dave88sw

Hi, I've got a very strange problem to try and get to the bottom of. It's a 2010 Defender TDCI that was all running fine until the other day. It starts normally on the key and runs absolutely fine until i touch the brake pedal or put it in reverse. As soon as i do either, it cuts out. I've disconnected the brake light switch and the reverse light switch and the vehicle then runs and drives absolutely fine, but this obviously isn't a lasting fix as i need the lights working. Does anyone have any ideas? At this stage i don't know where to even begin. Thanks Dave

On the top of the transfer box is a short rectangular housing held down with 6 bolts, the high/low selector arm enters through the end of the housing and a little finger pushes the selector inside the transfer box to shift ratios. If you remove that housing, inside is a grub screw that often comes loose, attaching the selector "finger" to the selector rod. The result of which is that everything looks like it is moving properly externally but nothing happens inside the transfer box when you go to shift.

Was the old pump covered in black sooty deposits? Sounds like the injector washers are blowing by.

I've got the same one, there's no real instruction as to how far you screw it onto the rivnut, only how to assemble the tool. It's a bit of guesswork really, i basically look at the rivnut and estimate how long the section that collapses is (the bit between the thread and the flange), then with the arms of the tool together, screw the rivnut on until it stops, open the arms and then screw the rivnut on the length you estimated, insert the rivnut in the hole and squeeze the arms together with a reasonable force or until they touch without going overboard. Then unscrew the tool and check it's reasonably tightly set in the hole. As long as it isn't loose enough to rotate as you thread a bolt in it should be fine, it will pinch up when you tighten the bolt.

I'd echo Muddy, put a new chassis under yours. Have you driven a Discovery 3? I personally hate driving them, they go well but the handling is awful, feels like your driving a double decker with soggy suspension. I also hate the interior, the seats give me arse ache in 5 minutes, they're very typical of Ford; rock hard and no shape. Mine isn't a popular opinion, most seem to like them but it would be worth trying one out before you search for one. You also need deep pockets for repairs to a Discovery 3, remember they were a very expensive car when new and although the purchase price has dropped, you're still paying expensive car maintenance costs. You will NEED to be friendly with someone who has a Land Rover friendly diagnostic set up.

I've already changed it for a solid state one in the hope that was the problem but no change. Thanks for the suggestion though

Sorry for the slow response, I do appreciate the suggestions. I've just changed out the thermostat, for some reason it had an 82 degree one, I've stuck a 74 in. Unfortunately it's still getting a little warm. I'm fairly certain it's not an earth issue, it has multiple earth straps on the engine and the gauge earth is good and clean. I did however pull a couple of spark plugs earlier and they're very pale so that might explain it if it's running fairly lean. Cheers Dave

I'll try and get hold of a thermometer but timing has been checked and set up following the advice in the third post on this thread: Biggest trouble being i can't really find definitive figures for setting the timing. It's currently at nearly 6btdc at idle (its a 8:1 compression head so manual suggests static figure of tdc but it runs much better at 6 before) It's a brand new radiator and i'm fairly sure there's no build up, in the 12 years i've owned it it's not been in 1 piece long enough to accumulate sludge!! Water pump is good. Thanks Dave

Hi, I'm having a bit of a headache with my series 3, 2.25 petrol. It always used to run with the temperature gauge bang on the middle of the "N" where it should, however, it's been laid up a while and since i've started using it again, the needle is sitting a little above the "N", about halfway between normal and the red zone. It doesn't appear to rise any higher, even if i take it up a long hill. I had this happen many years back and that turned out to be a crappy britpart sender unit, so first thing i did was change the sender again (genuine land rover one), i've also changed the voltage stabiliser for the gauges (solid state replacement) but the gauge is still reading exactly the same. I don't think it is actually running particularly warm, i can hold the top hose quite comfortably and there's no excess pressure there. So, i'm a bit stumped, where would you go next? I'm probably going to order a new genuine thermostat and give that a go but i'm getting a bit bored of replacing bits that aren't at fault. Any suggestions? Thanks Dave

I bought Nige's trigger wheel, coil pack bracket and vr sensor bracket kits a couple of years ago when i put megajolt on my 3.9 discovery. Top quality stuff, all bolts included so it was just a case of remove the pulley, undo the existing bolts and bolt the trigger wheel on, couldn't have been easier. Trigger wheels do some model/engine specific stuff but it's more universal bits that will fit with adjustment rather than the purpose made "fits straight out the box" stuff from Nige.

