Bruno 300

Having spent more time than I could have done when I was gainfully employed I eventually tracked down the following electrical fault, hopefully by sharing this it may be a time saving tip and therefor helpful to others. Note the black wire which is routed over 'the white plastic Flash/High Beam light switch toggle' - centre of pic. After 21 years the black wire fractured and eventually separated as a result of being flexed whenever toggled. With care the switch can be disassembled and the broken wired could have been repaired but I was so relieved to have discovered the fault I treated my favourite vehicle a new one!

First I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the many frequent and experienced contributors for sharing their knowledge via this great web site – in the 5 years I’ve owned my cherished Defender 300TDI the information I have gleaned from here has been extremely helpful. Despite searching all previous posts and for information from other places greasing U J’s has been a real pain due to the inadequate space around the grease nipple between the yokes. I’ve noted the recommendations of others which seem to range from the unhelpful “well I can do it without difficulty” (clearly ‘having a laugh’ or more skilled or better equipped than me) to Prop Shaft manipulation to fitting long grease nipples, none of which has been very satisfactory. Well, getting to the point (I’m sure some of you may be thinking about blxxxdy time) I’ve just changed the rigid delivery tube of my grease gun for this flexible one - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GREASE-GUN-DELIVERY-TUBE-FLEXIBLE-300mm-/230628649022?pt=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item35b289e83e After the usual ‘fun & games’ refilling the grease gun I’ve just re-greased the Prop Shafts in a hassle free 10mins. It seems if you can see the grease nipple it fits. Except for being a satisfied customer I have no connection with Roach Pumps. The best £1.55, inc delivery, I have spent in ……………………….

Hi Davey, I hope this helps more than it adds to any confusion regarding your MPG question. I’ve owned my 1996 Defender 300 TDI for 53 months and have logged all fuel consumed – I started this because, like you, I was unsure what MPG to expect. I’ve kept the monitoring up out of interest, as it’s easy to do and also because I thought it would be a useful indicator of any ‘MPG faults’ that might arise overtime. The Defender is a second vehicle, used mostly in winter and at other times to transport the dogs to the park. My journeys can be summarised as a mix of short 10-15 mile park trips and longer Winter trips twice a week of about 90 miles between Sep and January – these trips include about 10 miles of ‘off road’ activity. My average over 20485 miles is 30.89 MPG. A lot less than my car but then that doesn’t bring a smile every time I drive it! Buy one! I would just add one complication regarding achievable MPG which hasn’t been mentioned by anyone so far and that is you will have noticed the large range of tyres and sizes available for Defenders – mine are 225/75 x 16 M T’s. I’ll leave it to those more knowledgeable than me on this Forum to comment on what effect tyre size has on actual recorded miles travelled.