Pwyll

Silly question, but have you tried Maplin? They carry all sorts of generic stuff for not much money. And if they can't help, their geeks should know somewhere that can. Regards, Paul

Just to add another angle to this topic, what tool(s) do you carry as a matter of course that any professional mechanic will only normally use when the moon is blue? I know from bitter experience that even the shortest journey is like russian roulette without a toolbox!

Dodgy connection on the actuator? Sounds like it's making a reasonable connection when you first plug it in and then failing after a few jolts and bumps. Check the connector and wires leading up to it. Also give the pins a good clean with some emery cloth and a squirt or two of electical contact cleaner if you have some. May not be the answer, but it's a good starting point. HTH, Paul

Didn't Jeremy Clarkson do something similar with a Fiat on Top Gear a while back?

Job Done! Worked a treat, got a few funny looks when I was heavy duty handwashing in the middle of a field. But nothing I can't cope with. Thanks again for the input that lead to the solution below. + +

There are a number of legal issues surrounding doing this on the public highway that I am not even going to touch. (Though, I'm sure an adult will be along shortly to point them out.) What I will say is that in essence, it will work. Junctions are a little unnerving as it takes a second or so for things on the towed chassis to catch up. We towed our IIA trialler around like this for a long while. We rigged up the cable from an overrun brake hitch to the brake pedal in the trialler, so it acted as a braked trailer effectivelly. I stand to have stones thrown at me, but that's my two penneth worth.

Does this count?

Hmmmmm, I seem to recall a, somewhat inept, erstwhile employer of my father trying something similar with a washing machine. Basically he decided that washing powder was not getting his overalls clean enough. So, he decided to put some of that new fangled parts washer stuff in the detergent drawer. Lets just say that the local fire brigade were not best pleased at being called out to the resultant workshop fire.

Thanks for the responses. I now have access to a RR pump, so that takes care of that. I'm sure our local hydraulics place will make up the hoses. The rad is in the back tub on ths one, so no issues there. Time to dive in and splash the cash then methinks. Thanks again fellas. Regards, Paul

Not sure if this is the best place for this, Mods please move if you feel appropriate. I have a trialler based on a RR chassis with a carbed 3.5. It (and me) is crying out for power steering as I have less strength than normal due to illness. I have been offered a complete set up out of a Disco. There is a big part of me that tells me that it will not fit. The Disco in question is a 95/96 300Tdi. Can an adult please confirm my suspicions? Thanks in advance. Paul

Mmmmmmmmmm

Firstly, thank you to all that have responded. There has been a much better response to my question than I ever hoped for. I do like the idea of a leisure battery, split charge and inverter. Unfortunately, my bank balance is not at the moment. Maybe a future project for when I am in gainful employment once more. I have decided to give the warm it up before you go and then keep it warm option. I have just purchased a small fridge/warmer for the princely sum of £16 on FleaBay. When it arrives there will be a few dry runs to see how it gets on. If they are not successful you will see my latest purchase in the for sale section. So, watch this space, I will let you know how it goes. Next job is to fit power steering to the trialler so I don't look like a big girly.

This may seem a little OT, but the reason behind it is that I am experiencing difficulties when triallin my LR. So, please Mods, can I run with this? Some background, not forthe squeemish amongst you. My kidneys are shot. I am on what they call peritoneal dialisys. This means that a sugar/salt solution is held in the layers of my peritoneum and absorbs all the nasties out of my system. When I am trialling I have to leave the fluid out as there is a risk of internal damage due to all the bumping and jolting. At the moment, I leave the housein the morning "dry" and then reload with fluid when I get home. The trouble is that my giblets are used to a little padding now. they do not take kindly to being sloshed around foreight hours without their little buffer. My plan is to drain out when I arrive at the event and then refill at the end, before I come home. The problem I face is that putting cold fluid in is painful and can be dangerous (core temp drops right down). I have a heater pad for the bags of fluid, but that is 240v. I really need something on a timer so that it can be set to start to warm up before i get back to where my road vehicle is parked. This counts out an inverter as I don't think my battery will take being sucked on by one of those for half an hour. So, is there a 12v solution? Or am I being a little over ambitious with this? I need to heat a two litre bag of fluid to body temp(37C). I have asked around on some of the renal failure forums(yes, there are some) and nobody seems to make a 12v heater. One guy even suggested that I just leave the bag in the window to warm. But, then again, he was from California not Herefordshire! If anyone can help, this would make my Sundays sooooo much more comfortable. If not, guess I'll just have to put up with it. Ta, Paul

Filling the tank on my Disco in Hereford at about 59p a litre will last me on average about 160 miles. But I filled up in South Wales last week at a well known supermarket at 54p a litre, I have done just over 230 miles since then and she is still going strong. I realise that there will be some variatin in the quality of the different fueling points. But, come on, an extra 70+ miles at a lower cost???? I have not altered my driving style in any way in between so what can be the explanation. And before anyone asks, the 150 mile round trip makes it slightly uneconomical to fill up down there all the time. ;-)

