Alec Leamas

Thank you very much. My current 2.0 bar (29 psi) seems to be in line with your experiences. I should do the temp test some day!

I have a Defender ´98 HI CAP pickup with recently mounted 265/75R16 Cooper S/T MAXX and am trying to find the optimum pressure. When it came back from balancing at the tyre shop, it offered quite a harsh ride, and after a few weeks I figured out they had set the pressure to 3.2 bar all around. My own initial pressure was 2.2 in the front and 2.4 in the rear. I have referenced my Haynes manual, but there are no tyres in this size mentioned there. What I notice is that they propose very high pressures for the rear vs the front. I understand the best way (or at least a good way) is to mark the tyres with chalk or something and see how the chalk wears. Is the reason Haynes and others are proposing substantially higher pressures for the rear that they are assuming one regularly load max? If so, if I almost always ride alone with nothing on the rear bed, shouldn't I have the same pressure or maybe even higher pressure in the front (with the weight of the engine)? Any input highly appreciated.

Thanks guys. Problem solved - it was a broken clevis in the linkage. Ripped right off. I managed to put the transfer box in High with a breaker bar and has ordered a new clevis. It is an LT230 in a Defender hcpu 300tdi '98.

Thanks a million Steve, hope you're right as this sounds fixable...

After having been a LR owner for about a month, I had my first breakdown. From the beginning, I have had the feeling of the High/Low lever not being very distinct. Suddenly, on a dirt road in the middle of the forest, it chose not to work at all - I could not engage neither high or low gear. Moving it back and forth it feels like moving something in a bowl of spaghetti. No noise nor smell. A friend towed it to an old barn nearby and I will go back there tomorrow to hopefully establish what is wrong. I hope it is just something with the gearing linkage? I have never worked with the transmission, ever. I tried to find information on how to access the linkage in my Haynes manual and in the Workshop manual but did not get any wiser. Is there something I need to know or something that is counter-intuitive when I get at it tomorrow? Any input highly appreciated!!!

Excellent, thank you very much.

What is the correct term for the plastic thingies shown in the picture? I need more of them but I don't know what to search for...

Thank you. I have placed an order!

Does anyone know if someone is producing tree sliders for the Defender HCPU (more specifically a '98 300tdi)?

There is definitely play in the aux tensioner. Is this the item that also can be referred to as alternator belt tensioner? Thank you very much Pete, much appreciated!

Excellent, thank you very much! After having had the rocker cover off the old fuel leakoff pipes gave up completely and diesel was flowing when running the engine. I have since replaced them with some standard 3 mm pipe.

I have after quite a bit of work removed the crank nut from my 300tdi engine and is about to remove the timing cover. The radiator is out and is quite ratty looking so I think I will order a new one. I have the Paddock spares timing belt kit on the way - a new belt, tensioner, idler and cover gasket. Is there anything else that you would replace as you have radiator out/timing cover off on an underserviced, 18y old / 130 000 miles old 300tdi? I did have some squealing noise from the belts or pulleys but unfortunately I did not pinpoint where it came from before starting to take down the engine. Also, are there any other essential spares that would be good to have ready in the garage? I did oil service and changed diesel and air filters last week, and I have an extra filter kit on the shelf. I have also changed the rocker cover seal.