SPendrey

Do you have to read them first, or can you just buy new ones? On a different, but related note, I just had to replace the rear subframe on my E-Class... common issue with Merc's of the late 2000's to early 2010's (mine is 2012). I guess the idea of a "quality brand" doesn't mean so much?

Yep, recently had an MOT failure on the family E Class. Mercedes want £174 just to "look at the car" to determine if they would like to replace the rear subframe or not. I chose to do privately.

Just to add another angle, what about the Prestone yellow stuff? Claims to mix with anything. I've considered going exclusively to that, but it is quite expensive.

I had it on my previous 300Tdi... on that vehicle it seemed to sap a fair bit of power, but did cool the cabin. Still made the (old) Defender-folks jealous on a hot day though!

Alloy Wheel and Tyre Fitment Calculator. Offset, Tyre Stretch and Speedo Error | Will They Fit is useful for visualising how the offset affects the wheel position.

I am interested... don't often use the winch, and if I do it is to move fallen trees more than to move me.

Surely you're missing the word "anti" in that sentence somewhere?

My kit isn't too dissimilar to the previous lists... waffle boards, front winch (13000 lbs, rope not wire), selection of shackles (metal and soft), selection of strops, snatch block, winch rope extension (older rope with eye at one end, hook at the other), spade, RAC membership, but most importantly I always take another vehicle with its own driver and recovery gear! 🙂

My dashcam is used to record the lanes I drive. As seen above and below, the quality for "accident evidence" I suspect is dubious. Above I can see there's a white car, maybe a Pug? But that's about all. I suppose in an accident it is better to have some evidence, even if a little fuzzy? Likewise, my own example of when I entered Kents Bottom (shown as Ken's bottom, ooer) at 40mph, number plates are too blurry. Slow down to 5-10mph and it is clear enough.

I use the Viofo A119 (front only) camera and it is pretty good. Good image quality, offers the same features of "parking mode" etc., but is front only. It hasn't liked being wet, had a windscreen leak, the LCD is now useless but the camera still works.

Not that anyone asked, but I prefer the early TD5 lights to the original Disco ones. Wouldn't bother going to later types as I've received quite a few bumps up front on the indicators usually 🙂

I tend to switch between Adrian Flux and Lancaster as brokers.

Was watching an episode of Wheeler Dealers this evening (first aired 27/9/21), and they were restoring a Series 1. Now, I'm no F1 mechanic, but one shot of the wheel got me thinking... shouldn't those nuts have the 'cone' inward, and perhaps some of the stud protruding?

I went on a trip to Cornwall with Nick Davey, and bumped into him at a recent Newbury Sort-out. I know little about the business he runs, but I believe you're correct that this is a small-scale operation.

M14 x 1.5 I believe.

Clearly not just a Land Rover thing…

That's what I use, and I'm 6'4"... of course you overhang a long but the shaping works well.

I spent last weekend in the Shropshire/Wales area, and was rather disappointed at how often I sat in first gear trying to climb steep (but normal) roads. I am running slightly larger than standard tyres (235/85/16) so appreciate there is a little extra power needed to maintain momentum, and the car is heavy (HD bumpers, steering guard, diff guards, winch, me!, recovery gear etc.). I'm not a fan of engine tweaks particularly, I don't want the black smoke sometimes seen, and the age of the engine (28 yrs) doesn't lend itself to additional pressure either. So, I'm considering a 1.2 to 1.4 transfer box change... I'm sure people have done this in the past and I'm looking for feedback, +ve or -ve experience on doing such a switch. The reason I'm unsure is 90% of the time I don't really see an issue, the car drives reasonably around town as is, so I want to get opinions on if this is really a worthwhile exercise? It is that 10% of the time when it is frustrating, even having to drop to low range for some particularly steep starts. Ta.

I relocated a device that might be connected to nothing and doing nothing, but I'm not 100% sure of that. 😬 Anyway, wasn't hard.

I decided to relocate it, just in case it is important! 🙂 Turns out the mounting screws which are on a rubber bush are attached to captive nuts, so easy enough to undo and reinstall elsewhere with rivnuts.

No ABS Blanco. So if I no longer have an EGR, do I need the pneumatic modulator? Trying to make a little extra room for a second battery. I can relocate it easy enough, just might struggle with the 'damping' that's used to mount it.

Hello, Had a quick look on RAVE, and the only mention of a pneumatic modulator references EDC… which I don’t have (1995 300Tdi manual). I also removed the EGR which leaves me wondering what the modulator does? I assume it is fragile too, mounted on rubber bushes FL of the engine bay near the air box.

Trying to reach the sun? 🙂

How soon does Mo want it gone? We're meeting in April, and my son lives in Southampton (Uni) so we travel there a bit.

Does anyone know if the tensioner itself is serviceable? If the pulley doesn’t move up or down smoothly then the spring mechanism and/or the gasket between the two moving parts must be at fault. I’ve just taken mine off (a 300Tdi Disco) and added 3-in-1 oil to the joint/gasket between the two body parts and now it moves better. Is this a recipe for disaster or a cunning piece of genius?