Troll Hunter

I am amazed that members are still posting in response to my question. Thank you all, very much, especially for the technical advice on testing the Bendix drive and the wear on the comm. Unfortunately, family problems back in UK mean that I'm about to leave home again, without having had a chance to review the bush engineering and apply a permanent fix to my starter problems. I assure that I have not lost interest and am very grateful for all the help provided, but I shall probably not be in a position to provide any update until about the end of October. Mike

OK, guys, at last we're back in civilisation and internet is at least marginally faster than dial-up. Many thanks for your continued input on my loss of starter problem. I had not lost interest, I just didn't have the patience to do anything on the net that wasn't absolutely essential. The "bush engineering" fix has held up well, but I accept that it is a temporary fix. I'm not sure what they did, but I'll be opening it up again and replacing the brushes, as a minimum. Thanks for the comments about the ease of replacement, and with a significant number of Euro-boxes here I should be able to source replacement Bosch brushes. The solenoid and the Bendix appear to be fully functional, but I have a question regarding the commutator. On the comm of my original starter the copper sections had regular fine grooves around them for the whole length of the brush contact area. Are these grooves there by design or are they the result of wear, and should I have them removed - lathe and fine sand paper? Mike

Thanks for the suggestion, Snagger, but the gods have smiled on me. The parcel that was being air-freighted to an outfit that was trying to help me arrived this morning and a successful "bush" engineering mix n' match with another old, other model starter was performed, and the replaced mongrel unit is now operational. Great work by the guys here, and SWMBO and I can now catch the ferry tomorrow morning to Haida Gwaii, formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, without fear of having to be towed off! Next on the agenda is to source new brushes for the original unit, which I can resurrect since I have all the bits - I hope! Many thanks, again, for sharing your experiences and all your advice. Mike

All this about clockwise and anti-clockwise paint is a load of bull****! Just use the ordinary paint, but hold your brush in the left hand!

Sorry, "the plane" didn't get in today, maybe tomorrow! Watch this space.

Thanks for all your inputs, part numbers and links. Here, in Prince Rupert, I have found a back street outfit that deals with small commercial fishing vessel electrics, and they think that they can mix 'n match parts from another starter and using my old armature so that the number of teeth is correct. Yes, it's a good example of "bush" engineering, which must often be necessary in these parts, and, surprisingly, it's a couple of youngsters, must be no more than 30 year olds, who suggested the fix! I'll update on the results, hopefully later today. Mike

The starter in my 110 CSW has gone belly up. Typical, when we're over 1,600 km from home, in the wilds of northern BC, Canada. I've removed the starter, and the solenoid appears to be working fine when I connect 12v across it. On opening up the body of the starter, by removing the two long through bolts, I found more carp and crud than I thought possible. It all appeared to be fine graphite, presumably from the brushes, which had accumulated at the bottom of the case. I've tried removing the other end of the body, to get to the brushes, but all I seem able to achieve is to wreck the Phillips head screws. I've not disturbed the large Phillips head screws that appear to attach the coils. Please can someone advise me the best way to proceed, please? The starter is a genuine LR item, now 20 + years old, with the Bosch name and LR part no. ERR5009 stamped on it. Does anybody know what other make of vehicles, apart from RR 1986 - 1994, have this starter, since I doubt that it was made only for LR, so I might be able to get a replacement this side of the pond, and in less than 2 weeks (Paddocks and UPS air freight) and spendy, spendy, spendy? Many thanks, in advance, for any and all suggestions. Mike

I fitted a new sender unit, a B**tpart item, and it was faulty as delivered. What a surprise! Do your best to avoid their carp. I'm now ordering what I think is a Bearmach one, and hopefully it will work. Mike

Hi, All, I'm getting really fed up with a regular wet arm, as a minimum, when draining my radiator. I've read various threads that recommend using a tube through the header tank and down into the make up/expansion line connected to the hose connection at the bottom of the rad. I have used this method with varying success. I remember seeing a thread that mentioned a custom made rad that had a valved drain point added to the bottom connection, possibly with the hose connection slightly lengthened. This seems to be an ideal solution, if you're buying a new rad anyway. I'm not, but I'm wondering if anybody has fitted a T-piece low down in the line that goes to the header tank, with a drain valve on the "vertical leg" of the Tee. I think that this configuration should be capable of draining most of the coolant. Has anybody done this? Does it work? What are the problems? Should I not try it? Is there a better way to avoid a wet arm? All views, experiences, recommendations and advice will be very gratefully received. Thank you. Mike

Come on, Hangover, what's the answer to Chris's question? I'm sure a lot of members would like to know what VNTs bolt to a 200Tdi manifold. Mike

