update the topic: With the kind help of my three burly nephews we managed to manually-remove the broken gearbox (w/transfer-case attached).....but sadly the replacement box I bought 'off-forum' turned out to be not as described; with a 6 cyl. bellhousing (something not immediately evident with my untrained eye).....later, when trying to swap the bellhousings, I also discovered stray 'teeth' loose in the bottom of that s/h gearbox, so have determined to rebuild the old (reverse-gear broken) gearbox and reinstall. It`s taking a while, but I am learning a lot along the way; so all to the good. Hopefully the rebuilt gearbox will be ready for service and putting back into "Lazarus" (my Series III) before too long.

What a smashing bit of kit, Colin!.....I do hope you are able to have it returned quickly and that it`s (hopefully only-temporary) loss doesn`t hurt your business too much.