Berto

Hello All, Can anyone see the pics in these Technical Articles: and I'm trying to follow them, and seeing the images would be really helpful. Thanks, Berto

***SOLVED*** (with help ) Just though I'd wrap this up and let you know it was indeed the high current switch in the solenoid at fault. After checking through all the electrics and starter relay, then pulling the starter out for the second time, I couldn't get it to fail on the bench, although the motor sounded quite rough. I almost entirely stripped the motor and cleaned it out, lightly greased the planetary gears and reassembled. Tested the motor which ran much smoother than before, then after a dozen or so more tests with the solenoid I got it to fail (that is the solenoid actuated but no motor). A multimeter on the high current lead from solenoid to motor showed zero volts. Interestingly, I did find a piece on the internet that helps to diagnose a motor that is running but knackered by measuring the battery voltage whilst the motor is running... If the voltage drops significantly more than a volt or two, then there are likely to be issues with the motor. Mine dropped to 11.5v. Not exhaustive, but might be helpful for someone. Anyway, new solenoid from Bearmach fitted today, and all is good again Thanks very much for the pointers guys! Cheers, Berto

Thanks for your help Steveb. I guess if I removed the lead from the solenoid to the motor and tested the solenoid output with a multimeter, that might show the fault. I found a Bearmach solenoid for £30 inc vat online. Definitely cheaper than a whole new starter! Berto

Do I find that in the engine bay, or with the fuses in front of the gear lever? Cheers for your help!

For a couple of weeks now I've been having starting issues... Defender 90 1993 200tdi I love my truck but I'm rapidly losing faith in the old girl. I hope you guys can help. First here's what's been happening (followed by what I've done so far): One morning I just got the dreaded 'click' from the starter solenoid and nothing else. Dash lights were normal and bright. No start. I checked the battery: 12.8v Tried again, and she started straight away. Since then the problem has become increasingly frequent and is now repeatable every time I get in, hot or cold. I turn the ignition key, wait for the glow light to go out and get a dead click from the solenoid. Try again and she'll either fire up perfectly, or click several more times until eventually the starter motor runs and she fires up. There's no pattern to the number of times I get the dead click. Battery is always fine with around 12.8v. I've check the ground connection from the battery terminals and the heavy leads to the chassis and the ends are clean. I get good continuity from a multi-meter between the -v on the battery and any point on the chassis or engine. Today I removed the starter motor (first dropping out the exhaust pipe, shroud and washer bottle for access). The cable connections all looked good and clean (I cleaned them again anyway). I took the solenoid apart as per a video I'd seen on youtube and gave the cylinder and housing a light clean and touch of oil, but really everything looked fine. There was small amount of pitting and corrosion on the cylinder but even before cleaning everything was free and not binding. The actuator arm had just a bit of resistance but nothing more than I'd expect, and the pinion gear moved out from the body as expected. Next I hooked the motor input up to 12v using some jump leads and she span fast and easily. Then I took the bearing cap and main rear cap off the starter motor. The bearing still had a little grease on and seemed fine. The motor body had some carbon 'plate' like bits in which I carefully cleaned out and the brushes all have plenty left on them and all moved freely. I was actually surprised how clean the inside was really. All carefully reassembled. Reinstalled the starter and made sure to clean the solenoid spade and connector thoroughly. Then I thought I'd test it before putting the exhaust, etc back on. She fired up perfectly for at least half a dozen times, no dead clicks. (I was pretty pleased with myself at this point!) Got to work putting the exhaust and washer bottle back on, cleaned up, then got ready for a quick drive to be extra happy....... What do you know? dead click!!!!!!!!! I've video'd what happens on starting..... Sorry its such a boring bit of footage but I don't know what else to try and don't have the means to just buy a new starter to test. Any suggestions on what I've missed or what to try next would be extremely gratefully received! Thanks everyone. Berto

I second your thoughts Nidge. Best and most welcoming forum ever! Nice rebuild btw.

