ashtray

get it fixed mate, thats good for years yet, mine is the same age, same mileage and its got a couple of rust spots in the same places and its easily repaired, go for it! if you like the car then have it fixed, if its not what you want then get it tidied up and sell, discos with no mot dont fetch much, with 12months ticket itll easily cover the cost of the repair work.

expanding foam.... my mate managed to use 4 cans of the stuff on his old mr2, on the arches sills and of course a bit of chemical metal and plate on the suspension turrets... half a days work later and retested and it passed...... now sold. feel bad for the chap who bought it off him, it looked quite reasonable...

see i work on mercs everyday, they are extremely complicated vehicles, but i could quite easily sort out a small (albeit not cheap) spare parts list to take with me if i was taking it any distance. namely crank sensor, air mass sensor, o2 sensors, camshaft sensors. its really only sensors that fail on mercs, nothing really serious. only seen a couple of water pumps fail, never replaced a thermostat. done one head gasket, this is over 4 years btw. i can imagine the td5 being mechanically just as reliable as a 300tdi, but the 300tdi would win on simplicity, price and availability of parts. if i were to take a td5 on a long overland trip then i would definately take a nanocom type device. id prefer something like a snap-on fault code reader but they are v.pricey. i dont think you can go too far wrong with a td5, u just need to be prepared for any electrical failures. thats all i see now at work is electrical failures. they are never too much of an issue providing you have a reasonable understanding of the vehicle. my next landy is going to be a td5, i like the 300tdi, but id like the extra oomph. i know im going to pay a premium for this but its also for age aswell. 300 tdis are over 10 years old now, so finding a low mileage one isnt as easy, and also being older means more dreaded rust!!

i have a set of red Mac Tools hard plastic jobbies. get used everyday for work, havnt work out even slightly, flat bladed generally get used as chisels/pry bars. they are completely bomb proof, i didnt go for snap on or mac "comfort" rubber screwdrivers as fluids kill the rubber. a little bit of brake cleaner on my mac ones and they come up brand new, every time. You need to get some un chromed screw drivers, i.e with the black tips. chrome flakes off and the screwdriver has then lost its shape. the way to test how good the tip is is to hold a philips screw horizontal, insert the screwdriver into it, and the screwdriver should not fall out of the screw, definately worth buying the Mac ones, will last forever, they are nearly 60 quid. but 2nd ones will be spot on. Im a mechanic so they get a good seeing too, they are butch, i wouldnt buy anything else

theoretically, (someone correct me here if im wrong) but if there is a poor earth, more current will be required to create an earth path. so as the bulb is in series with the earth, it should go dim. so check and clean all earth connectors for the lamp units, and replace both plug connectors for the bulbs seeing as one has melted. chafed wiring looms will cause a short circuit to earth meaning that the fuse will blow

im liking the idea of that gutter mount, i may have to start looking online for one. Thanks to everyone for their ideas!

must also add, my journeys are 90% around the sub 10mile range

i get 450 miles from a full tank till the reserve light comes on. but i havnt been filling it right up for a while, only 50 quid at a time and i get 250miles. i have a snorkel fitted along with insa turbo dakars, 235/85. nothing else that will affect fuel. standard tune engine etc.

ok so either i need some sort of gutter clamp? or maybe i save it for a defender

it is what gives the trade a bad name, and unfortunately i thinks its gonna be like that for a while. its a shame really. im a main dealer tech, and even i know that specialists can have a lot more in depth knowledge of the vehicles they work on. they often have more time to play around with things. i find being in a main dealer everything is too much focused on performance and time, although there are surveys going out that are changing the attitude of techs now. Customers now have a say on our service and it affects our pay and whether or not we are reccommended. we even have a sign outside saying 98% of our customers would reccommend us, and we are trying to get it higher, it is one of the highest scores in the country. but of course this only affects main dealers. specialists arnt affected by csi scores and the like

correct, he didnt check for a wiring fault. if his computer said that its an open circuit and youve agreed to pay the price for a seatbelt tensioner then when the old unit is being replaced he should have noticed the faulty loom and sent the part back and given you a reduced bill saying that upon further inspection we have noticed that it is just a wiring fault. I take it you went in as a waiting over the top customer, so hes not going to strip out the car, as he might find nothing obvious and just cause you to wait longer. our customers are told that it "appears" that the "flux capacitor" is faulty, so we will need to order this part in in order to carry on with the diagnosis. Of course this sort of plan never always works. We have a Fixed First Visit system where we can order upto 5 parts that could be related to a fault with the vehicle, before the car is even seen. so all you may need is a job card. parts arrive, and you fit whichever part you need. and send back unused units. with no charge. works well, although it is making some techs rather lazy. When you've worked on the other side of the counter, you'll understand, its not easy. however there are some garages out there that really shouldnt be doing business...

well it needs to be on that pillar, i dont think i can get my arm up inside through the rear lamp, however, i could rivnut the lamp, and run the wires down to the rear light, that sounds easy enough. and route the cables underneath the bracket, and seal it up then theoretically no water can get in. Should i hot wire it off of the reverse lights and fit a bigger fuse? i do have most of the interior out atm. id like it to just come on with the reverse lights, as i cant see jack out the back at night. it also has a manual switch on the lamp body so i can have it on or off whenever. what do you reckon?

hmm. anyone got any pictures?