Thank you, CD. Again, it's a case of BS baffles brains, So, it is a case of higher boost and tweaking the fuelling to achieve higher bhp at the flywheel. Any talk of torque converters is part of the BS, and has nothing to do with power at the flywheel. Mike

I thought that the power figures were taken at the flywheel, and would therefore be independent of any gearbox/torque converter set-up. Mike

It seems that dishwasher tablets in an aluminium cooler are not a good idea, since they are generally caustic, and can/will rapidly attack aluminium, apart from achieving their purpose of removing oil. Mike

A little bit OT, but since it's been mentioned already, perhaps the Mods will allow me to ask what differences were there in 300 Tdi engines between the manual and auto versions? The difference, of 23 bhp, is significant and is of the order of improvement claimed by Allisport for their standard size upgrade. Mike

As Muddy says, post #16, once you've hand cranked to check that it isn't seized, disconnect the dizzy and crank on the battery, with no choke, until the oil pressure light goes out. You then have a good idea that all moving components are lubricated. Reconnect the dizzy and go for it. Mike

So, does the "M8 cap screw with the head precision -hacksawn to 1.5 wide" have to be a tight/interference/loose fit within the copper tube to ensure that the tube turns and the bead is formed, or does the pressure from the rollers pressing the tube against the cap screw provide enough friction to ensure rotation? Mike

Connections and elbows are the killer for flow/pressure, either for air or water. Use the largest air lines you possibly can, maximising yhe use of fixed installed piping, say 1" steel piping, and keeping flexible hose to minimum lengths. Mike

Brilliant! How do you rotate the tube that you are beading? Only a couple of times have I needed to create a bead on pipe, and not being familiar with the vise grip and washer method I soldered a ring of copper wire, approx 1 mm diam, around the pipe and then filed it to an acceptable profile. Slow, but it did the job. Mike

Hi, Western, Many thanks for your kind offer. PM sent. Mike

Thanks for reminding me of my own post, Western . Old age doesn't come alone, but I can't remember what it does come with ! But the good thing about asking this question again is that I've now got additional info. Yes, it does look as if I've got a regular blue box component - from new, it doesn't work, so back to ordering an OEM unit, and continuing to use my odometer to calculate refueling needs. Many thanks to all who have responded to this post. Mike

Having been motoring for many ks of km relying on the odometer for refueling intervals I've just fitted new sender and gauge. Result: not working! Both came in blue boxes. The gauge appears to work correctly, indicating "full" when one side is 12v+ and the other side is earthed. My vehicle was originally fitted with a 3.5 V8, so I've replaced the sender unit with the same as the original, STC1482. I don't think this should affect its functionality since it ran on diesel fuel for some 10 yrs before failure, after some 14 years on petrol. Investigating, with the sender unit back on the bench, it appears that the three little arms that make electrical contact with the slider only provide continuity when the float arm is in the "empty tank" position. As soon as the arm is moved towards "full", even a little bit, continuity is totally lost. I have separated the arm and cleaned the tracks and arm contacts, but no improvement. Question 1: The sender has three terminals. Am I correct to assume that the centre one is earth and the other two are gauge and "low level warning light"? Question 2: should the electrical resistance across the sender terminals, top to centre and bottom to centre, vary as the arm is moved from the "full" to "empty" position? Many thanks, in advance, for any help. Mike

Absolutely brilliant, Western. Many thanks for posting. Mike

I found that all these sliding antenna or adjustable mop handle systems have a major drawback in that trying to measure accurately - to better than 1 mm - is almost impossible unless the antenna or mop handle is calibrated. My chances of removing the antenna from between the wheels and getting it to where a tape can be reliably used, without any movement of the sliding sections, is almost nil. I came to this conclusion after achieving zero repeatability of measurements! Hence my threaded option, which allows me to get out from beneath the vehicle and take measurements on the bench with no danger of the gauge rod having been changed. Mike

Being a real scrooge, when I tackled this problem I bought at a yard sale a three drawer wooden chest, bedroom type, with drawers about 8" deep. I then cut down the polythene 2 litre and 4 litre milk cartons that we get, using the smaller ones for the smaller items. Advantages are that the height of each container is up to me, allowing small containers to be stacked, eg bolt, flat washer, spring washer and nut, all of one size, it's easy to add containers, and individual containers can easily be taken to the job site. I also use these for all my nails and screws, and it works very well. Mike

Thank you, rich broom, it's as I thought, and thank you, Western, for the pointer. I had read that string previously but couldn't find it in the Tech Archive yesterday. It's in the Tools and Fabrication, and, of course, I didn't look there! Perhaps it should be in the Tech Archive, as you yourself had suggested in that thread. Mike