Hi All, I'm struggling to identify an annoying rattle... When in a higher gear at a slightly slower speed than I should be for that gear, I get a rattle from under the chassis on the drivers mid-side. I would describe the sound as a loose bolt or big washer rattling around. Its quite loud, tinny and higher pitched (describes about every rattle you can imagine right?!). I've been all over the area and can't find anything loose when stationary and my wife refuses to hang upside down out of the window whilst I drive up the road. '93 Defender 90 200tdi Any suggestions on what to check next would be much appreciated before I have to start driving with the window up. Thanks, Berto

Thanks for all the replies Chaps! Have ordered a matching rim and tyre! Makes a lot of sense :-)

Hi All, My spare currently consists of a rim without a tyre... Not going to do me much good when I get flat! Problem is, the rim is a different size to the rest of the wheels: '93 200Tdi with 8 spoke steel rims. 31x10.5R15 (which a converter tells me is equivalent to 265/75R15) The spare rim is a 16" x 5.5" width (measured between flanges). Using an online diameter calculator, the original wheels are 779mm diameter which I obviously need to maintain. The 16" spare rim will accommodate upto a 195 width tyre, but here's the problem... a 195/90R16 has a wheel diameter of 757mm which is under sized, and I haven't seen anywhere on the internet that sells anything above a 195/80R16 anyway. I'm not a big off roader, so don't feel the need to have a full width gnarly spare and I suspect eventually the rear door would fall off if I did! What to do? Do you guys carry full sized matched spares? (I suppose I could ditch the spare rim) Thanks for any suggestions. Berto

Thanks for all the replies chaps! I'll keep an eye on it as suggested. Robin

Done. Thank you chaps!

This is going to be one of those 'I feel stupid for having to ask' questions... Is this the flywheel housing (directly behind the sump), and is that the drain plug at the very bottom of the flywheel housing? ('93 200tdi) I ask because 1). I'm not 100%, and 2). The workshop manual says it shouldn't be there (if it is)? Patience with the Newbie, please. Robin

shSounds like a good plan, cheers.

Cheers Dave. I love a consensus, especially when it means my vehicle's not completely ****ed.

Can't say (don't know), but suspect at least 5 years and 14K miles. Had to use a breaker bar to remove the plugs (very gently)!

Afternoon All, Just drained off the oil from my '93 200tdi's transfer box and was greeted with this... The oil smelled pretty bad too... I do get a bit of play/slip/backlash going from forward to reverse and vice verser and had suspected the splines between gearbox and transfer box were worn. Anyone tell how bad things might be from the pics? Appreciate the help! Robin

Turned out to be the join between turbo and exhaust, so no great worry. Got some exhaust paste on order . Smoke was funnelling up under the exhaust shield and looked like it was pumping out of the turbo... Chaps on here knew what it was straight away . I did get oil everywhere trying to remove my old filter though (had to push a screw driver through it to loosen as I suspect it hadn't been greased and had been on there for about 5 years!)... brake cleaner in a pump spray bottle is magical stuff though for clean up!

Thanks Mike & Neil! I know its an old post but I'm new and this is going to be really helpful. Cheers.

Hylomar exhaust paste ordered today (cheers Steve B, Retro & Vulcan), along with a set of hoses, including the air cleaner to turbo fle Had a small heart attack when I saw the price of a new intercooler, so made myself a pressure tester for the old one this evening... don't want to count my chickens yet, but all seems okay (more testing and cleaning tomorrow). I figure I'll straighten out the fins and give it a good flush through. I already removed a allot of oil from the internals. Parts due Friday!

3 days ago I felt the same euphoria! Even entered the house cave-man style stating: "Me man. Man change oil and filter".... ... then I saw blue smoke coming from my turbo.

