cackshifter

TBH just because it meets the requirements spec doesn't make it the equal to another. It just means it's adequate. In any case my manual reflects what was available in 1997, but things have moved on quite a bit.

Hi, I have noticed I can buy 5L Carlube full synthetic Triple R 5W/40 oil for just under £25 which is quite cheap for full synth. Ok I realise it's Tetrosysl oil, but it does seem to tick quite a few boxes regarding standards. So I just wondered if anyone had any experience of it? Or Carlube oils in general , eg they do a budghet EP90? Nigel

Interesting it didn't work on a 300- my relay's gathering dust & high on the todo list to fit. Pt nos are on link on my prev post. Brakes and a BP style oil leak are occupying a bit of time first... Nigel

Or you can push the boat out and get an upgraded one with a programmable intermittent delay. Can't remember the no. it's the Golf GTi one, cost me just over £10. Ahh.. found a link with the pat no.s herelink AFAIK it just plugs in, but there's a thread on here about it. Nigel

Compressors as we can see are a very personal thing, and as ever it's unusual to find a small one that performs as well as a large one. But accomodating a large one can cause problems. If you are going to spray or blast, I say go for at least (a true) 10cfm - that means a 2.2kw(3HP) motor, and a pump with oil in the sump with iron cylinder liners. Thats the sort of standard of engineering you'd recognise. The direct drive ones tend to be less robust than the belt drive, because the pump ideally goes at about 1000rpm; the motor at 2880. There are ones about that will run on a 13A plug - eg Fiac or Abac I think, and I think Sealey used to do one. I saw an Abac one new on ebay recently. The motors have to be really efficient and need some sort of soft starting, but otherwise a 3hp takes about 15A. A larger pump will partly compensate for a relatively small receiver, say 50-100l. Even with this size blasting is a bit of a struggle, but I have done most of a RR chassis with an Ingersoll Rand 3Hp and an Ace blaster so I know it can be done. It's a good size for painting too, as you don't really want to run out of air mid paint, otherwise the paint is going off and you are waiting for pressure to build - you can get by with a huge additional receiver and a long pumping session before painting, but it's not really satisfactory. The other thing to try to do is to get the air as dry as possible, and a small receiver isn't a help here as it doesn't give the air a chance to cool and deposit water. Professional stuff has refigerant or dessicant dryers, as water can spoil your day when painting and be darned nuisance when blasting. I'd look for an aftercooler on the pump if possible, a trap on exit from the receiver, and maybe another trap near your spraying/blasting. There used to some compressors about where the tank stood on end with the pump on top - might be a nice corner ornament, and doesn't take much floor space, but things will get warm if you're blasting. Nigel

I'd recommend a tweak - get some Whitworth csk socket screws to replace the existing slotted jaw screws, as the threads are quite coarse, and the screws can come a bit loose when hammering enthusiastically. If that happens they tend to bend, then it makes getting them out very difficult. Best loctited in with 243, unless you change the jaws often, and easier to get an allen key in to tighten them than a slotted screwdriver. I would however slot the heads before fitting, just in case the socket gets damaged. Nigel

Les, Do you have access to a supply > 13A or 3-phase? Do you need to cart this thing round with you? Either of these things might affect a reply. Regards Nigel

I've found a small tie wrap (zip tie), or 2 joined if not long enough, is better able to hold the boot on than some of the things supplied with the kits. Nigel

Just had to rip loads of copper pipe with zinc plated steel unions off my 90 that some muppet had fitted. The well known galvanic action had seized the ends on to the pipe, and the copper had sort of sagged between clips. The pipe itself was fine. So when I came to replace the hoses, I just ended up twisting the ends off. Replaced with kunifer pipe with brass ends - with a bit of luck that will not be so bad to undo in the future. Nigel

As you'll probably read on here, master & slave tend to fail together so might pay you to change both and do get a decent brand of parts or you'll be doing it again in a few months. Nigel

I've never had any success releasing tapers by hitting them; you are supposed to hit one side with a hammer while holding a weight against the other side, or even hit both sides at once. I use a Sykes joint splitter - they do a fork and 2 sizes of screwed splitter, the bigger one fits with a little bit of grinding. You wind the bolt in at one end, the other end just jacks the taper apart (leave the nut on loosely to spread the load and protect the thread if want to re-use it). With that on, it takes literally less than a minute to break the taper. The same incidentally with trackrod ends. I think Halford sell them, and they also used to do reasonable circlip pliers. Re getting the bottom seat out, that's pure grade 1 embuggerance. I used a hydraulic puller with a suitable socket to push down similar to Les's on the car method, but I don't see why, once everything else is out of the way, you couldn't use a bit of heat on the outside of the arm to ease things. Once it starts to move it comes relatively easily. Regards Nigel