Some background to begin with - Disco 3.9 EFi, single point injection LPG system. For some reason it appeared to have started to burn petrol when it was running on LPG. To cure this I have put in a switch that cuts the power to the fuel pump. Maybe that was a can of worms that I should have left unopened. When running on the two fuels, it runs as sweet as a nut. Switch the perol off and the power drops off. I have asked a local LPG specialist to set up the sytem with the petrol turned off which they claim to have done. Once up to motorway speed it will cruise quite happily. But, this is where strange things start to happen, after ten mimutes or so cruising the temperature gauge drops right down to the bottom. The heat from the blowers also drops off, so I am pretty sure that the gauge is OK. Switch the petrol back on and the temperature climbs back to normal. Switch it off again and down goes the needle etc. etc. So, what can be causing this lack of power and overcooling? Could the two be linked? Have I cheesed off the ECU by cutting off the power to the fuel pump? Should I just resign myself to the fact that I am going to have to burn two fuels at once? Thanks in advance, Paul

Changing the actual spring is really easy, it's getting the lock mechanism out that is the tricky bit. I may have the instructions that came with the springs when I did mine kicking around somewhere. If you pm me your email address, I'll send you. HTH Paul

What that man up there said. I had it happen in the middle lane of the M4 coming back from London. Nine o'clock at night, seventyish miles an hour and it goes black. Major brown trouser moment. Couple of new bulbs later and Bob's your dads brother.

I got quite good at doing it when I was looking for the alarm spider that wasn't actually there on mine! Couple of credit card stylee bits of plastic and some patience. I can call over and show you tomorrow if you want as I have to be in town lunch time. PM me. Paul.

To cut a long story short, due to my health, I am really struggling with the steering on my new trialler. On its first outing last weekend there were a number of occasions where getting the lock on quickly was the diference between a clear and a twelve. A guy in work has offered me the complete set up from a vehicle he is breaking. Trouble is neither of us know what he should be charging me for it. That is where the collective knowledge on here comes in. What does everyone think is a fair price for it. I don't want to rip the guy off, but on the other hand I could use a bargain at the moment. Thanks in advance, Paul

You hit the nail on the head there, Pete. When I had chance to look over it in daylight this morning, after much head scratching, just as I was about to strip the shroud off the steering column to get at the stalk to see if it had fused I noticed the switch on the top of the shroud that I has missed in my frustration last night. Yes, you've guessed it, the switch had a little letter "P" on it. Mrs must've knocked it as she got out last night! At least she owes me a favour now tho.

OK, here goes. If I don't sort this quick I won't get chance to sort the sticky door locks on the Disco this weekend! SWMBO has a Scooby Forester. Being particularly disorganised she only noticed that the MOT was up a day early. Booked in for this afternoon. Failed on number plate light out. Bulb says I. So changed, but no joy. As she needed the car for work this evening, I needed a quick fix. So patched into the side lights to get power down to the number plate lights. All fine, passed MOT and off to work she goes. Trouble is, when she arrived home, the sidelights won't turn off now! I've disconnected my little splice with no effect. I have disconnected the battery for tonight, but what could be causing this? My initial thought is that there is a relay in the system somewhere that has stuck on. Or maybe the steering column switch? But surely two small number plate bulbs would not overload things that much, would they? Any thoughts on the matter very much appreciated. Thanks, Paul

I am looking for a set of wheel slings to strap my trialer doen to the trailer. Does anyone know anywhere close to me (Hereford) that sells them? Also, do they come in different sizes or is it one size fits all? The reason I ask is that a friend has asked me to pick his Mini up from North Wales and clearly there is a slight difference in wheel size. I have attached a piccy of the sort of thing I am after in case that helps. Thanks in advance, Paul

I'm assuming from your name that you're not far away, so could you not drop it into Hereford Hydraulics and get them to make you up a new one?

When I changed the aforementioned belt on my 3.9 Disco a few weeks ago, I noted that the belt had come forward on the power steering pump. Only by one notch, but forward nonetheless. Everything else was lined up perfectly and I was pleasently suprised at how easy it was to change the belt. When the new one went on, I made a point of making sure that the belt was lying where it should be along its whole length. Having a mooch under the bonnet this afternoon, I noticed that it has moved again. Still only one notch. My questions are a)what could be causing this as eveything is firmly bolted down, b)how much harm will it cause if left, and c)what can I do to cure the problem? Thanks in advance, Paul

One word - Freecycle. System run through Yahoo groups. You put an add on saying what you want/need and people who have said item going spare will get in touvch offering it to you for free. OK, you might not get the most up to date Dyson Super Duper model, but you will get something that will do the job for nothing more than the cost of the fuel to go pick it up. And if it breaks six months down the line, you ask again. HTH, Paul