Quick update... Fuel filter, done. Warmed engine for a while before revving to see exactly where the blue smoke was coming from... Appears to be from a join between the turbo and exhaust pipe (as you suggested 'Vulcan Bomber'!). There's a small misalignment in the join, both parts being metal, with a retaining clamp. See 'turbo2.jpg' Any ideas on what I should use to seal the joint after re-aligning? Next, I pulled the breather pipe off again to check for any new oil: It's clean. As is the air filter and housing. Removed the turbo intake hose and found some more residue on the intake which is not surprising as I hadn't cleaned out the flex-hose yet. I re-checked the turbo for axial play... No movement! There is a very (very) small amount of radial play, but the compressor wheel doesn't come close to touching the housing. I think when I checked last night I didn't distinguish between the two axis properly. Removed air filter housing and hoses leading to turbo, intercooler and intake manifold (nipped up the dip stick hose nut whilst the hoses were all out of the way too). You can see the state of the air filter / turbo flexi-hose (turbo_input1.jpg & turbo_input2.jpg) Followed by intercooler_output1.jpg and intercooler_output2.jpg - So obviously allot of oil has been through the turbo, intercooler and I guess that could well be the source of my blue exhaust smoke. The intercooler also has a nice big crater in it... intercooler.jpg I've pulled it out and flushed with petrol (no signs of leaking) and it's now drying out overnight. So, I'm tempted to replace all the hoses with new silicone (particularly the flex-hose into the turbo) just to be sure I've got a completely clean system. Also very tempted to replace the intercooler given the state of it. Would it be worth a larger, better performing intercooler, or is there little benefit? Advice on brands would be very helpful! I don't think the previous owner even thought about servicing or maintaining the poor machine in the 4-5 years he had it! Thanks for all the help so far!

Chaps, thank you very much for your quick responses! and for keeping it simple for me. Will get on with replacing the fuel filter and get that out of the way. Will also pull out the intercooler and flush.... What's the best way to completely dry it out? Going to have another look at the turbo and gauge the play. If its more than Aragorn states, is it a new turbo, or is there a fix for the thrust bearing? Thought about renewing the turbo intercooler hoses (particularly the air filter to turbo intake hose) - I can see kits on Paddocks, is there a brand to go for/avoid? I will also (nervously) check to see exactly where the puffs of blue smoke are coming from around the turbo. If it is the manifold gasket leaking, do I simply unbolt, remove the old gasket, clean and plonk on a new gasket dry? or are there special things to do before removing? Lots of questions! Strangely enjoying the whole thing though! Thanks again, wouldn't have even considered buying a defender without the forums to rely on.

Evening all, Had hoped my first post would be a happy intro. Should have known better! Got myself a 1993 defender 90 200tdi (original engine). Vague service history and the previous owner covered 10k in 4 years. Now it's done 110k. Timing belt @ 96k. Not used much yet. Mainly a 100 mile journey home from purchase and she ran absolutely fine although no pushed hard. Have had the sump off to cure an oil leak, oil and filter change. Turns out leak may have been from where the dip stick enters the lower part of the block but had fun throwing oil all over the concrete anyway. Changed air filter - discovered thick oil at the seal end (outside seal, 2-3 teaspoons) and inside the old filter. Removed cyclone breather, washed through with petrol and thoroughly dried. Cleaned breather pipe with brake cleaner and dried. Removed hose between air filter and turbo - oily film inside and wet oil on outer underside (suggests split but couldn't find one although difficult as its a Flexi-hose). Cleaned a film of oil from around the turbo inlet. The turbo impeller had a very small amount of play along the line of the shaft (fore/aft). Also found oil remnants around the bottom inter cooler hose. Removed and cleaned but very little in hose (just a smear). No idea how much may be in intercooler though. Replaced all and double checked clips etc. She starts fine and ticks over happily. Bit of a puff and then a faint bit of blue smoke until warm, then it's almost invisible - this has always happened and I'm not overly concerned (yet). However if I Rev the engine (from under the bonnet) I'm getting a puff of blue smoke from the turbo unit! This is worrying me! It revs up fine, sounds fine and settles back to idle fine. But I'm guessing the turbo shouldn't be smoking!!!???? Hoping you might be able to enlighten me. Have heard about turbo seals going, but can't find this on any of the forums. Daren't drive the bloody thing in case it goes bang! Only thing I haven't done as planned is the fuel filter as I didn't have any fresh diesel to prime with. And haven't worked out how to flush the intercooler yet either. All help greatly appreciated, but as you've already guessed this is my first defender and I don't spend a great deal of time in nitrile gloves. Cheers.