Peaklander

Hi. Here’s a screengrab of a late 300TDi diagram. It shows that there’s no connector between the glow plug relay and #4 cylinder plug. It is a straight through cable. You can also see that the return to battery negative is through the engine block and so need to ensure that there is a connection from there to chassis and onto the battery negative. Edit: I have now read that you have already seen this. Oh well I’ll leave it here anyway.

You guys seem to have big fridges. This is our 35litre ‘live’. Ok I should squeeze another couple of beers in there but it’s fairly spacious and takes up some space in our 110. Next to the 2 x 2 litre of milk is a big pack of chicken, a large red pepper and other salad stuff.

Hi Ian. Good to see you back!

The CO police will be after you though 🤣

Wow. I like that.

I have the switch mount that @Snaggerrefers to. It does look good (IMHO).

You have good data, better than me. My controller tells me nada. I have a Hall effect sensor so can see net current flow into the battery and voltage of course. When away, as now, I wish I had my clamp meter and then I could look a little closer. I have a 100W panel and one leisure battery. I suspect that in my case two panels would be better than another battery. I think it’s generation rather than storage that I need more of. The panel orientation is critical and with a lifting roof this can be a hindrance as well as a help.

That’s exactly the symptom I had which was the regulator. It’s a £10 part which you can change from the back of the alternator if it’s the standard model (A127 I think). The old pulls off after removing a couple of 10mm nuts and the new one pushes on but you have to use a paper clip to hold the brushes back to allow them over the rotor. There’s little holes to facilitate that - and it’s easier when you see it.

One of mine frayed and the end split two days ago. It’s at #1 where it goes back to the pump. We were doing a few miles and started to smell diesel. By the time I looked there was a nice coating of the smelly stuff and it was dripping off the steering arms. For the time being I trimmed the end and it’s ok. The heat shrink is a good tip 👍🏻

Yes I bought them for reglazing some of my windows. It seemed a lot of pieces and it was, for that job. However they have a hundred other uses and the selection of different thicknesses (colour coded) just makes it better.

That’s what I have done recently as part of a service. I wedged the others so as to be sure that each piston in turn was able to move.

We have used various cool boxes over the years and most recently had a Waeco Tropicool coolbox which was ok, managing a creditable cool-down until very high ambient temperatures were encountered. Then it just went nuts and was on all the time (not unexpected) and drained the battery. We eventually splashed the cash on a compressor fridge that we run off 12V with a solar panel and it has been the best thing we have ever bought for camping. It’s a Dometic CFX 35 chest fridge. I was going to say it is reasonably cheap, well it was a few years ago. I checked the prices now and it isn’t. It’s a great solution but pricey if it’s just a few beers that need cooling.

I'm ready to rebuild this and hope to do so on Wednesday. Global Roamer advised that I should drill an oil-way in the front cover. This is positioned so that it lines-up with an existing one in the transfer box, used for the PTO. Roamerdrive say that its position is easy to determine as the gasket can be used to position it and the required hole is only 7mm whereas the one on the TB is bigger. When I picked up the front case of the OD to plan the drilling, I found that there's a hole there already. However the gasket I received with the parts that were supplied doesn't have that hole. It can't be incorrectly positioned as the PTO cover-plate holes aren't symmetrical. This is the gasket I used when I first installed the OD, looking at the TBox, with the input shaft already fitted and the hole is there at 10 o'clock and wasn't covered by the gasket. The installation instructions are clear - Here is the front case of the Roamerdrive, looking from the TBox. The pen is sitting in the hole. Now with the supplied gasket sitting on it - hole blocked. There is an 'extra' hole across on the other side which makes it look as though it's the wrong orientation but I can't flip over as the six bolt holes don't align. I am checking holes with Global Roamer but in any case the start of the rebuild is to press the synchro hub onto the new sun shaft and then press the new planet gear shafts into the front synchro cone. The first operation is going to be tricky I think.