I've been googling all night and you find lots of different opinions. It seems that the advice varies as to which side of the throttle plate the vac port should be and whether it should have "ported" or "manifold" vacuum. If anyone is interested, i found this article, which would appear to be trustworthy and explains the whole situation very well: http://chevellestuff.net/tech/articles/vacuum/port_or_manifold.htm Paragraph 6 of the article is where he discusses manifold or ported vacuum if you want to jump straight to that. Having read through that, i think i'll try it with the vacuum line connected up straight to the manifold and report back on how it runs. I'm just desperate to hear this thing run, it's been 7 years since i had a proper drive in it!! Thanks for the help Dave

No, the carb came off a Rover V8, the vac advance i think was connected to the other carb (or manifold, can't honestly remember but there's no port on this carb). I had considered drilling the carb but i don't really want to have to remove it again if i can avoid it. As it's not a performance engine do you think it'll hurt it to connect it straight to the manifold? Cheers Dave

I'm just finishing up putting an su carb on my series 3 2.25. It hadn't occured to me until I went to connect it up but there's no vacuum feed for the distributor on the SU carb. Would it be ok to connect it up with a T piece into the brake servo feed? Thanks Dave

Thanks very much, sounds about right as I think the bolt has a 19mm head. Cheers Dave

Does anybody know off the top of their head the size of the banjo's on a 300tdi fuel filter head? I want to order up a banjo that'll take an 8mm pipe but the car isn't with me at home to measure it up. Thanks Dave

Anyone with a multimeter should be able to test that there is 12v at the pump when the washers are operated, that should be the first test. If there is you can confidently say that the pump is seized, if not, your problem is elsewhere. If you haven't got a multimeter, your best bet is to find a test light (or make one, i just use an old sidelight bulb holder with some tails of wire) and put it across the 2 contacts of the connector on the headlight washer pump.

I'm with sureterm and their customer service is great. They answer the phone quickly too which is nice, i can't stand being on hold to admiral when insuring my other car...

Hi, Took my Range Rover to work today, everything functioning perfectly. Parked up at home and when i went back out to it, it wouldn't crank over. Cursed a lot and took the other car... Anyway, had 5 minutes to look when i got home and fairly quickly established the starter relay wasn't clicking in, checked the fuse (no.40, engine bay fusebox) and it had blown. It's a 40 amp fuse, only had 30's with me so stuck one in and it fired straight up, took it up the road and noticed the air suspension wasn't coming up and i couldn't hear the compressor. Parked it up and wouldn't restart, fuse blown again. No.40 is marked as air suspension and starter motor. Took the cover off the compressor, it is red hot (would have been stone cold when i started it and i did less than a mile) and smells... burnt. I think i know the answer already but before i spend £180 on a compressor, is there anything else to check? I assume, being a 40 amp fuse, it directly feeds the compressor? I don't know why i doubt it but i just assumed the air suspension compressor would be one of the maxi fuses rather than a standard blade. Thanks Dave

injector seals...

Ok, so i've looked at prices for new 6.5" subs and replacement used amplifiers and they're not cheap. A little while back i fitted one of these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kenwood-KSC-SW11-Compact-Under-Seat-150W-Active-Amplified-Powered-Subwoofer-Sub/171165909764?hash=item27da488304:g:MasAAOSw~gRVjTAd to my Discovery and i'm really very impressed with it. I'm quite tempted to remove the entire sub box and replace it with the compact sub which would also give me a bit of storage space in the left hand side of the boot which would be nice. Does anybody have a link to a wiring diagram for the sub box to save me downloading rave?

2001 P38 with Harmon Kardon sound system. The sub box seems to distort at fairly low volume and generally spoils the sound. Both speaker cones are in good order and not split but are they the most likely cause of the issue or is it more likely to be the little amp attached to the box? I've unplugged it for now but would like to sort it out, does anyone know off the top of their head what diameter the speakers are so i can have a look for replacements? Thanks Dave

Right, i'll go with the BPR6ES plugs then, i've ordered some new leads to go on at the same time so it'll all be new. It has a spark plug box taped to the air compressor lid with 95k written on it (on 109k now) so i'm hoping they'll come out without any drama. Now to find a lower steering column... Does it ever end?

As the title suggests, i'm looking for suggestions for the best option for spark plugs for a 2001 Thor engined 4.6 P38. It has LPG on it, which i use occasionally but it does most of it's miles on petrol. Think i'm right in saying the bosch engined ones had platinum plugs as standard which are a bit expensive but most people seem to suggest just using NGK BPR6ES plugs and changing them more often. Thoughts on this? I'm happy to change them every 10k

I should have said, I used a rust converter previously and removed the windows completely to do it. When I replaced the windows I put a thin bead of sealant inside the seal lip to prevent water getting in there. The bubbles coming through now arent really under the seal, they're just below, on the ridge in the roof beneath the window. Is por15 as good as its cracked up to be?

Thought i'd post this here as it applies to rust on any car body panel... I have a few small rust bubbles coming through the paint around the alpine windows on my discovery 1. I rubbed them back (the steelwork appears pretty sound, just starting to rust rather than completely rotten and full of holes) and etch primed and top coated about 3 years ago but they're just starting again. What advice would you give for a longer lasting repair. At this stage i'm less concerned about aesthetics and more concerned about applying a coating that'll prevent it from going into holes. I did buy some bilt hamber zinc rich primer for the job but it says on the tin to give it 7 days drying time before over painting. Given i have nowhere to store it indoors, should i use it for this job? I assume it would skin over within a few hours but is it likely to work if it's kept outdoors in the inevitable rain? Dave