Maybe needs an injector service or the viscous fan coupling has seized? Nigel

I'd check your fluid level; it sometimes feels soft if short of fluid. Nigel

I think they are actually item 8 on P748, but I don't have bumperettes. I'm not sure what function they are performing, but have been putting off investigating. I think I might have to remove one and measure it, but I have been avoiding it as I expect something to spring out of alignment, then be difficult to re-fit. I'll make a pin or something to temporarily replace one, then push it out backwards. Anyway many thanks Nigel

Yes as Ralph said, it's very easy, just 2 M8 nuts and the vacuum pipe, you can access the end of the pedal through the 2 holes under the big grommets in the sides of the pedal box to disconnect from the pedal. Just be careful to replace or at least preserve the O ring between the master cylinder & the servo. You should get one with a new servo or master cylinder. Regards Nigel

I have a 97 110 300tdi. There are a couple of bolts through each side of the rear crossmember I think holding on a body mounting bracket - they look like M10/M12 x 100 or something of that ilk, but I just can't find them. The heads are on the outside of the crossmember. Any ideas? Regards Nigel

I used to work in a bus plant; there was a lot of powder coating because unlike paint, there was no chance of pinholes where solvents evaporate, in fact I read somewhere you need 3 coats to be sure pinholes have all been covered. (Even 2 pack normally has a small amount of thinners). External underneath parts, galvanised or zintec, were dipped in a phospate wash then a chromate wash. The parts were then dried in an oven and immediately powder coated. It was well-nigh impossible to chip off, even with a hammer, or if you bent the steel. Parts like the roof were pre treated and primed. Again they had impressive chip resistance. On the other hand internal parts could be powder coated without the pre-treatment and then were much easier to chip, or it would flake off if it was bent. I'd say if you could be sure of the correct pre-treatment, powder coating is the best, but on a poor base will fall off with the the best of them. Nigel

Or search ebay for horse mats. I recommend you don't look for rubber sheeting. Regards Nigel

I think Keith Gott used to sell the correct seals, might be worth a call; IIRC they don't have a part number. Nigel

Thanks for the responses; I must admit I can't see it makes any difference. After all it's just exerting a bit of a push. The odds are that won't be the reason for having to replace the joint again anyway. Nigel

Hi, Sorry to re-raise a perennial subject but..having just rebuilt a drop arm balljoint as per the Tech Archive's excellent threads I was happy until I happened to look in the (official)Range Rover manual I have and caught sight of a section of the ball joint (or at least a very similar one). The thread suggests the small end of the spring should be downwards, the manual suggests upwards. Does it matter, or this a RR/Defender difference? The Defender manual I have doesn't show a drawing. Regards Nigel

Is there anyone you could swap a set of wheels with for half an hour? That would let you see if the problem moved with the tyres or remained... Nigel

Re the blue smoke in the morning I had a 300tdi D110 with the same problem - lot of blue smoke for first few hundred yards. It turned out to be 2 of the valve stem oil seals had slid from the top of the guides up to the top of the valve stems. It's probably possible to push them back down through the valve spring, but I discovered it when renewing the head gasket, and it's very easy to sort out then. Worth a look under the rocker cover - might need a strong light. Nigel

If you go to your car, and pump the brake pedal a few times you will get rid of any residual vacuum. Then if you put your foot on the brake pedal and hold it down while starting the engine, you should feel the pedal go down further as the engine starts and the vacuum builds and the power assistance kicks in. (I think this could be rubbish if you have ABS)If you don't feel that pedal sort of push down, probably not much power assistance. I had this on a 300tdi - no extra push as it turned out the servo was u/s - I took a chance on it and changed the servo as it didn't owe anything, it was the cheapest thing to change and you can do it in about 15 minutes, and that pretty much fixed the problem. I measured the vacuum at the servo and it was at most about .5 bar but I think the pump is tired also. The old servo worked some of the time but you were never sure how much of a push you'd need. Nigel

Second that or maybe a servo/vacuum problem - robbing you of power assistance some of the time - that tends to remove 'bite'. Servo is easy to swap (might be different if you have ABS) Nigel