Thank you all - yes I can find the solenoid but don't particularly want to carry one. It was simply that I thought the components were easily available but the TD5 comment explains that..maybe all the solenoid woes I've read about have been on TD5s. As for shorting the terminals, I did just that on a tractor I occasionally drove as my father-I-L didn't want to repair it (£). He kept a chunky screwdriver in the cab for that very task. @Maverik that sounds like a comprehensive approach to planned / preventive maintenance. I thought you were specifically referring to the regulator failure I had on the alternator. I can't see that being predictable but the stater solenoid - maybe. The last one I had fail was on a Honda CRV, when I started the car three or four times within a minute or two when I was purging the steering fluid after a pipe change. Yes, on reflection that might have been too aggressive. There was no warning except that on the third turn of the key, nothing happened, the fourth was OK and on the fifth it died. My alternator was changed for a 100A Hella (YLE10113G) just over two years ago and the cables upgraded at the same time. I had been watching the voltage during some cold, wet and dark drives, with everything switched on and felt that the standard one was struggling. I have heated screens and mirrors, with filament bulbs in the headlamps and front spots. Also i have a leisure battery which has a 100W solar feed but in the Spring or Autumn, needs a good swift charge after we have stopped for a while with the space heater and fridge on. If we aren't moving far, which is often the case, then I think the plentiful amps helps. I thought so too but as you can see in the photo, although there is a number on it (07-004 YY18809) is doesn't respond to a search. However I have now used the LR part number (doh) and have a few results which appear to be correct, such as this one https://as-pl.com/en/p/ARE4010. It's too late to get it for our forthcoming trip but handy to have the part number. I understand the comments about it not being the end of the world if a starter fails or indeed an alternator but as I said, these 'vital' spares wouldn't take-up space yet would make a repair quicker and easier.

Appreciate that @Maverik and thanks but as I said at the top, the only breakdown I have had in eight years, when most of my driving has been around Europe, was a failed alternator regulator. I was lucky to be near a town and they had a motor factors with one in stock. This is the only reason - it's a small item and easy fix. The reason for thinking starter motor is that I seem to remember people discussing using repair kits for failed solenoid contacts. Again I thought small, cheap and why not. However I don't want to strip mine to find spare components needed and the only kits I could see (easily) on-line are for TD5 starters. What preventive maintenance would you suggest for these two possible failures?

I decided to whip the back off the alternator, thinking it would help. It doesn't as that number doesn't exist anywhere.

Days of rubber put down on the dry road followed by rain lubricant. Tricky!

@landroversforeverthey are only for sitting as we have a big bedroom upstairs 😄 The 100mm is an upgrade from the first ones and they are great. The seat bases are 400mm deep which is 250mm past the original wheel boxes. The cloth on them is to stop the bases slipping off when travelling Thanks @Badger110

Not speaking for FF here 🥷 - ours are 100mm foam with square corners. It was ordered from gbfoamdirect.co.uk, cut to size then the covers were made to fit, zips and all. If our Alucab roof is down I can just sit with my head scraping the ceiling of the bed above.

How did you know - wouldn't start I presume? I used to remove the rotor arm on my S3 88" and was teased about it by a mate who then had his 110 TD5 stolen followed by another a few months later. I'd put it down to a prank - someone trying to annoy you maybe? Have you upset anyone near where you parked?

I recently removed the Transfer Box using a trolley jack but needed a crane to lift it back. I just couldn't do it from the floor and I think it was because the vehicle was too low and I was in a bad position. Next time I will get the wheels up on stilts. I'm sure a proper jack / scissor would be better. I also had some long shank bolts screwed in - that certainly helped with the sliding.

I want to hold a spare regulator pack for my alternator and brushes and solenoid contacts for my starter motor. This is so that I can carry them on our trips. I have had a regulator pack fail before and was very lucky to be in a town in mid-Spain where I could source one. However I now have a Hella 100A alternator YLE10113G with CA1337CF 140432170918 on the labels but I can't find the regulator pack. My starter motor is, I think (the original) ERR5009 (0 001 218 168), so one day soon the brushes will fail or the solenoid will burn out. I have looked for a solenoid repair kit but the 'hits' all seem to be for TD5 motors. Are they the same? As I say, the reason for doing this is to save time, especially when we are away. I may find I have a missing tool but to have the spare part would help if I got to a repair place. Can anyone help? Honestly I'm going around in circles.

The fabric came from a well known textile company called Shufflebothams in Macclesfield. They have thousands of rolls. That material was the last 6m on the roll and is very 1970s but we loved it the moment we saw it. The owner said that it came from a mill that he had 'cleared' and would have been the 'leader cloth'. So it was a test print onto cloth but only for a run to check the print before being used for paper printing.

Used to braze stuff that was too flaky for real welding - that was a lot of my Fiat 850 coupé

Here’s our cushions and seat bases. This is the second version, the first were old curtains!