yeah see because of the bracket size it can only really fit onto the d-pillar. so im wondering how im going to do it. maybe rivnut it but id still need to get the wiring through somewhere

ok well basically i want to fit a work lamp the the rear pillar, to the left of the tailgate. taking the interior trim panels off reveals that the panel is double skinned so i cant get bolts to it. has anyone else fitted them in this area. the bracket for the work lamp has 4 bolt holes on a 4x2" plate. Thanks ash

the only reason main dealers are so expensive is because of all the new legislations needed on new cars, for instance emissions. Diagnostics were only fitted to cars to make it easier to repair, provided you have the equipment to test it. Also with the increase amount of wiring needed to run most complicated new cars, networking systems are fitted to reduce the size of the wiring loom. although every car has a standard plug connector (OBD) to help with diagnosis, this does not mean that my Merc system will diagnose any other vehicle, it is the software that enables you to speak to the cars on board electrics, its a fortune to buy and needs to be updated frequently, this is what is putting "fred in the shed" out of business. I also know that vehicle specific special tools are very expensive aswell. What also makes main dealers more expensive is the man with the calculator upstairs earning 100k a year! and all those lovely catalogues you see in side, the fancy looking building with the flags up, it all adds up. fred in the shed is much cheaper, because none of this is needed. We at our main dealer always try to compete with the independants, but our full fat labour rate for vehicles upto the age of 3 years old is £135/hour. which i think is horrific. espescially when Merc times allows us 0.2 of an hour to change a set of wiper blades. Try explaining that you have to charge a customer £27 to fit a set of wiper blades that cost a tenner! Thats the one bit i hate about working in a main dealer, customers are never happy with you, because of the labour rate

fairly sure that it isnt 25k new, mac boxes are cheap in comparison to snap on, and snap on do a bigger one for around 20k. mine cost £1600 2nd hand! they are expensive but snap on quality is 2nd to none. and they hold their value exceptionally well

from experience, a steering box adjusted up too tight can feel like its sticky at certain points when you turn it, more than likely though it will be the column uj's. its common on smart cars, liberal amounts of 3 in 1 and seeing if it gets any better will help you locate it, temporary cure though, must be replaced.

i've removed the vc on my disco 300tdi, been off for a couple of weeks now, no issues, if anything the temperature varies on driving now. a mates defender has had his vc off for over a month now, no issues at all, and his is tuned, allisport intercooler etc. very quick for 300tdi!!

still waiting to go have a look at it! Its at a garage so ill get it up on the ramp and inspect the work that hes done to it, and ill take some piccys for y'all! From what hes saying, it sounds like its very good, but then again, he does want to sell it, well... really hes just desperate to get his old disco back off me!

cheers for all the opinions and links lads. Im thinking about just saving up, its gonna take me a very long time, but a Zermatt Silver or Bonatti Grey 90 Hardtop/ double cab are what im looking for, im gonna have to get about 10k i reckon, but im hoping due to the time its gonna take to save up, they will have gone down in price, thinking i want a td5, purely for the option of chipping, oh and the noise! im not too fussed by ecu's and electrics, i work on them everyday so its not gonna bother me too much. or should i go for a 300tdi, i do like the 300tdi, espescially for its reliability, but unless sprayed i've never seen a 90 in silver and i think i would prefer the refinement of the td5. Td5 or 300tdi? anyone know which year the td5's were best? heard of trouble with early examples

yer i thought so, ideally im looking for as late a possible 300tdi pickup, with below 100k miles, but again money comes into it and i havnt got about 6 or 7 grand! i cannot believe how much defenders go for! maybe i should just keep enjoying the disco's comfort until i can save up enough dollar to get the defender i want

hello all, i have recently been offered a 1987 90 pickup 2.5 na. Its done 130k miles, been resprayed in olive green, has a new hood and sticks. new seats and headlining, polybushed, with brand new bfg at's on black modulars, has been in a workshop for the past few months having these bits and more being done. Now he wants £2500 for it, i have a 97 disco 300tdi commercial that i would like to possibly part exchange although he says only a direct swap. my disco has done nearly 120kmiles full svc history, got 6 seats as well as the bulkhead, safari snorkel, steering guard, front qt diff guard, waxoyled etc i have included a pic. now i really really want a 90 truck cab, but im not sure if its a good deal or not. how much do you reckon my disco's worth, its not immaculate, it has been off road a couple of times, it needs a new rear bumper as its taken a knock, the interior could be bettered, its got no rust, not even under the carpets. what do reckon? thanks

see i've got insa turbo dakars on my disco. on freestyle's and provided they are let down to around 15p.s.i they work fantastic off road, been to quite a few pay and plays and they are spot on, espescially for the money! They are also wearing quite well, although one of the tyre's stuck on sidewall is peeling off. I would highly reccommend them to anyone, unless they dont like road noise, as they DO make a lot of noise, but it just makes it sound more military, i quite like it. Im very surprised that your not getting enough traction though, how much tread is left on them?

my disco has done this, gone down overnight. Its running freestyles with mud terrains, had no punture, the surface on the rim wasnt corroded, but used bead sealant and its still holding air after 3months. I can confirm that it is mud that causes it though, and it doesnt have to be just after a mud run. i cleaned my car a few times since the previous off roading sesh, and it was only from washing it the day before that the tyre went down. Maybe i was a bit too aggressive with the pressure washer?